With a red front door and brown brick walls, it looks like any other suburban home.

But step inside one Brighton house and the effect is more Sistine Chapel than Sixties council house.

Painter and decorator Robert Burns has spent the last three years transforming his home in Twyford Road, Brighton, into a Renaissance masterpiece.

He has never been to Italy and has not had art lessons since he was at primary school in South Africa.

But he has faithfully reproduced the work of 15th Century Italian artists such as Botticelli using coffee table books bought at jumble sales.

A nativity scene with a trompe d'oeil ("trick of the eye") gold frame adorns the dining room wall, while the ceiling in the hallway and lounge is a mass of fluffy clouds and blue sky. The landing is decorated with a marble effect.

Cameos of the Virgin Mary and other religious scenes also attract the eye.

While the Renaissance painters used a mixture of pigments and hundreds of egg yolks, Mr Burns has made do with acrylics and household emulsion.

The 59-year-old, who has four children, said: "I did a little bit and my wife Linda said, Go for it', so I did.

"Whenever I'm bored or haven't any decorating work I add a bit more. It stops me going barking while I'm waiting for the phone to ring.

"Decorating work can be a bit bland - the last thing was painting a factory in Newhaven with 53 litres of magnolia, for example.

"So this is a way to use my creative skills. Some of it has been quite a challenge.

I've learnt it's very hard to paint on the ceiling, for example, because all the paint drips down your brush.

"I think I will stop at the inside of the house though. I'm not sure the council would be very pleased if I started decorating the outside too."

Mr Burns pointed out that many of the Renaissance painters were, like himself, workmen rather than artists.

He said: "Most of them were just tradesmen and they worked with big teams of helpers.

"Some of them ended up doing very well and getting some lucrative contracts but it was only later that people started proclaiming that they were these great artists."