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This Mid-Century Sutherland Shire Home Proves Colour Isn’t Required To Make a Statement
Definitive proof that neutral is never boring.
Whilst colour is having a well-deserved moment in the spotlight, it’s not the only way to create impact. Neutral tones and textured spaces can spark just as much intrigue, and Kerrie-Ann Jones’ Sutherland Shire home proves it.
Interior stylist and author of Curated Style, a practical and inspiring guide to styling homes, Kerrie-Ann drew on a lifetime of experience to transform her own home. But that’s not to say it was a walk in the park.
Restoring a Mid-Century Home
Kerrie-Ann admits that although the four-bedroom property she shares with her husband Andrew and their children Poppy and Ari was in “quite a dilapidated state” and needed extensive repairs, she could see its potential from the get-go.
Keeping it a family affair, she took on the ambitious renovation as an owner-builder, working alongside her father, Keith Sharpe of Alford Constructions.
Of her brief, Kerrie-Ann shares, “I wanted to modernise the home while retaining and restoring the mid-century features of the home. I wanted the home to have a warm neutral palette layered with texture.”
One of the property’s showstoppers is its intricate Palladiana floor, which Kerrie-Ann admits was a true labour of love to bring to life. “It wasn’t easy getting a tiler on board. They had never done it before and didn’t understand what I was trying to achieve. It took six months to find the right person willing to take it on,” she reveals.
With her father’s expertise as a sandstone mason, the pair worked closely with the tiler, carefully cutting and shaping each piece of stone. “It took five days to lay out the jigsaw puzzle of stones, another day to grout, and two more days to polish,” she recalls. “Now, I love looking down at all the beautiful stone details—it never gets old.”
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A Warm Neutral Palette Layered With Texture
Curved elements serve both aesthetic and practical purposes throughout the home. Textural richness was also a driving force behind the design, with Kerrie-Ann layering walnut timber joinery, striking Brazilian quartzite in the kitchen and travertine onyx in the living room.
“I love the sedimentary detail in stone,” she says. “The tones work cohesively with the warm neutral scheme, creating depth and warmth.”
Mixing Vintage and Contemporary Pieces
Kerrie-Ann’s talent for mixing contemporary and vintage pieces shines through in her styling. She designed several standout pieces in the living room, including the sofa, sideboard and console table. A sculptural coffee table by Dimitri Vargas sits alongside vintage Afra & Tobia Scarpa Artona chairs, creating an undeniably cool stamp of personality.
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“When mixing old with new, I like to keep a neutral palette—it ties everything together and creates cohesion.”
The home’s palette is anchored in warm neutrals, a colour scheme Kerrie-Ann is naturally drawn to. “It’s easy to work with and always looks beautiful when layered with texture,” she explains.
Green accents add depth and harmony, including sage kitchen joinery and olive and forest-green rugs. “The living room introduces additional colour through artwork, injecting character into the space,” she says.
As for the major structural changes, the team rejigged the layout to improve the flow, swapping the locations of the dining room and kitchen to maximise the view and extending the kitchen to provide more practical storage. They also knocked down the wall between the two bedrooms to create one large parents’ retreat with an ensuite.
“Having a clear vision provided a north star throughout the project,” she explains. “It kept us on track and true to the plan.” She adds, “We moved in while still renovating, which allowed me to be more involved with the build.”
Now complete, the home reflects Kerrie-Ann’s approach to family living, with sculptural forms and rich textures taking centre stage. “It’s warm, curated and liveable,” she says.
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As for her favourite space? “Our master ensuite,” she says without hesitation. “The Palladiana floor is a work of art, and I love how tranquil it feels.”
More than anything, the accomplished interiors pro is proud of her determination to bring her vision to life. While owner-builder life was far from easy, Kerrie-Ann says, “We love our home and are creating beautiful memories here—I couldn’t be more proud of that.”
Project Credits
Interior Design: Kerrie-Ann Jones
Build: Keith Sharpe of Alford Building & Constructions
Photographer: Alicia Taylor
FAQs
Kerrie-Ann Jones is an interior stylist and the author of Curated Style, a practical guide to styling homes. She drew on a lifetime of styling experience to transform her own Sutherland Shire house, taking on the ambitious renovation as an owner-builder rather than handing it to a project team. Working alongside her father, builder and sandstone mason Keith Sharpe, she designed several standout pieces herself, including the living room sofa, sideboard and console table. Her signature approach combines contemporary and vintage pieces within a warm neutral palette, layered with texture to create depth and cohesion.
A Palladiana floor is a terrazzo-style finish made from irregular fragments of stone pieced together and polished, rather than laid as uniform tiles. In Kerrie-Ann Jones’ home it is the showstopper of the master ensuite, and it was a genuine labour of love. She and her father worked closely with a tiler to cut and shape each piece of stone, a process that took five days to lay out like a jigsaw puzzle, another day to grout and two more to polish.
The home is built around a warm neutral palette layered with texture. Key materials include walnut timber joinery, striking Brazilian quartzite in the kitchen and travertine onyx in the living room, chosen for the sedimentary detail and tonal warmth of the stone. Green accents add depth throughout, including sage kitchen joinery and olive and forest-green rugs, while artwork introduces additional colour in the living room. The intricate Palladiana floor in the master ensuite is the standout stone feature. Curved elements recur across the home, serving both aesthetic and practical purposes.
Kerrie-Ann Jones’ approach starts with a warm neutral base, which she describes as easy to work with and always beautiful when layered with texture. She builds depth through natural materials such as walnut, quartzite and travertine onyx rather than through colour, then introduces restrained green accents and artwork for character. When mixing old and new, she keeps the palette neutral to tie everything together and create cohesion, pairing a sculptural Dimitri Vargas coffee table with vintage Afra & Tobia Scarpa chairs. Curved forms and sculptural pieces add interest without disrupting the calm, cohesive scheme.
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