Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen: You ask the questions

Such as: how would you make over the Big Brother house? And does it bother you that so many people assume you're gay?

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen was born in London in 1965. After graduating in fine art from Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, he designed industrial flooring, which was used at the Royal Albert Hall and Buckingham Palace. In 1989 he set up his own design consultancy, which has undertaken projects ranging from multimillion-pound refurbishments of the Richmond and Criterion Theatres to hotel interiors in Thailand. He began presenting Changing Rooms in 1996 and has since worked on Fantasy Rooms and Homefront. He lives in Greenwich, south-east London, with his wife, Jackie, and two daughters, Cecile and Hermione.

If you could be born at any point in history and live in any house, where would you pick? How would you improve it? Sam Keane, Cardiff

The 18th century was very interesting. By the 1760s you had the beginnings of the design democracy that we have now. You had Wedgwood and Boulton. I'd be keen to avoid the 19th century. It was a nadir of taste. Victoriana just sets my teeth on edge.

But to be honest, I really like being born now. We are so phenomenally spoilt. Life is so much easier for pretty much everyone in the country than it was. It's very easy to be seduced by the aesthetics of the past and say, "Well, it would be great to go around in red kitten heels with an enormous wig," but then I kind of do that anyway.

I have a horror of occupying houses that are too big. The concept of having a 20th-century mansion drives me insane, because there'd be so much work involved. My current home is a lovely 1840s house with two bedrooms on each floor. I feel we've got the right allocation of space. I'd feel guilty if I owned too much square-footage.

How long does it take you to get ready in the mornings? Is it true that your wardrobe is larger than your wife's?Lisa Markby, Sutton

No. She has got a very, very big wardrobe, although there is a lot of rubbish in hers. I've got 82 suits at the moment, which I know is very excessive. But there are only four or five that I wear regularly. Most things were outfits for special events and are very flavourful. They're not even suitable for me to wear every day.

It doesn't take me long to get ready. Obviously I'm a dandy, I won't try to deny it. But I think there's a big difference between being a fop and a dandy. Dandies just get dressed and that's it. Fops get obsessive about getting the angle of their cravat right. As for my hair, I just wash it and de-nit it – there's a big nit outbreak at my children's school at the moment.

Would you allow your own home to appear on Changing Rooms? If so, which designer would you allow to decorate it?Moira Kirby, St Davids

My own home is being filmed for Changing Rooms on Monday and Tuesday next week. Linda Barker is doing my kitchen. I'm not nervous. She's been sweet enough not to worry about what I'm going to do to her living room. I can't tell you what I'll be doing, but I will say that I'm taking my inspiration from Aubrey Beardsley and really getting into aubergine and pink.

I don't know what Linda's planning but my wife, Jackie, has been dropping hints because she didn't like the way I did the kitchen last year. I painted it pale blue and she found it a bit chilly. We redecorate quite often. The girls' bedrooms are being redone at the moment after six or seven months.

How would you work your magic on the Big Brother house? Julia Smith, East Croydon

I think the whole interior looks like it was designed by a personal shopper. It's all the bits and pieces that have been featured in Elle Decoration recently: those pebble-print duvets and everything grey and red. It looks like the waiting lounge for Purgatory, which I suppose it is, really. How could it be improved? Napalm and keep the doors closed.

You're very flamboyant on camera. Are you shy and retiring off it? Mark Pole, by e-mail

What do you think? I'm very lucky, because I don't have to perform for the programmes that I make. I'm very indulged: they just set up a camera and I get on and do my job.

Do you ever go back to previous Changing Rooms participants and find out whether they ripped it all out as soon as you left? Who's been your most dissatisfied customer? Anna Wagstaffe, Edinburgh

I went back to the first three we did. One couple cried, one swore and the other just bitched. The couple in Eltham was the most dissatisfied, probably. He said it looked like a tart's boudoir, which of course is very amusing, because how trendy is that now?

What is the ultimate must-have for today's designer kitchen? Gemma Leader, London

I would say wallpaper. It's so sexy and happening. And I don't necessarily mean big, scary, swirly 1970s patterns. There's a huge revival of interest in William Morris and damask patterns, which are quite Eighties, quite trashy. Or it could be more Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, with chandeliers and Formica furniture.

I think as a society we are becoming more traditionally minded. People are so busy now. The home is where people long to get back to. And the majority of people work in contemporary environments with overhead lighting and VDUs, so their homes, as somewhere to retreat, are becoming more regressive. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Have you ever made over a room, finished it and then thought: Oh my God, it's awful? Julia Simmons, Manchester

Awful is a strong word. There have been a few occasions when I've thought: "That was a narrow escape."

Isn't there more to life than making your home look good? Barbara Burns, Sheffield

It comes down to a feeling of being able to exercise control on an environment. That's something a lot of us feel we lack. We have lots of responsibilities and not much control.

Changing Rooms was the only thing left in the schedules on 11 September. We had the most phenomenal post bag as a result. People had been through one of the worst days of their lives, and for many that half an hour of the most irrelevant stuff – like me worrying about what shade of green to paint a breakfast room – was exactly what they needed.

Do you mind people assuming that you're gay? What does your wife think of that? Peter Buck, Belfast

It's something that both of us have always been slightly bemused by. It is quite bizarre, because there is rather a lot of evidence to the contrary. But one can't go around enforcing people's views of one. And being angry about it would be disparaging towards the gay community.

I was voted the country's 10th campest TV personality, and I was the only heterosexual on the list. I do get quite a lot of mail from straight men saying they admire the way that I enjoy the clothes I wear. But it's all about context. I think in 18th-century society I would have been considered frighteningly butch.

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is currently launching Adventure, a range of children's interior products. For details, log on to: www.llb.co.uk