Most parents tell their kids not to draw on the walls, but for artist Sam Cox, he’s been able to take his childhood passion for doodling and transform his US$1.5 million Kent home into a piece of art.
According to Architectural Digest, Cox purchased the six-bedroom property in 2019 and set about covering every surface in monochrome, hand-drawn, cartoons.
Cox started in the bedroom and moved through the rest of the house including the staircase, bathrooms, bathtubs, kitchen and even the stove.
Known professionally as ‘Mr Doodle’, he said the project took two years, 900 litres of white paint, 401 cans of black spray paint for the exterior, 286 bottles of black drawing paint for the interior, and 2296 black pens to transform the house.
No surface has been left untouched, with even the sofa doodled and lacquered for protection.
“I’d like to thank my mum and dad because, ever since they let me draw over my bedroom walls when I was a kid, I have wanted to live in a property completely covered in characters of my own creation,” Cox said.
Every room in the home is doodled with a particular theme in mind – dreams for the bedroom, Noah’s Ark for the hallway, heaven and hell for the staircase, Adam and Eve on the landing and ocean for the bathroom.
He said the ensuite bathroom was a huge undertaking in itself, with a staggering 2000 tiles, all of which were doodled with the sea theme, which took two months to complete.
Cox, having completed the bedroom, proceeded to the rest of the house. This includes a magnificent staircase and formal landing, the primary bathroom featuring a standalone bathtub, and several bedrooms.
In the kitchen, Cox covered the stove entirely with drawings, acknowledging this may have rendered the appliance inoperative.
Cox is a successful artist in his own right, with one of his doodles selling for a little under $1 million at the Tokyo Chuo Auction Company in 2019.
In 2020, he was the fifth most successful artist at auction under 40 years old. He has also built a huge following on social media.
The 12-room Georgian mansion was built in 1974 and when Cox purchased it from the previous owners they only had one request he said.
“They told me whatever you do, please don’t doodle,” he said.
“I didn’t listen.”
