Interior design ideas: a glimpse inside an artist's home – in pictures

Graphic designer Lou Rota decorates homewares with life-like bugs, butterflies and birds – they meander among Victorian florals – and she shares her own home with an army of these surreal creatures. Alcoves heave with knick-knacks, charity shop Victoriana, paintings and lamps. The living room is painted Stone Blue by Farrow & Ball. The sofa, a cast-off, is upholstered in mismatched fabrics; an old sledge doubles as a coffee table. The leather chair is from a sale at prop hire company Granger Hertzog – for a similar Jack Russell cushion, try Achica. The lamp is the Tolomeo from Artemide. Photograph: Beth Evans

The chest of drawers was a flea market find, and the objects that decorate it are a lifetime’s collection. “This is my nature table,” Rota says. “It’s mostly found things: we travel a lot and bring objects home with us. I like details – the colour and texture of a crab’s claw, bone or shell.” Next to the mirror, which she found in a skip, is a set of butterfly stickers from her own collection, while one of her up-cycled vintage plates hangs on the wall. Photograph: Beth Evans

Even workaday utensils are given room to breathe, hung in an elegant jumble above the hob. The trays are Rota's own design. Photograph: Beth Evans

A mural of Paolo Veronese’s 16th-century masterpiece The Allegory Of Love IV dominates the study, from Surface View. In front are two chairs Rota found at Kempton antiques market. Photograph: Beth Evans

The desk and plastic chair in Rota’s youngest daughter’s bedroom are junk shop finds that she personalised with a decoupage of cut-outs from Beano comics. The framed print is by Thursday Press. Photograph: Beth Evans

This alcove has a still-life feel to it, with its choice of Victoriana objects. The poodle lamp is by Abigail Ahern for Caravan and the pigeon jug, featuring a photograph by Richard Bailey, is one of Rota’s own designs. The vintage vase was a car boot find – a pair for £5. Photograph: Beth Evans