Areas I cover

Hove is home. I have spent 20 years decorating its period houses, mansion blocks and terraces, and I know how the town's buildings and its seafront weather behave.

Brighton's housing is as varied as the city itself, from Kemptown's Regency frontages to the Victorian villas around Preston Park. I decorate all of it.

Portslade sits right next to Hove, so it is home ground. The housing splits between the old village up the hill and the newer streets down towards the sea, and each needs a slightly different approach.

Southwick is a short drive west along the coast, built around its green and the harbour. The housing is mostly interwar and postwar, with the sea close by, so exterior durability matters here.

Peacehaven sits high on the cliffs east of Brighton, which makes it one of the most weather-exposed spots on this stretch of coast. That shapes how exterior decorating needs to be done here.