Interior Designer · W11, W14, W8
Interior design in Notting Hill & Holland Park
Katherine Varnava Interiors is a luxury interior designer for homes and commercial spaces in Notting Hill & Holland Park. A BIID Registered Interior Designer® studio based in Mayfair, London, it offers full interior design, technical design and bespoke joinery, FF&E procurement and a single design-and-build service, with Katherine personally involved in every project.
Homes in Notting Hill & Holland Park
Notting Hill's Ladbroke estate was built between the 1820s and the mid-1870s around communal gardens reached directly from the houses, an arrangement that shapes how the rear of these homes is used. Holland Park is known for large Victorian houses and the studio-houses built by the artists of the Holland Park Circle on Holland Park Road and Melbury Road.
Most Ladbroke houses are terraces, crescents and paired villas of three storeys over a basement, many half or fully stuccoed, with mews in the south and 1930s mansion blocks along Kensington Park Road. Norland has 1840s terraces and semi-detached villas around Norland Square and Royal Crescent. In Holland Park, ten artists had built studio-houses on Holland Park Road and Melbury Road by 1896. Interior projects often involve opening the garden floor to a communal garden, restoring double-height studios and north light, and reworking large family houses that have been divided into flats.
How the studio works
Every project, from a single room to a whole house or a commercial space, follows the same five-stage, RIBA-aligned journey: Define, Develop, Resolve, Deliver and Complete. The studio works alongside your architect and contractor, or delivers a single design-and-build service from concept to completion.
- Full interior design, from a single room to a whole house
- Interior architecture and spatial planning
- Technical design and bespoke joinery
- Lighting design
- FF&E design, procurement and installation
- Commercial interiors
- Design and build, or alongside your architect and contractor
The studio takes on projects across W11, W14, W8, including streets such as Ladbroke Grove, Lansdowne Road, Lansdowne Crescent, Elgin Crescent and Kensington Park Gardens.
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Before you start in Notting Hill & Holland Park
The consents and local rules that most often shape an interior project here, each linked to its official source. The studio checks them for your property at the start, so they are planned into the design and the programme.
The Ladbroke Conservation Area Appraisal notes that rear elevations facing the communal gardens were often designed as formal set pieces, and identifies large plate-glass units, unsympathetic replacement windows, paint or render and large additions on rear elevations as harmful. The 16 communal gardens are registered Grade II historic parks and gardens. This affects garden-floor kitchens and living spaces that open to the rear.Source: planningconsult.rbkc.gov.uk
The Royal Borough's guidance says all of a listed building is protected, including the inside. Removing cornices, fireplaces or internal doors, removing walls or floorboards and adding recessed lighting all need consent, and owners and contractors can each be fined up to £20,000 per offence.Source: rbkc.gov.uk
Nearly three quarters of the borough is in its 38 conservation areas, where stricter controls apply, and some properties have had permitted development rights removed by Article 4 Directions. The council advises checking whether a property is affected before work begins.Source: rbkc.gov.uk
In Kensington and Chelsea noisy building work is permitted 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday only, and at no time on Saturdays, Sundays or bank holidays. Demolition and concrete breaking are further limited to 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5.30pm on weekdays.Source: rbkc.gov.uk
Suspensions are booked with the council's Parking Suspensions team on 020 7361 4385. Resident bays need at least 10 full working days' notice and pay-by-phone bays at least two full working days.Source: rbkc.gov.uk
Questions
Interior design in Notting Hill & Holland Park
We back onto a communal garden. Can we put in large glazed doors?
It needs care. The Ladbroke Conservation Area Appraisal says rear elevations facing the communal gardens were often designed as formal set pieces and identifies large plate-glass units on rear elevations as harmful. We usually work with the existing openings, using traditional joinery and well-planned interiors to bring light and the garden view into the room, and involve your architect early if external changes are proposed.Source: planningconsult.rbkc.gov.uk
Can we lift the floorboards in our listed house to lay new flooring or underfloor heating?
Not without listed building consent. The Royal Borough's guidance gives removing floorboards as an example of work needing consent, alongside removing internal walls and adding recessed lighting. We assess the existing floors at survey stage and, where a new finish or heating is wanted, propose approaches that can be justified in a consent application or avoid disturbing historic boards.Source: rbkc.gov.uk
Can our builders work on Saturdays?
Not on noisy work. In Kensington and Chelsea noisy building works are permitted from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and at no time on Saturdays, Sundays or bank holidays. Demolition and concrete breaking are limited to 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 5.30pm on weekdays. We build programmes around these hours and agree delivery times with neighbours and garden committees in advance.Source: rbkc.gov.uk
Do you take on single rooms as well as whole houses in Notting Hill & Holland Park?
Yes. Projects range from a single room, which can also be designed remotely through the Virtual Studio, to whole-house refurbishments, new builds and commercial spaces. Every project follows the same five-stage, RIBA-aligned process: Define, Develop, Resolve, Deliver and Complete.
Can you manage the build as well as the design?
Yes. The studio can work alongside your architect and contractor, providing contractor coordination and design oversight on site, or deliver a single design-and-build service that takes the project from concept to completion.
Will Katherine be involved personally?
Yes. Katherine Varnava, a BIID Registered Interior Designer®, leads every project herself. The studio takes on a deliberately limited number of projects each year so that she stays involved in every detail, from concept to completion.
Updated 17 October 2026
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