Dec
03

Merchant of the Month Nell Hill’s

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For home decorating fans across the nation, the name Briarcliff Village is synonymous with Nell Hill’s, its most famous locally-owned retailer. Founded in nearby Atchison, Kan., over 30 years ago, Nell Hill’s has grown from a single, small-town boutique to an empire of interior design products. The driving force behind the brand is Mary Carol Garrity, who still resides in Atchison despite her worldwide renown. You can also regularly find Mary Carol at Nell Hill’s second location in Briarcliff, chatting with her Kansas City customers and making them feel welcome.

“I am always available to answer customers’ questions and offer real-life decorating solutions,” Mary Carol says. “I always rise to the challenge of helping my customers uncover their own style.”

That reputation has certainly spread throughout the home decorating community. The Briarcliff store is a hot spot for Kansas City tourists, and the original Atchison location draws about 95 percent of its clientele from over 100 miles away. Merchandise is different at each store and always changing with the trends and seasons. But all of it expresses Mary Carol’s unparalleled style: classic yet creative, with an aesthetic that’s both cozy and exciting. It’s not surprising that Forbes magazine called her “one of the hottest little retailers” in America.

If you want to get a sneak peek at what’s in inside Nell Hill’s, you can check out the many helpful tips and articles on Mary Carol’s blog. Or, you can read one of her many books, including Nell Hill’s Style at Home, Nell Hill’s Christmas at Home, and Nell Hill’s Decorating Secrets: Easy and Inspiring Ways to Bring Style Into Your Home. 

Mary Carol says she named Nell Hill’s after her grandmother, an early Kansas pioneer. There’s something down-home in Mary Carol’s design elegance, a relic of that pioneer spirit. Down to her nationally syndicated radio program and her licensed paint collection, she’s truly forged her own path. And she loves watching others do the same.

“I never forget a face, and I thrive on meeting people,” she says of the countless hours she’s spent consulting with people.

Visit Nell Hill’s for the holiday season, and you won’t soon forget Mary Carol, either. Or the magical world she’s created. For more information, contact Nell Hill’s Briarcliff at (816) 746-4320.

Nov
05

Snuggle Up in Winter Bedding

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One of my favorite rites of fall is to watch the leaves on the trees around my home turn amber, persimmon and ruby. Another is to see the bedding ensembles at Nell Hill’s Briarcliff transform from summer into wintery works of art. Our textile design team fearlessly mixes patterns, colors and textures to create collections that are so arresting you’ll never want to get out of bed. If your bedding is getting a bit frayed, or if you’re ready for a new look, why not remake your bed this winter? Here are a few of my favorite looks for the season.

You don’t have to be Scottish to feel a kinship with this drop-dead-gorgeous bed, complete with a tartan plaid duvet and pillows. While it is timeless and traditional, highlighting one of my favorite toile patterns and two different plaids, the bedding is anything but stuck in the past. Our designers kept it fresh by tucking in contemporary geometric Euro shams.

One of our go-to designs when dressing a bed is to include four rows of pillows, starting with a pair of matching Euro pillows in the back then descending in size until we finish off with a smaller rectangle accent pillow. Each set of pillows adds a distinctive element to the group, yet complements the overall design.

There is a lot going on in this grouping, but thanks to a repeated color scheme of blue, white and tobacco, the diverse patterns in the fabrics are lively, not overwhelming.

When we build our bedding ensembles at Nell Hill’s, we don’t just decorate the head of the bed – we make the foot sensational as well. Here, we added a royal blue quilt at the bottom of the bed to pull out the blue from the pillows and break up the plane of plaid in the duvet. We finished with a cable knit throw on top, just waiting for a Sunday afternoon nap.

 

This richly dressed bed is exploding with wonderful patterns. I think this diverse mix of tartan plaid, paisley, toile and floral fabric looks divine together. Even though each fabric has a lot of personality, they work well together because they toggle around the same color palette of brown, cream, cranberry and sage. Another trick to pairing bold patterns is to repeat the patterns throughout, like we did with the plaid and floral.

When dressing your bed, get the most luxurious sheets your budget will allow. My favorites are white cotton sheets with an impossibly high tread count, trimmed in lace. Look how delicate these beautiful sheets look against our winter bedding ensemble. Irresistible!

