Interview with BBC Radio 2 presenter Owain Wyn Evans‘I love a good nosy around people’s homes and I’m going behind the curtain of what we see on social media!’

Known to millions for his Early Breakfast Show on Radio 2, Owain Wyn Evans is already a familiar voice in our ears and now he’s bringing his dulcet tones to the podcast space. As the host of Love What You’ve Done With The Place, he takes a joyful deep-dive into the homes, habits and interior design quirks of some of the UK’s best-loved personalities, including singer Sophie Ellis-Bexter, comedian Tom Allen, Reverand Kate Bottley and Dr Ranj Singh. Owain takes us behind the scenes – and behind his celebrity guests’ closed doors.

Congratulations on your new podcast! What inspired it and what can we expect?

Thank you so much! I love a good nosy around people’s homes, and I’ve been very lucky to be able to do that on some of the TV shows I’ve worked on. We often see glimpses into the homes of celebrities on social media, or in interviews, but I wanted to dig deeper! So, Love What You’ve Done with the Place came about because of that.

Why do you think we enjoy being so nosy?

I think it’s the peek behind the curtain we don’t often get to see. Your home is your sanctuary, your private place, and it should remain that way. But we also put a lot of time and effort into making a house a home, so it’s nice to have the opportunity to chat about certain parts of it. It’s also nice to get inspiration from other people’s spaces sometimes, and my podcast guests have great style, so I’ll be stealing a few ideas for sure!

Which celebrity home would you most love to look around?

Great question. I think it would be somebody like Meryl Streep. She’s had such success and continues to be an icon of the big screen, but what colour is her downstairs toilet? What’s she got on her mantelpiece? I need to know!

When did your interest in interior design first begin?

It started really when I rented my first room in a shared house in Cardiff over 20 years ago. It was a blank canvas and I remember how excited I was to make it my own. I loved buying lamps and bedding. Then, when my husband Arran and I bought our first home together, it needed a full renovation and we did a lot of the work ourselves. That’s continued over the years, and we’ve renovated homes to live in all over the place. It's been such a lovely journey to be on together.

How would you describe your own home aesthetic in three words?

Homely, cosy and (hopefully) smart.

What does your home say about you?

I love pieces that tell a story and my home is full of them. I’ve got a moped in my kitchen that’s mounted on a shelf. I used to ride it when I was a child and it brings back so many nice memories. I’ve also got a huge disco ball that Arran bought me for my 40th hanging in the lounge area in the kitchen (the drinkette loungette, as we call it!), which is from an old nightclub in London. And then there’s the hand-crafted, antique stick chair which I remember seeing in my nanna’s house when I was small. It actually came from an old pub in Meidrim. I never sit on it, I just like looking at it and it reminds me of traditional Welsh life.

What makes a house feel like a home to you?

For me it’s a mix of what you can see and what you can’t. It’s the objects you collect over the years that have memories, and how those things make you feel. I’ve been in amazing multi-million-pound houses that feel less homely than tiny terraces in the Valleys, and I think that just shows that money can’t buy the feeling of being at home.

Do you approach interiors practically, emotionally, or aesthetically first?

I think I like to approach interiors aesthetically first, by thinking of what colour or style we’d like, and then arranging furniture. But these things often change as time goes on. We’ve recently swapped around our dining room and living room around as the layout makes more sense this way. It’s always good to be open to change in your home.

If budget were no object, what dream design feature would you add to your home?

Arran and I adore 1960s homes – think Tracey Island vibes. I’d love a sunken seating area, wood-panelled walls and a lovely mid-century car port!

What’s been your biggest renovation challenge so far?

It has to be the house we currently live in. It’s gorgeous and located in Penarth, somewhere we’ve always wanted to live, but the layout didn’t work for us so we spent a lot of time taking down walls and rearranging the floorplan.

And your most satisfying DIY update?

The moveable glitterball in our ‘drinkette loungette’ gets a lot of love – it’s had millions of views online. It’s basically just a disco ball that I installed on a heavy-duty laundry hand crank, so it can be winched up into a ceiling alcove, or down into the beam of a spotlight. I ceremoniously crank it down every Friday night and that’s when the weekend starts!

Can you share some advice for styling a period home on a budget?

Try and work with what you have, and keep it simple. Also, there’s no rush. The influence of social media creates a sense of pressure to get to the finish line as soon as possible and have a home that looks camera ready. But the finish line is a moving target when it comes to renovating!

Favourite place to shop for homeware?

For me it’s the amazing Indoor Flea Market here in Cardiff. It has numerous traders selling all sorts, and a huge hall out the back which is pretty much full of house-clearance items. We’ve bought some lovely mid-century pieces from there, and it’s a great place to find a bargain.

Finally, which item in your home always makes you happy?

A little orange chair that Arran bought when we lived in Cardiff many moons ago. I think it may have been the first thing he bought for our house, and unlike the many things I’ve bought over the years that haven’t stood the test of time, it’s moved with us to every home we’ve lived in. I love that chair!

Love What You’ve Done With The Place is produced by Bengo Media and released weekly on all podcast platforms and YouTube. Follow on Instagram @LoveThePlacePod

This is a digital version of a feature that originally appeared in HomeStyle magazine. Take a look inside Owain’s Cardiff home in the October issue of Your Home. For more inspirational home ideas, why not subscribe today?