We love the Ideal Home Show… and the build up wouldn’t be complete without an interview from the main man, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.
One of Britain’s best loved interior designers, he is still as flamboyant and happy to shock as ever. In his own words, he is a “seething swirling mass of rogue gene”.
We agree.
So, without further ado, here’s Laurence on French kissing, the problems a beige bedroom can pose to your sex life… and a bit of interior design chucked in for good measure.
What’s your top interior trend for 2025?
We’ve got used to very rich and very dark tones but I think things are going to be a little bit more optimistic in 2025.
A lot of shades like coral will suddenly sneak up behind us and bite us on the bottom. Corals, and raspberries and really fresh aqua marines, which I think is wonderful.
I think the very sultry kind of burlesque boudoir look is wonderful upstairs, and is a very custom environment but actually these sorts of much more semi-precious stones, the semi-precious jewel tone colours I think will bring a much needed sense of energy and optimism to downstairs.
So with that in mind – what are the 2025 ‘must buy’ items?
2025 is the year we all need to grasp the joy of wallpaper and really have some fun with it. I think we’ve all got very used to contained wallpaper in a comfort zone on a feature wall, but actually the look for 2025 is very much about getting that pattern all the way round the room, but being clever with it.
Perhaps using two different papers but possibly featuring the same patterns, maybe a large scaled simplified floral for instance, a coral on a pale stone colour and then reverse it for the rest of the room. You then have pale stone on coral, a kind of positive, negative effect that stops the environment feeling too busy and creates a wonderful almost summer/spring tainted feeling.
What can’t you live without at home?
I’ve designed a new bed for my Littlewoods collection called ‘French Kiss’ which is based on 18th century four poster beds, but particularly the sort of four poster bed that they used to use as a sort of portable thing. So if you were going from one of your grand country houses to another you’d have what was known as a campaign bed. The ‘French Kiss’ bed in a ‘French White’ is one of the great joys of my bedtimes at the moment.
Are you an App man, are you using any particular Apps at the moment?
I’m not an App collector but there are various bits and pieces that I use, I use GPS the whole time. It has completely revolutionised Venice for a lot of people, because none of the maps really work in Venice because it’s such a confusing maze. But actually to know where you are via the delights of a satellite is huge.
With regards to design and interiors, do you see App development progressing in the future?
It’s a very important shopping support, you know if you need to find something specific it’s absolutely wonderful, but I don’t think I’ll ever be replaced by an App. In fact I’m more than happy to go three rounds with an App in an open boxing tournament. I’d have that App, I would, I’m more of a man than that App would ever be.
No, I mean you know particularly with something like interior design you’ve got to have the maverick, the rogue gene of originality and creativity, and of course that’s something that a computer will never really come up with. Let’s face it; I am a seething swirling mass of rogue gene. My DNA is more complicated than a Celtic knot.
What mistakes do you commonly see people making?
There’s a well-known phenomenon in Britain called car park syndrome, where the Brits will for months and months dream of their perfect room, pull together all the samples, really getting under the skin of how they want their ultimate harem to look like or their complete and utter boudoir bombshell to be, and then there’s something that happens when they park their car at the DIY store.
By the time they’ve walked across the car park they’ve completely forgotten it all and they’ve given in to beige again. They end up with what they’ve more or less got. I’d like people to be as brave and as committed and as personality driven with their decorating as we really want to be. Do not fall at the last hurdle.
I definitely think the internet helps massively. You can be shopping for your home in your home and be able to make the creative magical leap between what you want and what you’re going to get.
Are there any rules people should abide by when they’re tackling their interiors?
You’d be surprised by how much you can get away with, we as a nation tend to understate where actually we can get away with overstating. Most of us live in houses that were built between 1880 and 1930 and they were conceived to have quite bold design statements.
For us to shuffle about and paint everything in a couple of good shades of national trust is a bit of a missed opportunity. You would be amazed by how much colour, and how much fun you can have with your home. Never forget the example set out by Fifty Shades of Grey, trying to have a great sex life in a beige bedroom is almost impossible.
Do you have any low cost ways to refresh your home in 2025 that won’t break the bank?
I think it’s the same sort of attitude that one uses with clothes, I’d look at accessories, look at cushions, vases, rugs. And lampshades, I’m a great believer in them.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen will be at the Ideal Home Show 2025, where he will be offering tips and tricks of the trade.
You can book half price tickets for the show, which is taking place at London’s Earls Court between 15 March and 1 April, by using our Ideal Home Show Discount Code.
Alternatively, visit www.idealhomeshow.co.uk or call 0844 858 6763.
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