Splash Palace

Building new meant this Cambridge couple could combine privacy, parties and poolside bliss into one perfect package

- Monique Balvert-O'Connor

The accountant in Kerry Milne loves things to be orderly, symmetrical and black and white – traits reflected in the house she shares with husband Nathan and their sons, Carter and Caleb. The Cambridge abode is a perfect ‘H’ and decorated mainly in black and white, with warm accents scattered throughout. Those accents, along with the sun and light that floods the home and outdoor area, could be said to reflect the welcoming entertainer in Kerry Milne too.

But this colour scheme actually evolved from a suggestion from son Caleb. Two years ago, when he was just 4, he proposed that a black feature wall might be cool in his room. His parents obliged and then replicated the look in his big brother’s bedroom as well as in the walk-through office space that links the adults’ lounge to the master bedroom. It was while contemplating her son’s colour suggestion that Kerry also found pictures of black ceilings on Pinterest. She took the plunge with a ceiling of Dulux Black in the open-plan living area.

“We thought if we didn’t like it, we could paint over it easily enough,” she says. “But it works well with the white kitchen, timber floors and black joinery and there are so many windows letting light in.

“We feel it adds a cool, moody, sophisticated vibe… A round of cosmopolitans and the black ceiling work well together when we’re entertaining,” this cocktail aficionado adds.

THE BRIEF