Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen has admitted he is "disturbed" by what his neighbour Simon Cowell could do to his Cotswolds manor house, as he urged people to "let the freak flag fly".
The Changing Rooms star, 57, has just released a brand new book entitled 'MORE MORE MORE' which encourages people to move away from "the grey boxes they had created for themselves". He said he has a "horrible feeling" that 62-year-old Simon will do the opposite.
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, Laurence said: " I’m quite disturbed by what Simon Cowell’s going to do with his Cotswolds manor house because he’s only down the road.
"I’ve got a horrible feeling he’s going to be stripping everything out and making the windows bigger."
He added: "There are going to be people out there that want to do the grey, that want to do the beige; Simon Cowell, Stacey Solomon, Mrs Hinch. Good luck to them all.
"But actually I think the vast majority of people understand that personality comes from colour. History, storytelling comes from pattern. The things that make us who we are come from the objects that we own."
Throughout his career, Laurence has become known for his opulent and eye-catching style and said he's happy people are now seeing eye-to-eye with him.
"I think people want lush thank goodness. I love the fact that they’ve all caught up with me at last after 25 years. Let’s let the freak flag fly.
"Our homes are now our own again and we can do whatever we want with them," he added.
Laurence then said: "I think anyone that’s seen my programmes for the last 25 years will tell you, this is what I’ve been doing since the get go.
"I have always wanted to encourage people to do their own thing, I’ve always wanted to help them do their own thing.
"Okay, I wanted to take their thing and maybe take it a little bit further than they would ever take it themselves but that’s actually very much part of the journey as far as I’m concerned," he continued.
The flamboyant interior designer believes people began to embrace maximalism as they came out of lockdown. He said: "People suddenly found that they were very uninspired by the grey boxes they had created for themselves.
"They were really, really, very much looking to express themselves in a very different way."
The star, who has been happily married to wife Jackie for more than three decades, lives in the Cotswolds with three generations of the family under one roof.
The couple live with their daughters Hermione and Cecile and their husbands Drew and Dan, along with their three grandchildren, the youngest of which was born just two months ago.
Laurence described the living arrangements as "the most beautiful thing", adding: "A maximalist environment is actually the perfect environment to grow a family.
"It’s about nurturing, it’s about nourishing. It doesn’t matter if the kids are drawing all over the wallpaper, it doesn’t matter if the dogs have got muddy paws.
"It really reaffirms to me and I think a lot of other people that family living is best."
More More More by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is published by DK, 15th September 2022 £20.00.