 

Orange is still hot, hot, hot in the decorating world. On this bed, we combined pops of bright pumpkin with fabrics that feature deeper, richer tones of brown, tan, rust and red to create a bedding ensemble that’s a bit more sophisticated. One of our favorite approaches when we design custom bedding at Nell Hill’s is to wed contemporary fabrics with time-tested traditional fabrics. We achieved a great balance on this bed by blending an animal print, flame stitch, plaid and bold floral. The more modern tan quilt balances the high octane pillow grouping on top of the bed. When you have custom bedding made, you can also feature unique finishes, like the matching covered buttons on our reversible duvet. It’s really a treat to have bedding made just for you, to celebrate your style and create a singular look in your bedroom.

We further enhanced the look of our warm-as-toast bed by sliding a gorgeous ottoman at the foot. These one-of-a-kind ottomans are upholstered in rugs and are a showpiece in and of themselves. They are the perfect place to sit while you dress or to place bed linens, like this soft cable knit throw and spare pillows.

 

I just had to show you an ensemble created to accent one of our fabulous upholstered bed frame. This beautiful bed is covered in a muted zebra pattern in faun and cream. In typical Nell Hill’s fashion, we did a study in contrasts by accessorizing the contemporary bed with traditional fabrics. We went for a quiet palette here since the bed is so bold, zeroing in on soft and subtle shades of brown, taupe and cream.

I’m a huge fan of using menswear fabrics in bedding because it looks so classic and sophisticated. We tossed an intriguing toile pattern in with our glen plaid duvet and tattersall pillow.

In this close-up shot, you can see our four-layer approach to bedded bliss: Brown velvet Euro squares in back, a pair of paisley Euro squares next, crazy cute toil Euros to finish, and a tattersall rectangle pillow to accent.

Stop by Nell Hill’s in Briarcliff Village and discover more ways to transform your home this season.

-Mary Carol Garrity, Founder, Nell Hill’s

Oct
09

Tricks and Treats for Halloween

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When you grow up in Atchison, cited as one of the most haunted towns in Kansas, you just can’t help but love Halloween. I enjoy celebrating this spooky silly holiday by brewing up some tricks and treats in my home décor. Whether you want to add just a hint of haunt to your home or do a full macabre makeover, here are some tips for creating a singular and stylish Halloween look this year.

When I think Halloween, I think of my friend Twila, who does it up big. She teams up with Chery, one of the designers at Nell Hill’s, and the two of them have a ball as they make over Twila’s house. Every year, they come up with completely new creations, giggling and cheering as they go through Twila’s treasure trove of Halloween decorations, which she has collected through the years. Once her home is decorated to perfection, Twila hosts parties and gatherings, inviting her friends to share in the fun.

Twila likes to weave Halloween decorations into her existing fall décor. For example, she tricked up this bouquet on her entry table by plopping a ghoul in the center. Talk about unexpected! What tools to you have that could take on a sinister cast if placed in the right setting? How about some tarnished silver candlesticks, lanterns or iron urns?

Hunt through your home for additional props. The fedora jauntily perched on this skeleton’s head was a perfect last-minute addition – pulled out of one of Twila’s closets on a whim. I think it makes the whole display. I’ve found that when you set your creativity free and play around with your displays a bit, you come up with masterpieces.

When you decorate for Halloween, don’t do over the whole house – that’s overkill. Instead add some powerful punches in a few key places. In my home, that includes my dining room. In years past, for my Fall Open Houses, we’ve gone to town in my dining room. The table in the photo above is a tribute to playful pumpkins. Pumpkin vines twist through the chandelier and along the buffet. Gothic looking risers hold containers of mini pumpkins. And a pumpkin-headed figurine looks down upon the dinner guests.

Try this trick if you want a huge Halloween impact with little effort: Shroud each of your dining room chairs in a yard or so of scrim fabric, then tie them up in back with Halloween ribbon.

Scrim, an inexpensive, gauzy cotton fabric, is one of my favorite tricks for Halloween decorating. I’ve used it to drape over creepy heads and plastic skeletons to make them look like specters. And I’ve shredded it and hung it from twisting sticks mounted around my dining room windows. In the photo above, taken at one of my Fall Open Houses, we set my table for an elegant dinner party for ghosts.  Tendrils of scrim cobwebs dangled from the chandelier. The table’s disconcerting centerpiece included black iron urns holding legs and arms – mannequin parts we spray painted black.

