rachel castle

I must admit, I have a little bit of a crush on Rachel Castle. Honestly, when you see this beautiful polka dot bedlinen and amazing embroidery artwork, who wouldn't? And, from the interview Lucy did with Rachel, featured on The Design Files yesterday, she also appears to be a lovely person too.

I loved reading about her background in communications and PR and how she moved into her own business and freelance career. Even though I'm sure she is super busy, she seems to have the work/life balance thing sorted out. It's definitely something to aspire to!

I especially like her response to the question about her styling aesthetic in her own home: 'My style at home is very ‘abundant’ or as my fussy architect friend calls it ‘chaotic’. It’s a lot of stuff everywhere in a big white backdrop. I love clutter I must say, it makes me feel at home. I do however, like to have a specific spot for everything. This is where the jugs go, this is where all the chopping boards belong, this is where the cookbooks stand, this is where the sugar bowl sits.' This scarily reminds me too much of myself!

I have been admiring the 'Loving you is easy cause your beautiful' piece for a while, as my husband and I often jokingly sing this song to each other, with the thought of buying it to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in October. I instead decided to splurge a little and work with Rachel on creating a custom piece. Rachel and I have been emailing back and forth, and it arrived in the post earlier this week - I was like a little kid at Christmas time opening up the parcel! I have been itching to show someone, but I will just have to wait until October.

In the meantime, I'll keep dreaming about that gorgeous bedlinen and those rainbow garlands...