Inside the £2m home that’s been turned into one giant painting

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Every surface in the terraced home has been meticulously hand-painted by artist Emily Powell and now it's on the property market

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A British artist has transformed her terraced home in Devon into a sprawling, immersive artwork, which is now on the market with a guide price of £2 million.

Emily Powell, 35, has meticulously hand-painted every surface of her five-bedroom property in Brixham, from light switches and floorboards to bath tiles and the fridge, creating a unique, lived-in masterpiece.

The two-floor residence encompasses approximately 400 square metres of deeply personal works, flowing seamlessly together to form one continuous, walk-in painting.

Visitors will discover fishing boats bobbing along the skirting board in the hallway, a kitchen table set with painted plates and a teapot, and a cupboard under the stairs reimagined as a swimming pool complete with a ladder. Birds are depicted in flight throughout the home, adding to the whimsical atmosphere.

Each room is designed to evoke distinct emotions. The comforting red lounge features fireplace tiles adorned with family memories, while a circus-themed playroom bursts with animals wearing party hats.

The upstairs hallway, leading to the master bedroom, showcases giant sunflowers, a nod to Powell’s residency on the Isles of Scilly this summer. In her young child’s room, giant tigers stand guard, offering a sense of protection.

Powell, who grew up in Liverpool, is hosting a series of open-house tours before the property’s sale, with around 400 members of the public expected to experience the installation this week. She has also pledged to return to the house every 10 years for the rest of her life to carry out retouching, ensuring the artwork’s preservation.

The sale includes an additional 65 pieces Powell has produced over the past decade, alongside 20 items of painted furniture, ranging from the fridge and freezer to bookcases, a bin store, and a playhouse.

"It took us so long to be able to buy our first house, which was completely bought with painting money from my pieces over the past 10 years," said Powell, who lives with her husband, young child, and cat. "When we got here, we had been in rented accommodation for so long. It was such a special moment. I thought we would have beautiful carpets and polished ornaments but that didn’t happen at all."

She explained how the artistic transformation began organically. "I think it was a couple of weeks before I decided to paint a tree on the back of the office door, then it grew really quickly," she added. "It has become a journey through different parts of my life. Each room has colour palettes to support your emotions."

The artwork is deeply personal, incorporating elements such as "birds flying in memory of my late father and different scenes from my life, from the Arctic and Lake District to the Inner Hebrides of Scotland." Powell noted, "When you walk into the house, on the doormat there is an homage to Matisse and artists who painted still life pieces of the home."

Powell created the extensive works using five-litre tins of house paint, applied with a selection of brushes from her local hardware store.

She described how motherhood provided her with time at home, particularly in the evenings, to pick up a paintbrush and create new pieces inspired by moments from her life. "When you live inside one giant painting, there are so many angles you have to consider and colour combinations that shift through doorways or up the stairs," she said.

Tickets for the open-house tours sold out within 24 hours, with more than 500 people now on a waiting list. Visitors are travelling from as far as the United States and Europe for the tours, during which Powell’s kitchen will be transformed into a tea room, serving cake from Devon company High Tide Tea.

"I’ve had so many requests over the years to open the house up," Powell stated. "I felt like I have finally finished it. We’ve chosen to put it on the market because it’s really important to me that this entire chapter is preserved. I don’t want to paint over what’s already here, I need to start a new chapter. This is an opportunity for people to have an entire capsule of art."

Powell currently has no specific plans for after her family home is sold through international estate agents Chestertons, but expressed excitement for "new walls to paint."

The property listing highlights its unique nature: "Spanning 1,712sq ft across three floors, the five-bedroom, mid-terraced house effectively functions as a single, continuous canvas. It is one of the first known instances in the UK of a lived-in home, hand-painted in its entirety by the artist being offered for sale as a complete, immersive artwork."

Riccardo Carrelli, handling the sale for Chestertons, described it as a "fusion" of art and property, adding that "The collection is a significant art investment at an early stage in the artist’s career." He confirmed that viewings for potential buyers would be arranged outside of the public open-house tours.

The £2 million guide price reflects the combined value of the home, its original artworks, and the included painted furniture.

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