My dining room buffet is always an important stage for my seasonal displays, so on Halloween it echoes the look I’ve created on my dining table. Twists of honeysuckle vine give the tableau the feeling of fall, as do the gourds, dusted with glitter. I topped the candelabra with black pillar candles, reserving one of the arms as a resting place for a blackbird figurine.

Another key spot to dress up for Halloween is a chandelier. I was going for a more whimsical Halloween look in my kitchen one year, so I secured some twigs to the chandelier in our breakfast nook. Add some blackbird figurines and a black-and-white check ribbon and you have a simple but fetching treatment in minutes.

In addition to decorating my front door, my exterior Halloween display usually includes my screened porch. Here, we set the table on my patio for a kid-friendly Halloween party, using a black and white quilt for a tablecloth.

 

- Mary Carol Garrity, Founder, Nell Hill’s

Sep
04

Host a Fabulous Fall Fete

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After enduring one of the hottest summers I can recollect, I am so ready for fall. I can’t wait to breathe in the crisp air and to see the trees dressed in dazzling shades of red, orange and yellow. One of the best ways to greet autumn is to throw an outdoor party, dining under the canopy of stars, feeling the cool breeze. The best part about hosting an outdoor dinner party is creating an al fresco dining room that elegantly celebrates the beauty of the season. Here are some key decorating ingredients for making your fall fete fabulous.

Don’t Scrimp on Drama

When it comes to creating tablescapes, I confess that I am a drama queen. I love to pull together an eye-popping, jaw-dropping display that wows my guests. The key to crafting a memorable outdoor room for your fall fete is to think big. You will need decorations that are large scaled, both big and tall, because when you’re dealing with a room that is as big as all outdoors, anything less will get lost.

For an outdoor party I held in my courtyard, I went big with the centerpiece, picking bold pottery and lots of showy fresh flowers.  It looks complicated, but this centerpiece is as easy as pie to pull together, and I replicate this basic structure over and over again with different pieces so it always looks fresh. Start with a large accent that will serve as the focal point of the display, something tall that looks sensational from all sides. This orange vase was a natural. If your piece isn’t tall enough, give it a lift by placing it on top of a riser, like a plant stand or a terra cotta capital.

Next, ring the center item with a grouping of similar accents. They could be anything, like mums planted in assorted pots, large pumpkins and gourds, or a mixture of vases holding sunflowers. We picked white pottery pieces, from chalices to vases. For color, we filled the vases with bouquets of orange flowers, like roses and lilies. The repetitive color and clean lines of the pottery knits the pieces together but the dissimilar sizes and shapes of each piece add visual excitement.

 

 

Get Gritty

A hallmark of the Nell Hill’s style is mixing the rustic with the refined, the precious with the everyday. One of my favorite ways to do this is to create dining tables that are full of contrasts. The photo above, from my book Nell Hill’s: Entertaining in Style, is a great example of how you can create a tablescape that is organic and wild yet polished and poised. It’s not as hard to pull off as you might think. All you need to do is pair together accents that look old, aged and raw with those that are more precious and polished. On this table, we did so by using a weather-worn birdbath as the base of our centerpiece. Then we topped it with an outdoor lantern encircled with twists of honeysuckle vine.

Did you notice that the “tablecloth” is really a sheet of moss cut to fit the table? How cool is that, and how completely unexpected! When dinner is done, you could just toss the tablecloth into your compost pile. We tucked in a few faux potted topiaries and garden fence finials to carry on our garden theme.

 

 

Add Some Elegance

Once you have the “gritty” elements in place on your outdoor table, you are ready to add the pieces that are more delicate. I like to use some of my most beautiful dining pieces on my outdoor table because it’s so unexpected and daring. Bring out your china, crystal, silver and fine linens, and laden your table in opulence.

Before my guests are seated for dinner, I like to encourage them to mingle, catching up with old friends and meeting new. One of the best ways to get guests to move about is to tempt them with food and drinks. All it takes is a few strategically placed appetizer and drink stations. Doesn’t this wine and cheese service look adorable on the iron bench in my garden? Where can you place drinks or appetizers in your outdoor dining room? How about putting a table from your living room under a tree, then dressing it with a display of fresh fruits or savory appetizers? Or, fill a birdbath tucked into your garden with ice and use it to chill drinks.

