Known for his opulent taste, British interior designer and House Rules judge Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen knows what trends keen interior decorators should follow. Here he lets us in on the secrets to make your house a stylish home.
Go grey
‘I think we can all be absolutely safe in the knowledge that we’re right in the middle of the greynaissance,’ says Laurence.
‘It seems to be that Australia is obsessed with painting rooms grey which is great.’
But rules need to be followed.
‘Grey will make a room feel bigger, more airy, it reflects back an enormously amount of more light than beige does but my friends, don’t fall into the trap of turning any of your rooms into 1980s bank buildings which of course is exactly where the grey thing can go.’
Laurence suggests that with any grey there has to be some serious colour accenting.
‘Grey is an absolutely brilliant bone structure for any home but you must get a bit of rouge, you must get a bit of sparkle, you must get a bit of bling in there too,’ he says.
Add some opulence
Laurence believes that we shouldn’t be afraid to add opulence, that is luxurious tactile textures to the home. He welcomes the current trend of rich velvets in soft furnishings and curtains, and applauds use of wallpaper and carpets underfoot.
‘Your home is very incredibly important to your wellbeing, to your psychology – it’s the only space that can make you feel better about stuff and actually these incredibly rich tactile finishes are a great way of really reaffirming to yourself that yes, you are worth it,’ he says.
Get a statement indoor plant
Open any interior magazine and you’ll see at least one indoor plant in any home featured.
‘Houseplants have had a huge revival in the past couple of seasons, it’s something that I associated very much with the 1980s but actually it is a great way of softening the space particularly if you live in an area that’s a reasonable new build where you have a lot of hard, shiny surfaces.’ Says Laurence.
‘My one advice about houseplants is go big, I think having lots of little houseplants can be fussy and fiddly whereas big statement pieces in pots that you’ve really thought about look great.’
The last word on decluttering
No strict KonMari method in decluttering for Laurence.
‘I think the real issue is if you’ve got things in your life that are very important to you then by all mean share your life with these things but curate them, think about how you display them, don’t just have them building up in piles,’ he says.
‘Don’t feel bullied by people that tell you you’ve got to declutter – an entirely clutter free environment is really very soulless.’
Why this season of House Rules is my favourite
‘I think this is a real breakthrough season for everyone – I think people have really fallen in love with the teams this year, as they should. These are very genuine, very hard-working Australians – they’re there to do a really, really good job building the dream home of the other contestants and then hoping for their own dream home and I think this is what makes this show really stand out,’ says Laurence.
House Rules is on Seven now
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