Educated at Alleyn's School in Dulwich, Laurence graduated from the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in 1986 with a Fine Art degree. He subsequently worked for the Harefield Group of Companies and the interior design firm Peter Leonard Associates. In 1989 he started his own design consultancy. His wife Jackie, an author, had heard through her agent that a production company was searching for a designer and in 1996 he appeared on the first episode of Changing Rooms.

He has also presented a three-part BBC special Taste (2002), about the history of interior design, and in autumn 2005 he began presenting the weekly BBC1 travel show Holiday 2006. His books include Fantasy Rooms: Inspirational Designs from the BBC Series (1999), Display (2001), "Home Front": Inside Out (2002), Design Rules (2003) and A Pinch of Posh (2006) co-written with his wife, Jackie. He has also made a guest appearance on Changing Rooms' American counterpart, Trading Spaces