 

 

Let Mother Nature Supply the Décor

In fall, nature is one of the best places to find accents for your dinner table. Go to your local farmer’s market or pumpkin patch and get an assortment of pumpkins and gourds. In addition to traditional orange pumpkins, you’ll find those that are green, white, yellow and red. And you’ll have your pick of gourds in a wild mix of shapes and colors, gnarly and warty and cooler than ever.  In the photo above, my screened porch is set up with appetizers for guests – fresh pears, grapes, cheese and even a pretty jar filled with pistachios. This simple spread is spiced up with a few fall decorations supplied by Mother Nature. Try this: Place a pumpkin or a gourd on a candlestick or fill an apothecary jar with a bird’s nest and a few feathers.

If you don’t want to use fresh produce in your decorating because you don’t want to deal with the hassle of it rotting, try some faux pumpkins, gourds and flowers, like I’ve done on my porch, pictured above. Fill a tall jar, hurricane or lantern with a tumble of fake gourds, twist a garland of faux fall leaves through an existing display or tuck in a pick or two of branches laden with fall berries or nuts.

- Mary Carol Garrity, Founder, Nell Hill’s

Jul
27

Five Common Sofa Snafus

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One of my favorite things to do at Nell Hill’s is to help customers select the right sofa for their homes, because when you think about it, a lot of life happens on your sofa. This all-important piece of furniture needs to fit you, your home and your lifestyle. To ensure you get a sofa that’s just right, avoid these five common mistakes. 

1. Don’t ever buy a sofa upholstered in fabric you will be sick of in a few years.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with customers who want to replace an existing sofa that is still in good shape just because they are tired of the upholstery. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long to get sick of a busy floral, bold plaid or strong stripe.

Since sofas can be a sizable financial investment, get one you will love for many years. My advice is to pick a neutral upholstery fabric, one that will serve as a blank slate you can remake over and again simply by pairing it with different accent pillows and throws. When you select an upholstery fabric that works with lots of different palettes, you also can easily redesign the room without having to change the sofa.

If you’re itching to bring some of today’s bold colors and patterns into your room through upholstered furnishings, go for it! Just do so on a smaller piece, like a side chair or ottoman.

 

2. Don’t ever select upholstery fabric you have to fuss over.

Red wine is going to spill. Dogs are going to shed. Cats are going to cough up hair balls. Spouses and kids are going to eat pizza and popcorn and ice cream on the sofa, no matter how many times you tell them not to. Since real life happens every day, you need a sofa that is prepared to handle it. So don’t ever buy a sofa upholstered in an unforgiving fabric you have to fuss over.

My sofas are all covered in white fabric, which you would think would be a nightmare to keep clean, between the cats, the dog and Dan. Believe it or not, it’s still in great shape, thanks to my Clorox pen. But if I was starting over, I would cover my sofas in outdoor fabric. These durable textiles have come a long way. Now they look just as sensational as traditional fabrics, yet wear like iron.

 

3. Don’t even think about getting a sofa that isn’t so comfortable you can sleep on it.

I can’t tell you how many nights, when I’m unable to sleep, I come down to read on the sofa and fall right to sleep in its sink-into-comfy softness. It’s essential that your sofa be that comfortable.

If the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears taught us anything, it’s that we all have different thoughts on what’s too soft, what’s too hard and what’s just right. And you’ll never know if a prospective sofa is just right for you unless you sit in it like you would at home. Get in your normal lounging position and see what you think.

Are the arms the right height for you? Some people like low, padded arms so they can rest their head on them when they watch TV or read. Others like sofas with high arms and backs, so they can nestle in.

When I’m helping a couple select a sofa, I often find that what fits the wife doesn’t necessarily fit the husband. So I do a little detective work. Where does each of them tend to sit? Does he gravitate toward a big easy chair, while she likes to curl up on the sofa? Whoever typically sits on the sofa should have the deciding vote when it comes to fit.

 

4. Don’t buy a sofa that doesn’t fit your room.

Before you buy a sofa, do a careful analysis of the room. First, determine where the sofa will be placed and pinpoint any special considerations that location will bring. For example, if the sofa will stand in front of a large window, you may want one with a low back so it doesn’t block the view. If the window lets in lots of light, consider getting a light colored fabric that won’t fade from the sun.

