By the time he turned nine, though, this beatific childhood had given way to something more Dickensian. View full post on Instagram If you could have a snoop around anyone's house, whose would it be and why? Beautifully written with excellent classic Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen tone of voice, the words jump of the page with grandeur and emphasis. One of the core reasons Laurence is fully embracing of, and strongly promotes, maximalism is that he believes it has women at the centre. His father, an orthopaedic surgeon at Harley Street and, under the NHS, at St James' Hospital, Balham, South London, died of leukaemia in 1974, aged 42, when Laurence was nine.

And from there, the results vary but a maximalist could easily Kondo their surroundings and remain maximal. My life with my family is here; it’s where my business is based, and its power to inspire me creatively is something I marvel at every day. And don't miss more interior design stories, the best dream homes in Wales, auction properties, and renovation stories – join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter sent to your inbox twice a week. LLB spent two decades railing against all shades of beige, especially magnolia, and has now turned his guns on grey. He said: "My love of history so early came from going around Edwardian castles in Wales designed to keep us in our place and what that did was to become the basis of my love of history.

Since 17 August 2021 he has re-appeared as resident designer on the reboot of the popular 90s makeover show Changing Rooms on Channel 4 with new host Anna Richardson. In 2007 he designed Decodance for Blackpool Illuminations, featuring six illuminated burlesque beauties. If you want to see maximalist interiors, Laurence very rightly steers us to Instagram, because there's an abundance of maximalism there, and since there's no one way of doing it, Laurence will not tell us what we must do to get it 'right', apart from urging is to do what we love. We need to go back to a place in the past where homes were where the heart was, where the Welsh mam was.

she's that aunty that turned up at parties with too much French perfume on and was the one that started the dancing and got everything going. Britons think that good taste is somehow unobtainable because you have to be ridiculously posh, and bad taste is to be feared because you will be judged. However he doesn't think it suits the majority of Welsh homes or his mantra that your home should cocoon you, make you feel safe and warm – surely a white box just doesn't give off that vibe? For the first time ever, Celador allowed Llewelyn-Bowen and his wife to retry the show after the company claimed that the last question "didn't meet their standards".It was people like Ashbee, Owen Jones, Walter Crane – and we all know about William Morris, of course – who all used the Cotswolds as a real springboard for all that we love about the movement; its chunky integrity and ‘Britishness’. I think I am probably a maximalist at heart; I love the idea that objects hold memories and tell the story of your life. He does offer advice, though: some sensible (bookcases need to be dark to show off their contents), some questionable (I need a denim blue feature wall) and some just bizarre (replace the curtains – and make our own out of dark grey blankets). With Britain, you lot are very good at finding lists of things to hold you back when it comes to design.

And yet, midway through this book that should not be as long as it is, I was incredibly tired of hearing about how being bold, brash, and big in your interior decor displays can make you happier, more confident, and whatever else you become when you switch to maximalism. I grew up with so many Welsh Auntie Ritas – most of my aunties were Auntie Ritas and I probably am channelling them in my Changing Room schemes.The decorated page edges and interior illustrations were lovely but I found I yearned for pictures to take the place of words, for my eyes to be wowed by photographic evidence of the thoughts on page. Having spent his entire career encouraging people to reject decorative modesty, he will not only inform the reader how to embrace Maximalism in their home, but promises to change how they live within it. He and his wife are ambassadors to the aid agency CARE International UK and in February 2008 visited the cyclone-hit areas of Bangladesh. Despite considerable international interest, it is important to Laurence that this exhibition happens in Cirencester: ‘I very much see myself as a part of the long tradition of artists and designers who have been proud to be Cotswold based.

And yet I don't think that idea wholly contradictory to Marie Kondo's maxim that what you own should bring joy.So maximalism has blossomed and LLB wants you to get on with weeding out the rubbish and nurture and grow the colour, patterns, and individual personality at your home. But don't be confused into thinking maximalism is all about filling your home to bursting point with stuff – that's not it at all.