The council flat king! DIY fanatic spends more than 30 years turning his two-bedroom home into a replica of the Palace of Versailles complete with marble-effect 'throne'

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A DIY fanatic has spent more than 30 years turning his council flat into a replica of the Palace of Versailles.

Adrian Reeman, 67, is determined to leave no part of his two bedroom flat in Southampton unchanged in his quest to make the interior fit for a king.

He has transformed the walls, ceiling, fire place and cupboards in every room to give the 9th floor apartment a palatial touch.

Not exactly your average flat. Adrian Reeman has spent three decades making his two bedroom apartment in Southampton into an ornately-designed masterpiece. He's transformed the walls, ceiling and cupboards in every one of the rooms

Adrian's currently working to make the toilet in his small bathroom look like it's made of marble 

His latest project is creating a marble-effect toilet to serve as a perfect throne.

Adrian, a former chef for the Merchant Navy, said: 'I love to keep improving it. I'm very happy with what I've done, but I still feel like there's a bit to do.

'Although funnily enough I don't notice it that much now. I've become used to it.

'Other people are amazed when they come in and quite often taken aback. They say it looks fantastic.

'But to me it's just become normal.

'I've got my own palace - just on a much smaller scale.

Adrian lives in a two bedroom flat in Oslo Towers, Southampton. But the brutalist architecture of the exterior could hardly contrast more the lavish interior that Adrian had designed for him and his wife 

Adrian is a former chef for the Merchant Navy. When he started his ambitious redesign he had no professional qualifications or experience in interior decorating, but was determined to make the right changes 

'I'm currently working to make the toilet look like its made of marble. It's only a small lavatory, and you can barely turn around in it, but that doesn't mean you cannot make it look grand.'

Adrian's obsession began when he moved into the flat with his wife Annette in 1986. She had been living there for two years.

Despite having not professional qualifications in design or decorating and having never been to the Palace of Versailles, he was determined to make changes.

He began to do work on the flat when he was in between jobs, and slowly made progress on more and more elements.

He said: 'I really didn't mean to start creating anything like this.

'Around here not a lot of people bother with their homes, and I never used to either.

'I just thought it would keep me busy if I started to make it look nicer, and the project grew from there.

'I'm not really a sociable person, so it was nice for me to keep working on the flat.

'I'm really quite proud of what I've managed.

'I've never been to the real Versailles. My wife and I don't travel too much, and it's much easier to stay at home.'

Adrian first moved into the flat in 1986, where his wife Annette had been living for two years

While the interior may look lavish, Adrian managed to keep the cost down by finding materials in skips and charity shops 

Adrian has always had a love of drawing, art and sculpture - which becomes clear looking at the living room ceiling of his flat

'It just seemed a challange to decorate the flat in that style. And I thought it would make the place look a bit more grand.'

Impressively, he has kept the cost down to a minimum by finding the necessary materials in skips and charity shops.

He has crafted tables from discarded wooden salad bowls and detailing on the fireplace was finished using brass prongs from unwanted plugs.

He has only had to buy a few fixtures, and despite having lost track of the spending, he claims it cannot be more than a few hundred pounds.

His love of art, drawing and sculpture helped him to reimagine the flat, as did a book on Versailles.

Adrian said: 'As I've been doing it in fits and starts it's taken over 30 years.

'I like art and drawing, so it's always been interesting to plan what I could do next.'

However, his decorations have tied the couple up in the apartment.

The project has been completed in 'fits and starts' over the course of the thirty years Adrian has lived in the flat 

He was partly inspired by the opulent decorations seen in palaces and mansions during the 17th and 18th centuries  

The tenancy agreement states that the flat must be returned to its original condition if the couple move, something which Adrian says he could never achieve.

He said: 'If you return the flat you have to give it back in its original condition.

'There's no chance I'll ever be able to put it back.

'But who would want that? It had a horrible copper pebble wallpaper!

'We were offered the change to buy the flat but it didn't seem worth the money and the extra expenses we would have to pay.

'We are tied down, but I'd like to stay here as long as possible. I really like it, and I see no reason to move.'

His wife Annette has been impressed by both her husband's dedication and the results he has achieved.

She said: 'I'm really proud of what he has done. He is very talented.'  

Vintage pictures show Adrian's project when it was still in its infancy 

Adrian's wife Annette says she's been impressed by her husband's dedication and the results he has achieved.