Next, determine the size of sofa that will best fit the scale of the room. Is the room big and lofty, full of large furnishings? Or is it a cozy spot? I recommend making a scale drawing of the room so you can pick a sofa that’s not too big or too little. (Don’t rely on your memory when you’re in the furniture showroom – display sofas always look much smaller in these huge galleries than they do in a home.) At Nell Hill’s, our designers help our customers do room drawings to ensure their sofa will be a perfect fit. We also help them select sofas that will match the scale of the other pieces in the room so the whole space is cohesive and beautifully styled.

 

5. Don’t take a sofa at face value – give it character with accent pillows.

Think of your sofa as a backdrop for the sensational accent pillows that will give it style and character. Pillows are the spice of life in your living room, so have fun designing a grouping that plays up your new sofa and finishes the look of the room. One of our tricks at Nell Hill’s is to create  one set of pillows for the warm months and a second for the cold months, so sofas take on completely different looks for each season. It’s easy to do. Just configure a mix of pillow sizes that look great on your sofa, like a Euro for each corner, a standard bed sham for the center and two smaller rectangles for each arm. Next, get high quality down pillow forms. Then, have a set of pillow covers made out of lightweight summer fabrics, like linen and cotton, for warm months, and a set made out of winter-weight fabrics, like wool and velvet, for cold months.

-Mary Carol Garrity, Founder, Nell Hills

Jun
05

A Garden of Delights

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I admit it: I’m a homebody. While I enjoy traveling to new places, I am always thrilled to be back home again, reconnected with the people and places I love. One of the spots that fills my soul is my garden, and on a beautiful June afternoon, there’s no place I’d rather be.

Do you have an outdoor space that revives and inspires you? If not, here are three tips for turning your garden into an oasis.

I am not a gardener. (In fact, plants shake in horror when they come through my door, knowing their days are numbered.) But I love, love, love beautiful gardens. So I was thrilled when two very dear friends of mine took pity on me several years ago and turned the patch of weeds that surrounded my home into Eden. Through the years, Gloria and Lynda, who are master gardeners, have taught me a lot about creating lovely and livable outdoor spaces. Thanks to their guidance, I’ve learned that every garden needs three things:

1. Plantings Suited to Your Space and Skills

I’m in the slow learning class when it comes to landscaping, so it took me a while to learn that for the plants in your garden to flourish, they have to like the physical conditions of the space and be OK with the level of care you will give them. The key to success is to know your space and know yourself, then create a garden that suits both.

For my garden, that meant giving up on fussy, finicky plants that need a lot of care and opting for shade lovers that have an irrepressible desire to live, despite all odds. Lynda and Gloria have rimmed my beds with shrubs that give me four-season color, then under planted them with hearty perennials like hostas.

And, they convinced me to invest in a sprinkler system so my plants would be watered on a regular basis, something I could never remember to do on my own. Thanks to the miracle of water, my plants have not only survived, they have actually thrived, and now my garden looks prettier every year.

The only annuals you’ll find in my garden are contained to a few intriguing pots and urns. I used to plant a dizzying array of flower-filled pots and put them all over my porch. Unfortunately, I felt like a slave to those things, and by July, they looked awful. Gloria and Lynda have zeroed in on a few kinds of annuals that like my yard and that I don’t kill, and we’ve stuck with them. I am thrilled that my garden is now beautiful and carefree.

2. A Place to Rest and Reflect

What good is a garden if you can’t go out there and enjoy it? After a long day at work, I can’t wait to flop into a comfy chair in my garden, put my feet up and let myself unwind. That’s why I’ve made sure my garden includes a few seating areas. To add a little drama to this peaceful grouping that stands on my front patio, I stacked a wrought iron side table on top of a wrought iron coffee table to create a two-tiered structure. The top level is a perfect spot to put an iron urn filled with a gorgeous hydrangea. (For more on creating a beautiful outdoor room, check out my April 16, 2012, blog, “Style Attractive & Easy-Care Outdoor Rooms.”)

Dan and I also really like to entertain outdoors during the summer, so I made a spot for this super cute table and chairs on our front porch. It’s a perfect place to drink our morning coffee or enjoy a glass of wine after work. When we entertain bigger groups, we take the party out back, where I have a large, round concrete table at the center of the courtyard patio.

