10 years ago, on July 7, BBC aired the 1st episode of “Design Rules”, a six-part series presented by the well known Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, or as some call him “Lord Laurence”, who gets right down to the fundamentals of design in this fascinating back-to-basics series. He tackles real problems in real homes as he explores six themes: space, colour, light, texture and pattern, balance and order, and personality. In addition to his own in-depth knowledge of design principles, Laurence calls on a colour forecaster, psychologists and a perception specialist to explain and demonstrate the science behind the how and the why.

In this series, Laurence shows us, for example, why it’s better to buy a couple of two-seater sofas — because three people never sit on a three-seater! He goes into the history of color, offers practical advice and tricks of the trade for maximising daylight and transforms the room with atmospheric and moody lighting, takes us back to the Victorians and their bold decorating style, He reveals that there are even more fundamental reasons for humans preferring symmetrical arrangements, how to apply the design rules to reflect individual personality. Despite being from 2003, the content has not aged much, these bits of knowledge can be applied today and for many years to come.

If you did not yet had the chance to watch this amazing series, Youtube user PalasAthenea has brought together all six episodes into a nice playlist so you can watch them all in one go, if you have the time. You can see it HERE