In a New TV Series, Martyn Lawrence Bullard Explores the World’s Most Beautiful Homes
In Homeworthy’s Live, Love & Decorate with Martyn Lawrence Bullard, the Los Angeles-based interior designer tours extraordinary residences in Paris, London, Istanbul, and beyond, revealing how each reflects its city and culture
For Martyn Lawrence Bullard, learning—especially through travel—is a pivotal key to life. On Homeworthy’s Live, Love, & Decorate with Martyn Lawrence Bullard, the world-renowned interior designer demonstrates just that, traveling the world to visit some of his most beloved cities and knocking on the doors of cherished friends to show viewers how true design is influenced by its surroundings.
“I hope that people understand that travel is not only about a vacation,” Bullard tells Galerie. “It’s about gaining knowledge; it’s about understanding new environments and new people, and it’s something that will always inspire you.” In fact, when young design professionals inquire about returning to school, Bullard is mindful to recommend they include travel in their education plans, and to go beyond museum tours. “Because that is the greatest knowledge you can ever have—to see new things; it will always inspire you. To see cities through the eyes of the people that live there will give you a better understanding of a city than museums and hotels that you usually stay in do.”
Each episode of his new series features a stop in a city Bullard has fallen in love with. At each place, he picks a boutique hotel to feature, takes viewers on an immersive experience in the city, like stopping in at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul or an art fair in Sydney, and then to the home of friends he’s met on his travels or through his design work. “I have a kaleidoscope of people from aristocrats to fashion designers to interior designers,” Bullard says of his friends. “People that live in huge mansions, and a houseboat; people that live where they work—like famous antique dealers that live over their shop—[the show] has a little bit of everything.”
Standout moments for Bullard so far are his trip to Istanbul, because of the connection he has to the city and the properties he features that have links to the Ottoman Empire, showcasing a sophisticated way of life and culture that many are unfamiliar with, and the stops he makes in Paris. “Paris has been close to my heart since I was a small child—I’ve been obsessed with the flea markets and antique stores there, which we get to show. I visit one of the great mid-century furniture dealers of the world in his private home filled with extraordinary pieces of furniture, including a $5 million sofa in its original fabric from the 1930s, but they use it in their everyday life.”
The latter is a concept Bullard seeks to showcase throughout his travels and his professional practice—design meant for living. “My number one is always comfort before anything,” he says. “I felt so justified in that experience by seeing other people living that way. It was wonderful. Even the $5 million sofa, they were living on it—not treating it as a piece of art but treating it as a part of their lifestyle.”
While the first several episodes are now available to stream, Bullard is still filming and promises a star-studded ending with a few Hollywood-style twists remaining. The series is available exclusively to Homeworthy Plus members.