3. Intriguing Focal Points

Just as with your indoor spaces, your outdoor rooms must have a few arresting focal points. These well-chosen treasures will give your garden beds character and provide a place for your eye to rest as you drink in the whole scene. In my garden, I’ve used a host of different types of artwork. One of my favorites is concrete statuary, like the bench in the photo above. I nestled this petite seat right into the bed, providing a hideaway under the green canopy where I could sneak away and enjoy a quiet lunch during a hectic day. I’m also crazy about iron urns, birdbaths, trellises and fountains.

The old adage “less is more” is definitely true when it comes to decorating with outdoor art. It’s essential to keep the number of pieces you feature in your garden to a bare minimum. Otherwise, your garden runs the risk of looking like a graveyard or an amusement park. Pick just a few pieces that capture your heart, then subtly weave them into your landscape so they are hidden treasures awaiting the observant guest, like I did with this religious carving from a convent in Europe. I have it tucked back into a corner of my garden, surrounded by plants, an intimate spot for rest and reflection.

- Mary Carol Garrity, Founder, Nell Hill’s

Apr
16

Add Panache with Pillows

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They may be featherweights, but as decorating tools, accent pillows pack a powerful punch and can instantly give a room loads of panache. Time and again I’ve seen the right pillows take a nothing room and make it fresh and fabulous. You can do the same in your home by trying these three simple steps.

I like to reinvent my living room on a regular basis. I don’t get a roomful of new furnishings or paint the walls a new color. I simply switch out the accent pillows. This little switcharoo, performed during the changing of the seasons, is a super simple and cost-effective way to keep this key room looking fresh. If you want to do the same, here are the three simple steps I follow when working in my own home or with customers at the Nell Hill’s stores. (I’m excited to announce that Nell Hill’s amazing accent pillows are NOW available  through Nell Hill’s Online!)

Step 1: Find Fabrics You Love

Picking out the blend of colors, patterns and fabric styles for your accent pillows is a personal pilgrimage. There is no one right approach or combination, except the one that makes your heart jump for joy. Some people want a mix of timeless classics that will never go out of style. Others want to embrace the latest trends, with the freshest and newest colors and patterns. Some like a muted, tone-on-tone palette, while others want an electric mix of zesty colors and robust patterns. I really enjoy helping Nell Hill’s customers come up with fabric combinations they love, because it’s a blast to see their faces light up when we hit the bull’s eye.

To find a picture-perfect pillow combination for your home, first evaluate the style and color palette of the space and the furniture where the pillows will sit. If there is already a lot of pattern and color in the furniture or room, I’d recommend keeping the pillows pretty neutral. But neutral doesn’t mean boring.  You can use lots of different fabric textures, styles and trims to give the pillows personality.

If the room and your furnishings are neutral, then the sky is the limit for your pillows. You can keep your pillows neutral, in keeping with the room. Or, you can use the pillows to introduce contrasting color and pattern. If you want to try bold new colors and patterns, go for it. When it comes to picking upholstery fabric, I always play it safe because furniture is so expensive you want to cover it with a fabric you won’t get tired of. But I am fearless on my accent pillows, often pulling together three completely different fabrics on one pillow.

When I design a grouping of pillows, I like to create balance in the fabrics so they work wonderfully together, complimenting each other, not competing. To strike this fine line, pay attention to the size of the patterns. If you have a big pillow with a bold, large pattern, then pair it with pillows in solid fabrics. If you pick a smaller geometric pattern, then you can mix it with a larger plaid or floral.

At Nell Hill’s, we are selling lots of pillows made from contemporary, graphic patterns.  I love this fresh new look so much, I’m even adding graphic patterned pillows to my traditional living room.  I started with navy, apple green and marigold accent pillows. This spring, I’m going to work in a pillow or two in the bright, happy coral color that is so popular this season.

Every morning, I sit with my coffee and do a stare down of my living room, trying to figure out how to weave in some exciting patterns and wild pops of color and still keep the elegant feel I want in this room. I’m bringing home swatches of the new fabrics we’re carrying at Nell Hill’s Briarcliff to see which of these bright, happy, sophisticated textiles will be the winner.

Step 2: Create Configurations that Work

Once you pick some fabrics that make you smile, it’s time to determine the number, size and shape of your pillow mix. The size and scale of the furniture you are adorning will give you boundaries, and your personal taste will let you know how full or sparse to fill in within those boundaries. Some people like their sofa decorated with a number of pillows in different sizes, while others want just a few.

