All children dream – but not everyone can turn their dreams into reality.

So when a British artist had the chance to make his childhood wish come true – he did it in spectacular fashion.

And it all started with his house and 238 gallons of paint. And a couple thousand pens.

Sam Cox, aka Mr. Doodle, is a well-known artist who draws black and white doodles. Ever since he was a kid, he said, he’d wanted to live in a house that was covered in doodles.

“I’ve always wanted to live in a completely doodled house,” Cox said.

It feels the most natural way to create art for me, and the most instinctive process when I pick up a pen and just start drawing.”

Along with his wife, Alena, he tackled the house project with the same drive he has used for all of his art works.

The project took 238 gallons of white paint, along with “401 cans of black spray paint (for the outside), 286 bottles of black drawing paint (for the inside) and 2,296 pen nibs,” he said in a social media post.

The outside of Cox’s home. Photo by Getty images

“The bedroom is actually the first room that I started when I began doodling over the house,” Cox said.

When asked if he really would wake up each day to a house full of black and white designs, even on the bed sheets and walls, Cox made sure to express how much he loved his redesigned home. 

“Yeah, yeah, this is sort of paradise for me,” the artist said.

Drawing for Cox is an experience like no other. “It’s just such a great process. You feel almost like an out-of-body experience. You’re just indulging yourself in this free-flowing state of creation and it’s just the best thing anyone can do, I think.”

His 13-room mansion, which he and his wife bought in 2019, took more than 3 years to completely cover with doodles. Before he could start, though, he and family and friends first had to turn the house into a blank white canvas.

And then the doodling began. No surface was left untouched – including the oven, lamp shades and computer mouse.

Everything is doodled,” he said. “It’s living as an artwork.”

He shared an online video time lapse of the project, which has millions of views.

Cox and his wife, Alena, in their dining room. Photo by Getty images

Cox began drawing as a child, doodling on his furniture and walls. Slowly his work has garnered attention, and now can sell doodles for upward of $1 million dollars.

He said he never tries to plan his doodles out too much, instead preferring to let his work flow from him.

“My mind tends to wander around, and I end up thinking about all sorts of things,” he said. “I just have a vague idea and let myself relax and let my hand do the work.”

Cox’s work is all hand-drawn. He said if he makes a mistake, it will be left in. “The nature of a doodle is to let it be,” he said.

Cox in his doodle bathtub. Photo by Getty images

When some online commenters questioned whether he could live in such a jarring environment, Cox said he loved it. “You do get used to it,” Cox said. “It just feels complete and like a happy place when it’s all doodled.”

The couple, along with their dog, plan to live in the house. Possibly offering online tours to those who want to see what it looks like.

“I’m pretty committed to staying in it,” he said. “We really like where we live, and we’re really happy being in the home. We want it to stay doodled … We think it’s really fun.”

Watch below to see the Doodle House come alive!

Sources: People | Washington Post