YOU could be forgiven for thinking you had walked into an Italian palace, but Dennis Nelems' magnificent baroque salon is actually the living room of his Cleveleys flat.

Retired cabinet maker Mr Nelems spent 18 months painstakingly recreating a 16th century rococo room that Michelangelo would be proud of in his modern flat at Admiral Sound on the promenade.

And Mr Nelems, 61, has done all the work on the renaissance masterpiece himself. He researched the period and set about making all the plaster moulds and adapting figurines and Corinthian columns by hand. Everything is individually gilded and hand painted using the finest artists' brushes.

The Medici-style salon has frescoed ceilings with stuccoed garlands and swags, ornate gilded fireplace made to look like ormolu, cupid lights, and Italian white marbling effects on the walls.

"I just didn't want ordinary wallpaper stuck on the wall. It's not my scene. It's a big project, it's non-stop work. Every day I'm up until after 1am designing and researching. Just to get all my materials together can take a long while," he said.

And just like the stately homes he liked to visit, Mr Nelems' home was beginning to attract sightseers, with neighbours and friends calling to see the room.

"Somebody said it's like having your own stately home and I should charge. I do like anything historical. I've been interested since I was about 12. I read all the Roman history and all about Michelangelo's time. And I've always been quite creative."

Mr Nelems said that as a small child he once sawed through some "barley sugar" table legs with his toy saw! "My parents warned my wife when I was about to get married and said, 'Watch him -- if he gets hold of any tools you've had it!'

"You need a lot of patience. But I'm pleased with the final result. And my wife loves it. She fully supports me -- she loves everything I do," he said.