Woman who moved into cave after break-up ‘fell in love’ with odd home – even with scorpions and spiders as ‘housemates’

An interior designer who moved into a cave in Sicily after a break-up says her new home “saved” her – despite her new “housemates” being scorpions, spiders and crickets.

Shalise Barnes, 30, bought an 85-square-metre cave for £47,255 (55,000 euros), sight unseen in June 2026, initially planning to “flip it”.

But, after going through a break up, and “falling in love” with the home once she viewed it in person, she decided to move in permanently, from Amsterdam to Sicily.

The cave had already been converted into a liveable home by previous owners, looking like a traditional home from the front, complete with electricity, running water, a kitchen, bathroom and upstairs bedroom.

Living with her dog and three cats, Shalise said the cave costs just £129 (150 euros) a month to run and naturally stays cooler in summer and warmer in winter, although she has had to get used to humidity, dust and insects.

After sharing her home on TikTok, where one video has attracted more than 2.9 million views, she has faced “plenty of criticism”, with trolls warning she could “die of lung cancer” or there could be demons inside.

Shalise, who grew up between the US and Canada,  told PA Real Life: “I decided to stay for a new start – the house saved me.

“It gave me a lot of peace and stability in a really difficult time.

“I’ve found three scorpions so far – you couldn’t live in this house and be afraid of insects, they’re like my housemates.

“On TikTok, I had so many people comment saying that I’m going to die of lung cancer, or that it’s going to flood when it rains, or that it’s full of mould.

“People have even said living in a cave is going to let demons into my house!”

Shalise became an interior designer at age 20 after studying fine art at university in Paris and renovating houses to sell for a profit.

Since then, she has transformed properties around the world, from penthouse apartments to 400-year-old buildings, through her business, Artemis Interior Design.

Earlier this year, while working as a property consultant in Sicily, helping people find the “right house” for them, she came across a cave that had been transformed into a liveable home.

After only seeing the property online, she “jumped at the chance” to buy it and purchased the 85-square-metre house sight unseen for £47,255 (55,000 euros) in June 2026.

She originally planned on “flipping it” and renting it out.

The cave had already been fully renovated by its previous owner in 2006, meaning Shalise could focus mainly on the property’s aesthetics rather than its structure.

On the day she bought it, Shalise stayed up until 2am ordering “every single piece” of furniture, towels and lighting she needed to make the cave feel more “cosy and homely”.

She said: “It was very sparse, so I got bookshelves, soft lighting and some really large plush furniture.”

After speaking to the previous owner and carrying out some research, she believes the cave was once used to house farm animals before later becoming a bakery in the 1900s.

When she visited the property for the first time a few weeks after purchasing it, she instantly “fell in love” with it.

“It was much larger and the ceilings were higher than I expected,” Shalise explained.

“There’s a kitchen and a bathroom with a lot of reclaimed tiles.

“Then from the front there’s a facade – it looks like a normal house with a door, but it opens to the cave.

“There’s an upstairs area for the bedroom, which is where people might have slept when looking after the animals.

“There are a lot of hooks that would’ve been used to keep the farm animals too.”

Shalise added that the previous owner had also discovered old keys and a painting of a patron saint, which she believes could date back hundreds of years, and she has kept them on display in the cave.

Shalise soon decided to keep it for herself and move in permanently.

She said: “I was living in Amsterdam at the time and had just gone through a break-up, so needed somewhere to live.

“My family were concerned about what I was going to do with my life.

“Once I moved in, I was enjoying my life and I spent the first few months just in the hammock reading in the cave – I don’t own a TV.”

The home has electricity and running water, is fully wired and has a water heater, and Shalise spends just £129 (150 euros) a month on running costs.

“The cave regulates its temperature – it’s like I’m living inside the earth,” she added.

“In summer it’s cooler and in winter it’s warmer. I’ve got a pellet stove for winter and an air-con unit, but I don’t think I’ll use them often.”

But Shalise said her home has come with some unexpected challenges.

“I have to wake up and open all of the doors and windows to stop it getting humid,” she explained.

“The limestone is very soft, so it gets quite dusty in the cave.

“So I’m cleaning that all the time.”

She has also had to “get used to” insects “constantly being around”, as if they are her “housemates”.

Shalise said: “You have to accept it’s also their home.

“I find crickets everywhere and have to shake out my shoes every day.

“I always see huge spiders, but I’ve accepted we’re on the same team and I leave the cobwebs, so I get less intruders.”

Shalise posts about her home on Instagram under the handle @artemisonlineinteriordesign, where she has more than 65,000 followers.

She has also posted on TikTok, under the handle @artemis_interior, and a video showing the property has racked up more than 2.9 million views, with thousands of people admiring her unusual home in the comments.

But she said she has also faced “plenty of criticism” and misconceptions about cave living.

“I just try to laugh about it, but there are so many misconceptions – people think it’s dangerous or that people could get into my house,” she explained.

Looking ahead, Shalise plans to continue making the cave feel more like home while “embracing its unusual history and quirks”.

For more information about Shalice’s work, visit: artemis-interior.com and project-artemis.co.