At Nell Hill’s, we’ve found that 24 inch square pillows are the perfect pick for standard sized sofas (21 inch pillows just look too dinky for our tastes). Here’s a pillow combo I love and use over and again when I design sofas for customers: Place a set of matching 24 inch square pillows on each corner of the sofa. Then put a standard sized pillow (20 inches by 26 inches) in the middle. Finish off with a pair of smaller rectangular pillows (14 inches by 22 inches) against each arm of the sofa.

If that’s too many pillows for you, put a matching pair of 24 inch pillows in each corner, then place a matching pair (in a contrasting fabric) of 21 inch square pillows in front of them and call it a day.

If your sofa is unusually deep or the back is very high, you might prefer to go with a 27 inch square pillow.  In fact, you might need a row of them against the back of the sofa to fill in the space and allow you to touch the floor.

Step 3: Fill ‘Em Up Right

The secret to success in creating a lovely pillow is to use a high-quality fill. At Nell Hill’s, we’re sold on fills that are made from a mixture of feathers and down because they are soft and dense and can make even inexpensive readymade pillows look amazing. In my experience, you can use less expensive fabrics and still have a beautiful pillow – we do it all the time at Nell Hill’s, where our decorator fabric is as low as $15 a yard. And, I’ve found that even if you make a pillow out of a top-of-the-line fabric but use a lower quality fill, the pillow will look scrawny and shapeless or too hard. If you have to scrimp someplace when doing a custom pillow, scrimp on the fabric and use a high quality feather pillow form.

-Mary Carol Garrity, Owner, Nell Hill’s

Mar
05

Mary Carol’s Favorites for Spring

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It’s time to start the celebration: Winter is giving way to spring! Depending upon where you live, your garden may be coming awake, filled with blooming bulbs and flowering bushes. If not, it won’t be long now. Take time this month to welcome spring by making your home as fresh and pretty as the scenery outside your door. Here are six of my favorite things for spring to inspire you.

1. Pretty Pillows

Never underestimate the power of the pillow to transform your home for a new season. One of the first things we do to get both of the Nell Hill’s stores and Garrity’s Encore ready for spring is to replace all those warm and cozy winter textiles with the bright and breezy fabrics of spring.  Pillows are a great way to freshen up a room without going to the trouble of slip-covering a sofa, which can be costly and a hassle to take on and off. Try doing the same thing in your home this season – it’s a simple step that yields a big visual impact.

Start by getting accent pillows made with concealed zippers so you can slip out the down pillow form and insert it into the new season’s pillow cover. Before you store away the off-season pillow cover, have it cleaned so it’s fresh and ready to go in six months when you transition your pillows back to fall.

This spring, people are crazy for color, and plenty of it! The traditional but fresh color combination of navy, apple green and white is making everyone’s heart rate go up — I just sold a stack of pillows in this favorite palette to my last two customers. If you’re not a fan of navy, pair the apple green with robin’s egg blue. I love it!

I also can’t get enough of coral and marigold right now. Everyone who comes into the stores is feeling the love for these two happy hues.  Put them together, or pair them with navy and green. Take your cue from the color combinations outside your window: lilac, periwinkle, daffodil yellow, peony pink.

Another great look for spring this year is layering together several different patterns of soft neutrals. How about a palette of cream and light gray? Or cream and white?

Our amazing line of custom pillows will be available soon through Nell Hill’s Online!

2. Clusters of Cheery Pottery

You know how it feels when you open your windows for the first time in the spring, and that cool, fresh breeze sweeps in and scatters the winter blues? That’s how I feel when I use bright pottery in my home décor this time of year. Inexpensive and expressive, these vases, urns and bowls are unbeatable when it comes to value and impact. Here, my friend Anne used a few pieces of Clementine orange pottery to add some sunshine to the corner of her TV credenza. This room is full of neutrals, so this little pop of color feels like a bright ray.

One of my favorite color combinations this spring is apple green and turquoise pottery paired together. We just set a table at Nell Hill’s with clusters of vases in these two great colors and together, they just smacked you awake.

Cluster a few different sized and shaped vessels on an end table or a night stand. The beauty of these little pieces is you can pull together several for a big impact or just tuck one tiny vase into an existing display on your bookcase for a more subtle effect.

