Rachel Castle’s colourful & quirky abode

Rachel Castle’s colourful & quirky abode

Rachel Castle’s home is exactly what you’d expect from the talented creative force behind the successful Castle brand. It’s contemporary, quirky and effortlessly beautiful. But when it came to renovating, the task was far from effortless.

When Rachel and her husband Daz bought their 1930s property on Sydney’s lower north shore it took them another three years to get around to the renos. As Rachel worked from home, it meant they had to live in the house during a rebuild.

“It was pretty intense,” Rachel says. “We booked the builder and had a window we needed to work in, but we could only get approval for the downstairs renovation because of heritage rules in our area. In the end, we went ahead anyway because I couldn’t live another day in a house where the dishwasher was 10,000 years old!

During the rebuild, Rachel and Daz, along with kids Cleo and Lucas, lived upstairs, and at one point they had to wear parkas to walk from the bedrooms to the bathroom so they didn’t get wet.

“Over six months we took the roof off downstairs, extended and reconfigured the space to make one big living/dining/kitchen area, tarted up the front rooms and created a new outdoor decking area. We also took down the old pool fence to make way for a gorgeous new glass one,” Rachel explains.

There’s a healthy dose of Rachel’s signature vibrant colours and artworks on display, plus a casual curation of her favourite things, such as plants (on constant rotation), books, ceramics and keepsakes. “I’m not precious about the little bits I collect – I don’t like keeping beautiful things in cupboards,” Rachel says.

real living

Photography: Sharyn Cairns

Styling: Tahnee Carroll

Words: Victoria Kingsbury

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The wall of black-steel-framed windows and doors is something Rachel was very particular about. “The doors were custom-made in Melbourne, brought up on a truck and installed over a few days. Two things I refused to compromise on were the windows and floors, and these are the two things I’m happiest with,” Rachel says.

Original article and pictures take www.homestolove.com.au site