Rachael Casey's Stylish, Open-Plan Contemporary Extension

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Photo credit: all images belong to Rachael Casey, with her permission. Find her on Instagram at @rachaelcasey

Not so long ago, I stumbled across Rachael Casey's instagram account. Filled with shots of her beautiful ground floor extension, I simply can't get enough of Rachael's open plan kitchen/living room - or those gorgeous bi-folding doors onto the garden! And, it seems her followers can't get enough of her home either, with every interior photograph amassing hundreds of likes and lots of comments to ask where particular items are from. Want to see what all the fuss is about? Over to Rachael...

Shop Rachael's Style

How to Get an Open Plan Kitchen Diner Extension

"I live in the North east of England with my partner, Michael" says Rachael. "I've lived here with him for 4 years and we started work on the extension around May last year. Before the extension, the ground floor had a kitchen with a dining room next door, with a conservatory built onto that. There was a patio area outside of the kitchen that joined the garden, too."

"So, we knocked all of those through and made one large room."

"We had a new patio built (so we did have to decrease the area of the grass to do this) but the garden is still a good size. Before this contemporary extension, our living room was on the front of the house. So, it's not used for anything at the moment but a storage room, though eventually, we want to make it a games room!"

"It's really hard to keep on top of a very white home. With light flooring, everything shows up. There are only the two of us here right now, so I feel like it's easy to keep tidy and keep on top of. But when we have kids, I don't know how easy it would be then!"

"I try to just do some tidying each day, but nothing too time-consuming; I find that doing something little and often helps to keep everything in order."

"The thing I love most about our home is the open plan kitchen with bifold doors. It makes the room so light and spacious and it's great for entertaining. The skylight is another great touch as we can sit on the sofa and on a sunny day and just lie back and stare at the blue skies and clouds."

"I get most of my inspiration from Pinterest, mainly, and I've only recently started following lots of amazing home pages on Instagram - they are great too, to just give little tips and inspiration."

"It's lovely to see how many people are really house proud on Instagram and it can help give you a little boost!

For instance, we are currently decorating our office and it would probably have taken quite a while... but when you see these gorgeous homes it makes you excited to get going with your own project, and see what you are capable of bringing together."

"My friends and family love our home. Everyone always wants us to have parties (which we tend to do a lot anyway), and as it wasn't complete last summer, we can make good use of the open-plan space this summer and have everyone over."

"We have quite a few BBQs planned to have them all over! I really do love entertaining and I always have. I love buying cute little decorations when I have people over, and adding candles and fairy lights everywhere."

"Our main room is perfect for hosting as there is plenty of space: the bi-folds open out onto the garden on a sunny day, and when it turns into night, we have LEDs in the ceiling that change colour and really get the party started!"

"I love everything about having people over - although at first, I was a little nervous about people touching the kitchen top in case anything was chipped or stained...but I've gotten over that now!".

"If I could travel back and give myself any advice, it would be to be more hands-on in every aspect of the extension build and the designing of rooms. I must admit, I did sit back a little and let my partner make a lot of the decisions (apart from the kitchen - I knew exactly what I wanted when it came to that.)"

"He didn't make any bad decisions (I do think it's perfect) but it wasn't really until we decorated it that I got excited about it really, as the interior was always my thing, whereas now I feel like I have a huge passion for renovation and interior design."

"Finally, if money were no object, I would like to add a wooden summer house to the garden and turn it into a bar. Also, I would love a sunken fire pit and a hot tub! They would really add a wow factor to our parties."

"I would also just get things done a lot quicker as there is still lots we want to do inside the house, but it is going to take some time before it is complete. Everything takes time and we are enjoying putting ideas together for our other rooms that we want to decorate and making plans for the future. Everything is very exciting!".

Thank you so much Rachael, for giving me so much of your time, and for sharing such a beautiful and thorough tour with everyone.

What do you think of her home? Is there anything you particularly love that you've seen in this tour?

Let me know in the comments below, and feel free to share/pin whatever you like if you want to show someone or save it for inspiration for your home.

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