Once a year Brighton’s creative front doors are flung open for all manner of oiks and rubberneckers to traipse through, all in the name of art appreciation. It’s all very well gawping at framed fancies on gallery walls, but it’s only really in the Festival’s Open Houses that you can really see the works in a domestic setting where, the impoverished artists hope, they’ll actually end up once some hard currency has changed hands. Many offer tea and cake, some we’ve outstayed our welcome in have actually offered wine, but whatever the lure this is art presented in a uniquely Brighton fashion. Here’s a selection of those that caught our eye, but follow the published trails and you’ll doubtless find yourselves in some very surprising front rooms.

House 2012 /Open Studios 2012
Phoenix Brighton Sat 5th – Sun 27th
Helene Kazan’s politically charged images – taken from a stand-off in Beirut in 1989 – have been turned into a four-minute animated montage of 1,680 images, superimposed over a single photo of her former kitchen. The Lebanese artist is one of four exploring themes of domesticity here, accompanying Robin Blackledge (concrete casts from food packaging), Deborah Bowness (paper interventions around Brighton’s streets) and Caroline Le Breton’s cut-out carpet stencils, planted on a nearby lawn. May 19-20th also sees Phoenix’s residents open their studios.

21a Brunswick Square
Well worth the adventure Hove-ward, this house is decked with the works of seven photographers, one sculptor, two papercuts artists, an illustrator and a jeweller. Kevin Meredith is our brilliant Street Style photographer, Alex Bamford won second prize in last month’s Create in Brighton, plus there’s great work from Chris Harrison, Lisa Bamford, Hannah Cole, Rob Orchard, Lee Albrow, Erin O’Connor and Kate Benjamin.

7 Norfolk Street
Whimsical in all the right ways, this house celebrates incidental art, lost and found treasures, vintage postcards, and generally all things which will delight your tea-loving, cardigan-wearing girlfriend. There are three exhibitions here; photography, found art, and collage prints. Each encourages the viewer to rejoice in the small glimpses of beauty to be discovered all around us.

Albert Mews Studio
Unashamedly feminine and stylish, this open studio houses many of Brighton’s best new designers. Lizzie Lock’s fine felt millinery is bold and unforgettable and Martha Mitchell’s homeware designs are the sort of thing that make our overdrafts wince. There’s also an array of other treats on show including silver, photography, prints and even hosiery.

Flamingo Studio
There are two artists exhibiting at this independent house, Klara Piechocki and Adam Brown. Both from backgrounds in film and story-telling, Brown’s photography is striking and narrated, and Piechocki’s mixed media paintings are heavily influenced by queer culture, gender roles and open sexuality. Intriguing.

Naked Eye Gallery
Open House favourites Ian Hodgson and Patrick O’Donnell are back for 2012, bringing together their paintings and drawings for a fascinating and intimate exhibition. Hodgson’s delicate and layered drawings focus on the hidden depths of the personality, and O’Donnell’s striking paintings focus on the depths of outer space and the cosmos.

Quebec Art House
Currently shortlisted in the top three Artists’ Houses this year, The Quebec has a long tradition of superb art in the house and splendid cream teas in the sculpture garden. There are 19 artists exhibiting this year, including Sophie Woodrow, whose stunning porcelain sculptures are unsettling as well as beautiful, and Suzy Q’s gorgeous jewellery.