This room is based around a design of repeating sunflowers which I think he [Oscar Wilde] saw as a symbol of himself. Gilbert & Sullivan took the piss out of him and the aesthetic movement with Patience, and in fact the wallpaper in ‘May Morris’ is called ‘Down The Dilly’ because it features a tulip and a lily; in the aria that Bunthorne sang, he walked down Piccadilly, ‘with a tulip or a lily’.’ His love of pattern and design accumulated during a Fine Art degree at Camberwell School of Arts (now a constituent college of the University of Arts London). This degree left LLB with a steady hand but a bigger ego... He took his new-found knowledge with him to a variety of design companies and TV shows before establishing Llewelyn-Bowen Design in 1998. Since then, pattern has remained the key component to every product, project and performance in LLB's portfolio. LLB: I think it has to be another homecoming story. I was filming in Australia just as the pandemic started taking hold of us. I was aware of countries closing down, but I was still in the middle of filming, so was trying to make sure that I fulfilled my commitments without getting trapped. The problem was that we didn't get to see the finished result. I think it could have been something quite eccentric and really exciting. It could have been a real shop window for British craft and British madness. Obviously, none of us saw it. We were just bombarded by headlines about how appalling it was and how much money it cost, without actually being part of the big reveal. What is your most treasured possession at home? Why is it so special? Congratulations!!! So happy for you all," posted one, while a second added: " Congratulations Granddaddy LLB!"

Llewelyn-Bowen is also a patron of the children's charity MERU, co-founded by his father Trefor Llewelyn-Bowen with Bill Bond in 1970. The flamboyant designer and host of Channel 4's Changing Rooms is keen to encourage people to embrace his interior philosophy of self-expression, individuality and the dense display of possessions that make you feel special. And from there, the results vary but a maximalist could easily Kondo their surroundings and remain maximal. In November 2007 he and his family were depicted in the Living TV series To the Manor Bowen. Llewelyn-Bowen designed a line of wallpaper in collaboration with the British Home Decor Company Graham & Brown. Laurence and Hermione have an incredibly close relationship, and he played a large role in her wedding, which took place earlier this year.Fans were equally as excited as Laurence, as many took to the comments to share their messages of congratulations with the 57-year-old. But red had to get in there somewhere though it has apparently now been changed to tone it down (Image: Channel 4)

The idea was to revivify the Arts and Crafts movement, as it existed from 1880 to 1930, but for a completely new millennia. ‘It’s such an indelible part of the British aesthetic psyche,’ he says, ‘I think it can and should be used to lead into a completely new way of decorating.’ Based on English artist and book illustrator Walter Crane, this is an indulgent and quite extravagant evocation of bird-and-bough pattern-making, with fantastical feathered friends, lending it a ‘boudoir’ feel.’One thing I would love to have is a proper bar. I've aways loved the idea of having a rather naff, golf club-like bar under the stairs. It sounds ridiculous because we live in such a big house, but we just don't have room. That's something that is floating around in my head. I'd love a little cosy bar with two bar stools and a bronze mirror. It's somewhere where we spent a lot of time gathering together. It's also the room where I keep most of my books. It has a very chatty face. The walls are always full of intellectual potential as far as I'm concerned. The room has a very changeable state, which I think is quite exciting. Yes, it was all terribly sad; and yes, I remember it being quite dark and I remember things not being happy. But you know, it actually got on with itself, and we all carried on,” he says. “I can remember being semi-accused, certainly by my siblings, of being a bit heartless.” They live as vampires,’ he says, ‘with film on the windows to not let the sunlight in; they’ve given up half their room to a fish tank which they then get into with the fish; they paint everything in their world only pink or yellow. There are 16 of them so far, and these people are absolutely extraordinary because the one thing they have in common is that they’re all happy. This is what’s really good about Britain; we’ve always really liked people who are a bit different.

We shouldn't be feeling that we've got to conform to a fundamentally 20th century concept of minimalism which suggests we should be controlling our interior spaces as if it's some kind of pathogen against nature. Laurence's new book rides on the crest of a maximalism wave that is currently flooding the interiors world, creating unique homes across the land, some of which are likely to be featured in Laurence's new and up-coming Channel 4 show Outrageous Homes with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Of course LLB advocates for your home to be exactly how you want it to be. And if minimalism is what you yearn for then go for it – LLB is with you all the way regarding his desire for people to surround themselves with an interior that they love. 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? I cannot believe how many of those rooms I got away with,” says Llewelyn-Bowen. When he knew a room wasn’t going to work out – when it “curdled”, as he puts it – he would do one of two things: pretend it had turned out fine, or else adorn the room with one of his own 18th-century-style paintings, so the owners would at least know they had something to sell.In 2019, he took part in the BBC series Celebrity Painting Challenge and he became a judge alongside Juliet Ashworth in the Australian programme Instant Hotel. So I didn't need to be sold on having stuff and colors and displaying everything in a way that makes everything displayed seem interesting. 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. Let master of Maximalism Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen tell you how to create and curate a space that you can truly love spending time in. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen visits Plas Llanmihangel manor house, near Cowbridge (Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)