Story-driven interior design begins with you rather than with a trend. I start from your background, your heritage, the places you've lived and the way you actually move through your home, and translate all of it into a space that could belong to no one else. In practice, that means a bold, intentional use of colour and pattern, balanced by clean lines and restraint, so every room feels layered, personal and considered.

Yes. Many of my clients are navigating more than one cultural identity, couples who have lived abroad, families with rich, layered backgrounds, or anyone who looks around their home and feels it doesn't quite reflect them. I translate that heritage into an intentional use of colour, pattern, materials and antiques. That said, you don't need a dramatic backstory to work with me: everyone has a story in how they live and what they love, and my role is to draw it out. And because bold colour and pattern are always balanced with clean lines and restraint, the result feels rich but never overwhelming.

Bold, intentional colour and pattern, held in balance by clean lines and restraint. My work is layered, textured and rooted in each client's story, and it's designed so a space feels as though it was always meant to be yours.

Chizitera Interiors is led by its founder, Chizitera Pennington. She was named a Homes & Gardens Next in Design 2026 winner, and her work has been featured in Livingetc, with a cover feature in House Beautiful (August 2026).

I'm based in South East London and work across the capital and the surrounding areas, in person. For larger bespoke projects, holiday lets or commercial spaces, I travel further afield and internationally, with travel costs forming part of the overall fee.

Yes. Alongside in-person work in London and the surrounding areas, I offer remote, virtual consultations for clients further afield and internationally. Wherever you are, the process still starts with your story.

A wide range: family homes and period properties, loft extensions and extensions, holiday lets and short-stay rentals, and commercial spaces on larger projects. Projects run from a single room to a full home renovation or new build.

Either. A whole-home project gives the best flow, with every room working together to tell one cohesive story, but I often take on single rooms and smaller spaces too, because what matters most is that your space feels personal to you. I also design loft extensions and extensions, where there's real freedom to create something original.

I offer three levels of service:

• Consultation — £650. A focused, half-day (four-hour) consultation in person. It begins with a pre-consultation questionnaire, followed by research into the materials, colours, furniture and fixtures that reflect your story, and covers colour, furniture layout, flooring and window treatments, along with furniture suggestions. You receive a post-consultation write-up to take the project forward yourself.

• Room design — £2,000 per room. Everything in the consultation, plus measured floor and electrical plans, defined colour palettes and mood boards for each room, and a furniture and fixtures shopping list.

• Full renovation or new build — price on application. A complete, end-to-end design and renovation, ideally begun at the very start of the project alongside your architect and build team.

No, my fee covers the design service. Furniture, fixtures and product costs sit separately, on top. Keeping them distinct makes everything transparent and lets us shape the furnishing budget around what matters most to you.

As early as you can, ideally before you bring on your architect and build team. It can be tempting to work with the build team or architect directly and add a designer later, but the best results - a home with real flow, that works completely and tells your story, and often looks even better than you imagined - come from involving an interior designer right from the very beginning.

It depends on the service. The consultation and per-room services are advisory. For full renovations, I work alongside your architect, surveyor and build team, and I also procure, source and oversee the implementation, so it's a true end-to-end solution for your space.

Every project begins with a questionnaire, so I can understand what you're really after and get under the skin of your story. For larger projects, I'll arrange a call or meeting and walk through the space with you before any design begins. Throughout, I keep communication as prompt and seamless as possible.

Really, to understand who you are and how you live, and to know about any art, antiques or stories you'd like your home to hold. The more I know about your story and the way you live, the better the finished space will be.