LLB chooses Australia to launch his own wallpaper collection
In an international exclusive, House Rules Judge and Interior Designer Laurence Llewelyn Bowen has launched his latest wallpaper collection to the Australian market – six months before anywhere else in the world!
Graham & Brown is one of the leading wallpaper companies in the UK and first came to Melbourne in 2013. Now with their entire range available for purchase online, they can ship anything to Australia in a matter of days, making it easier than ever to order quality, up-to-the-minute wallpaper designs.
Since 1999 Graham & Brown has been working in a fruitful creative partnership with Laurence Llewelyn Bowen and his latest collection has been released here in Australia first, driven by Laurence’s burgeoning love for the Australian interior design scene he has come to embrace since his many visits as a judge on House Rules.
“Nature is unbelievably colourful,” he says. “The joy of living in Australia is that it’s under a sky that’s been created by Monet.” Let’s take what’s so special about Australia and fuse it with pattern-making that goes back generations.
“I believe that the next renaissance in design will come from Australia. This country has a strong energy, climate and natural resources, but is also a place of contrast - old versus new and east versus west. It’s an incredibly inspirational place for creative people,” adds Laurence.
"Under Florence Broadhurst, Australia bossed the world. It's time to re-engage with pattern."
Laurence Llewelyn Bowen
LLB has created 17 new designs and seven custom sizable murals ($80 sq/m) which are available from the online store and priced from $130-$160 per roll.
“I’m on a mission to debunk the myths around wallpaper. I like to think of wallpaper as handtailoring for a wall, and as our homes are the temples of our personalities, we should embrace something different when we can,” says Laurence.
Encouraging us to bring more wallpaper into our homes and, “Re-engage with what makes wallpaper so special, ” Laurence believes wallpaper has an innate democracy to it, “That allows you to get design onto your wall. Paint gives you colour, plaster gives you a finish, wallpaper gives you dirty great big daisies!”
Believing home to be, “The background to everything that is wonderful in life,” Laurence says he has a growing affection for The Australian Dream of owning and decorating a home and has been blown away by Australian homeowners’ ability to engage with their houses. “I love the energy and excitement Australian have about their homes,” he says.
“I’m obsessed with being able to take something posh and have it in your house every day,” says Laurence of his wallpaper range, which includes the cheeky renaissance-inspired “Prosecco Time” design he has hand drawn and writ large to be available as a ready-made mural.
"I feel Australia needs it, I feel Australia wants it, I feel Australia deserves it,” he says with trademark flamboyance that translates perfectly to his stunning range of wallpaper which, whilst playfully named comes from a place of genuine quality and considered design.
Wallpaper is something that has the ability of storytelling that goes back a long, long way,” says Laurence. “And what a difference pattern can make in your home. One of the biggest things I like about wallpaper is that it’s a starting point for a palette from which you can create your own rooms,” he encourages.
Our favourites include "Palace in Wonderland”, "Pleasure Dome" and the cleverly executed “Betty Boudoir” which is inspired by ceiling roses.
If you’re struggling to imagine how LLB’s style will work in your home, try the Graham & Brown DecoratAR visualising app, on which you can simulate the effect using augmented reality technology, right in the comfort of your own loungeroom. It’s due to be released to Australian users in mid-July.
Go to Graham & Brown for more information.
