Interior Designer · NW8
Interior design in St John's Wood
Katherine Varnava Interiors is a luxury interior designer for homes and commercial spaces in St John's Wood. 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 St John's Wood
St John's Wood grew from the Eyre family's 1794 plan for semi-detached villas, which the Eyre Estate describes as thought to be the first planned London suburb. Interiors here range from stucco and brick villas in large gardens to Edwardian mansion flats near the High Street. Most of the area sits within Westminster's St John's Wood Conservation Area, so original windows, doors and rooflines shape what an interior scheme can change.
Westminster's conservation area audit describes villas and semi-detached houses as most prominent in the north of the area, a more formal classical character along Hamilton Terrace, and mansion blocks concentrated on Wellington Road, Circus Road and the edges of the area. A few well preserved mews survive, including Abercorn Close, Langford Close and Rutland Mews. Villa projects typically involve reworking the plan for family living across several floors, restoring or replicating joinery, cornicing and fireplaces, and integrating lighting and services without disturbing period detail. Mansion flats bring a different brief: making the most of a single floor, upgrading kitchens and bathrooms, and working within the lease and the building's management arrangements.
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 NW8, including streets such as Hamilton Terrace, Abbey Road, Grove End Road, Clifton Hill and Carlton Hill.
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Before you start in St John's Wood
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.
Historic England states that listing status covers the entire building, and that works requiring listed building consent can include internal alterations. For a listed villa or terrace in St John's Wood, changes to plan form, joinery, fireplaces or panelling that affect the building's special interest need consent from Westminster City Council before work starts.Source: historicengland.org.uk
Westminster's Conservation Area Audit for St John's Wood was adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document on 16 June 2008. It states that the Council will encourage the repair and retention of original doors and windows, and that replacements should match the original glazing patterns and opening methods. Interior schemes that touch sashes, glazing or window joinery should start from repair.Source: westminster.gov.uk
The same audit describes rooflines in St John's Wood as extremely sensitive to change and sorts properties into categories for roof alterations, stating that extensions are unlikely to be acceptable in many cases. Interior plans that depend on new top-floor space or roof alterations should be tested against the audit before design work goes far.Source: westminster.gov.uk
Gov.uk explains that a lease sets out the conditions a leaseholder has agreed to, including whether permission is needed to make alterations, and that not following the lease conditions can lead to court action. For mansion flats and leasehold houses, any landlord's consent should be identified and programmed before the design is fixed.Source: gov.uk
Westminster City Council allows noisy building work from 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. No noisy work is allowed on Sundays or bank holidays unless special permission has been granted.Source: westminster.gov.uk
Westminster asks for 10 working days' notice for a parking bay suspension, booked online through its self-serve suspensions system. Applications received within 10 calendar days of the start date incur a short notice fee if granted.Source: westminster.gov.uk
Questions
Interior design in St John's Wood
Do I need listed building consent to change the interior of a listed house in St John's Wood?
Yes, where the work affects the building's special interest. Historic England states that listing covers the entire building and that works needing consent can include internal alterations. In St John's Wood the application goes to Westminster City Council. Moving walls, removing original joinery or fireplaces and altering panelling are typical examples. We establish what is original early in the design stage, so the scheme works with the historic fabric and any application is clear.Source: historicengland.org.uk
Can I replace the windows as part of an interior refurbishment?
It depends on the house, but Westminster's St John's Wood Conservation Area Audit says the Council will encourage the repair and retention of original doors and windows, and that replacements should match the original glazing patterns and opening methods. That makes repair the usual starting point. Where comfort or acoustics need improving, we look at measures such as internal shutters and curtains first, and coordinate any window work with the planning position before the interior scheme is finalised.Source: westminster.gov.uk
What should I check before redesigning a mansion flat?
Start with the lease. Gov.uk explains that a lease sets out the conditions you have agreed to, including whether you need permission to make alterations, and that breaching those conditions can lead to court action. We read the lease and any building rules from the managing agent at the outset, then build the landlord's consent process into the programme so that layout, flooring and services are designed to what the building allows.Source: gov.uk
Do you take on single rooms as well as whole houses in St John's Wood?
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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