Interior Designer · SW19, SW20
Interior design in Wimbledon
Katherine Varnava Interiors is a luxury interior designer for homes and commercial spaces in Wimbledon. 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 Wimbledon
Wimbledon pairs a historic village on the hill with spacious late Victorian and Edwardian roads of large detached houses, many by named architects of the Arts and Crafts and Queen Anne movements. Merton has seven conservation areas carrying the Wimbledon name, so interior schemes often sit inside houses with recorded architectural interest.
Merton's Wimbledon North character assessment (post-consultation draft, May 2008) describes a spacious, green residential suburb of the nineteenth century and later. Arthur Road and Leopold Road were laid out in the 1870s, while the Belvedere and Wimbledon House estates were sold as individual plots around 1900 under covenants that produced individual but harmonious houses, with styles including Queen Anne, Arts and Crafts, Tudor Gothic and Italianate and designs by architects such as Ernest Newton and M.H. Baillie Scott. Around the High Street and Ridgway the village has two and three storey Georgian and Victorian terraces, many with shops below. Interior projects in Wimbledon often mean replanning large family houses, adding kitchens, bathrooms and dressing rooms that sit comfortably with original joinery, leaded glass and fireplaces, and lighting schemes for generous rooms and halls.
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 SW19, SW20, including streets such as Wimbledon Village, Parkside, Marryat Road, Arthur Road and Calonne Road.
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Before you start in Wimbledon
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 covers a whole building, including the interior, and can include attached fixtures. Owners need listed building consent for most types of work affecting the building's special architectural or historic interest, so internal joinery, staircases and fireplaces in a listed Wimbledon house can fall within the consent.Source: historicengland.org.uk
Merton Council says there are around 250 statutory listed buildings in the borough. Alterations or extensions likely to affect a listed building's special historic interest require listed building consent, and it is an offence to carry out works to a listed building without consent.Source: merton.gov.uk
Merton has 28 conservation areas, including Wimbledon North, Wimbledon Village, Wimbledon West, Wimbledon Hill Road, Wimbledon Broadway, Wimbledon Chase and Wimbledon Windmill. Each is supported by character assessments and, where they exist, Article 4 directions setting out additional planning controls.Source: merton.gov.uk
The Wimbledon North character assessment (May 2008 draft) lists locally listed houses by architects including Ernest George and Yeates, Ernest Newton and Baillie Scott, and records original features such as leaded glass and small-paned windows. It also notes considerable pressure to redevelop individual houses with much larger dwellings.Source: merton.gov.uk
Merton Council says noisy construction work should normally be restricted to 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday, and is not normally allowed on Sundays and bank holidays.Source: merton.gov.uk
Bay suspensions for building work or moving house are available only in controlled parking zones and need seven full working days' notice. The charge is £25 per bay per day plus a non-refundable £25 administration fee, and signs are usually placed 48 hours before the start.Source: merton.gov.uk
Questions
Interior design in Wimbledon
What internal work on a listed house in Wimbledon needs consent?
Any alteration likely to affect the building's special historic interest. Merton Council states that such alterations require listed building consent and that working without consent is an offence. We treat staircases, historic joinery, fireplaces and the original room layout as potentially significant, establish what matters at survey stage and design the interior so that new kitchens, bathrooms and services avoid or protect that fabric wherever possible.Source: merton.gov.uk
What hours can contractors work on a Wimbledon house?
Merton Council says noisy construction work should normally run from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday, and is not normally allowed on Sundays or bank holidays. Railway, highway and emergency works can differ. We programme strip-out, cutting and other noisy trades inside those hours and plan quieter finishing and installation work around them.Source: merton.gov.uk
Can we suspend a parking bay outside for furniture and joinery deliveries?
Yes, if the road is in a controlled parking zone. Merton Council asks for seven full working days' notice and charges £25 per bay per day plus a non-refundable £25 administration fee; a bay is roughly five to six metres. A yellow line dispensation is also available at £13.20 per vehicle per day. We size and time suspensions to the delivery schedule so large items can be unloaded safely.Source: merton.gov.uk
Do you take on single rooms as well as whole houses in Wimbledon?
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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