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Nell Hill’s Day Trip: Mary Carol Garrity’s Atchison, KS Home Part 2

If you missed part one of this tour, you can find it here.

When I left off on part one, we were headed to the kitchen and I teased you with this shot of the breakfast nook.

IMG_6560Here’s another look at it. I love the framed map!

NH5This is an older home, so the kitchen is small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in charm. Notice the ceiling color!

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The kitchen was crowded (I missed taking pics of one whole side) and the lighting wasn’t the best for picture taking, so I apologize. I’ll do better next time.

The cabinets were all glass and held lots of silver and white dishes.

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There were lots of little touches to take note of in here too.

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Just off the kitchen was a back staircase leading to the second story. The second floor wasn’t part of the tour, so the staircase was roped off, but I stole a peek and took a quick pic.

You can practically hear the creak in those stairs, can’t you? And there was more interesting artwork here, even in a back stairwell.

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From the kitchen we headed out to the screened-in porch. I’ve seen this little table for sale at Nell Hill’s.

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This ceiling color looks similar to the kitchen’s.

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I would have to imagine this is a favorite spot for the family.

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The porch leads out onto the brick patio and this wonderful table greeted us there.

IMG_6570There were so many details to take in.

IMG_6571Nearby was a console with a wooden dough bowl (on my wishlist) and an orb decorated for fall.

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And just beyond that was a sitting area.

IMG_6575The patio led us into the sideyard where some serious shopping was going on.

I took a minute to take it all in. It’s the kind of place where you see a woman – who’s holding two bird figurines – rush up to her friend and say, “Look! I’ve been looking for some little pheasants like these.” 🙂

NHI skipped the tent and hopped the bus back to the store to do my shopping.

It was a hot day, the store was packed, and just waiting in line to pay took 45(!) minutes. But the company was good. The women in front of me were from California and the woman behind me was from Texas, and we all chatted about our purchases.

I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of Mary Carol’s home. If you’re in the KC area, she’s doing a holiday open house on November 8 & 9. You can find the details on the Nell Hill’s website.

And if you like Mary Carol’s style, she’s written a number of books. You can find them here on Amazon (affiliate link).

P.S. Mary Carol’s new lake house.

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11 Comments

  1. Karen @ A Stylish Interior says:

    Thanks so much for sharing this tour! You must not have known where to look first with all that “eye candy”! Found you at Stone Gable 🙂
    I’d love for you to share this tomorrow at Stylish Friday Finds!
    http://www.astylishinterior.com
    Have a stylish day!

    1. Thanks for the heads up, Karen. I’ll definitely share it tomorrow.

  2. That was a nice tour. The patio furniture with the bright fabrics is really wonderful. I’d like to do something with the metal orbs like she did. She’s quite the savvy marketing genius-
    having a tent with her store goods for sale after you tour the home is pretty brilliant! I hope I get to see the next home tour somewhere because I know it will be a beautiful Holiday display. Thanks for sharing this!

  3. Thanks for the tour…I can’t believe she opens up her home to all these visitors! Yes, what do the neighbors think?! lol Well, the whole thing looks spectacular and I absolutely adore a home tour. Every year several large mansion-like homes open up for a holiday/Christmas tour and I go whenever I can. It’s always amazing. I think if the opportunity to shop for things I saw on the tour were available, though, I’d be in big trouble! I guess that’s why she does it…it’s a great way to sell more stuff! lol

  4. Hi, I too love Mary Carol Garrity and have been lucky enough to go to her house twice. Are you going for the november open house? I hope you can post. This was an excellent post. I loved your photos.
    Thanks so much.
    Lisa
    leeshideaway.blogspot.com

    1. I would love to go to the holiday open house, but I have a conflict that weekend. Hopefully next year.

  5. Hi Julie! I just found your blog while searching for info about NH & the Garrity home tour! I will be taking my mother and we will be going this weekend for the first time. Any hints, tips, suggestions? Most importantly, what should I wear? (LOL?) Seriously, how about ideas about where to eat and what else you like to do whilst in Atchison? Thanks!!

    1. Gina, the only time I’ve ever eaten in Atchison was years ago and it was a local Mexican place. Sorry, I know that doesn’t help much. Midwest Living has done some Atchison travel features (http://www.midwestliving.com/search/site/atchison/) and they recommend the Marigold Bakery Cafe.

      You can wear whatever you like, even for the home tour. It’s very casual.

      As far as tips, here’s the big one: the store will be a zoo! Seriously, it’s packed with stuff on a slow day and then add hundreds of crazed shoppers and you get the idea. During the fall tour I waited in line 45 minutes just to pay. So be prepared for that and maybe wear layers in case it gets hot. And if it’s too much for you or your mom, you could always tour the Atchison home and then head to the Briarcliff store, which is much larger and will be much less crowded on tour day.

      I hope you have fun. Will you blog about it?

  6. You are a dear to post this (site) on “Back Porch.” This was just FUN…her design aesthetic is so attuned to mine….just LOVED this. THANKS!! franki

    1. You are quite welcome. 🙂

  7. I LOVED going to Mary Carol’s home whenever she had her open housese-fall, for the holidays and there used to be one for spring. I will miss them greatly, as she no longer has them at her home, but rather at her two stores. I have to confess that I have become a Nell Hills’/Mary Carol groupie!!! She is SO gracious, and always speaks to me when she sees me in the stores. I have all her books and pour over them all the time. I’m glad her stores are close enough to enjoy in person. By the way-the best restaurant that I ever go to in Atchison, is Jerry’s Again, on the north corner from her flagship store. On my first trip ever to Atchison, she recommended it and I have never been disappointed! They know me in there, too! 🙂

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