3. Yummy Fresh Fruit

You can’t beat spring decorations that are as functional as they are fun. One of my favorite centerpieces this time of year is a beautiful bowl filled with apples. Dan and I are huge apple lovers, and now that we’re both on diets, we’re trying to keep piles of apples and other fruit out where we can see it so we are more likely to grab a healthy snack instead of a high-calorie no-no. Try it with strawberries, grapes, kiwis, pears or oranges.

4. Bright Table Linens

This spring, I’m decorating my dining room table with a new table topper. These are so inexpensive and easy to make, you’ve got to try it. Start with a yard and a half of decorator fabric. I picked a bright green and white key pattern from Nell Hill’s Briarcliff because I liked its fresh, transitional feel. Then, finish the edges either by sewing a seam, using fabric glue or adding a decorative trim. I finished my fabric square with a one inch flange with mitered corners made out of navy linen. Now, just place the topper on the diagonal, like a diamond, at the center of your table and decorate it at will. I’m using my topper to hold an assortment of Asian blue and white vases and urns. When summer rolls around, I’ll switch out the blue and white pieces for a cluster of perky green pottery.

5. Heavenly Scented Candles

Spring is definitely a feast for the eyes, with all the flowers and bushes dressed in opulent blossoms. But it’s just as much a delight for the nose. How can you walk past a lilac bush and not want to pull up a chair and just sit there, sniffing, for hours? Before the blooms are out in full force, I fill my home with the perfume of spring through scented candles. My absolute favorite this year is one of the Pickwick & Co. candles we sell at Nell Hill’s: Blue Hyacinth. This amazing candle puts me over the edge for spring, and everyone who walks by the lit candle in the store has to grab one for herself.

6. Welcoming Door Décor

I’m a huge believer in dressing up your door for each season. It’s crazy easy to do – takes just a second or two – but brings a smile to the face of everyone who sees it. While I like to do all kinds of inventive things to my door, like decorating it with plates, baskets, mirrors and artwork, wreaths are one of the best deals going if you want a tool that gives you huge eye appeal with little to no work.

When it comes to spring wreaths, I love it all. But my top pick this season is a wreath made out of boxwoods that we’re carrying at Nell Hill’s. Boxwood greens are just right for this awkward transitional period, when it’s not fully spring but it’s no longer winter. You can hang this simple green wreath with no adornment and it will look fresh, clean and classy. Or you can punch it up a notch by tying it to your door knocker with a black and white ribbon.

-Mary Carol Garrity, Owner, Nell Hills

Feb
15

Style a Home Office that Works

By | Nell Hill’s, Shop

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Thanks to technology, many of us log a lot of work hours from home. So a high-functioning home office has become a must. Unfortunately, there’s no natural spot for an office in my old house, so Dan and I had to get creative. Dan’s office is squeezed into a tiny extra room upstairs that barely fits his leather reading chair, footstool and desk. Every night, he and the dog disappear to Command Central, where I am not allowed to visit or clean. Amidst the stacks of papers and the piles of dog hair, they are both quite comfortable and productive. Do you have a home office space that allows you to do your best work? If not, it’s time to create a spot that works for you. Here’s how…

1. Pinpoint who will work in your home office.

Before you can design an office space that’s effective, you need to think about who will be working there. Is it just you? If you share the office with a partner, will the two of you be using the space at the same time? Is this where the kids will work on their homework? If so, do you also need space for their calculus study group?

2. Decide how the space will be used.

Do you use your office only on weekends to pay the bills? Do you spend time there every evening catching up on your emails? Do you work from home full time? Do you ever host meetings with business associates at your home office? Before you move forward, you need to know exactly how your office space will be used so that you can design and furnish the room in a way that allows you to meet your goals.

3. Determine what furnishings are a must.

Now you’re ready to start thinking about the key pieces of furniture you’ll need in your office:

Desk or Table? If you like to work at a desk, there are so many great options out there, from grand wooden desks that serve as the focal point of a well appointed office, to ladies writing desks that can fit in small spaces. Take your time and scout for one that suits the scale and function of your room.

If you don’t need the storage a desk offers, you might prefer an architect’s drafting table with a large surface on which to spread out. Or, how about a dining room table? I love working on dining tables because you have lots of workspace for big projects. And, dining tables give you added versatility. You can clear it off and use it as a conference table. Or, when you entertain, as a bar or buffet.

Desk Chair. Take careful pains when you pick out your desk chair. Do you want a traditional office chair in a rich brown leather, finished with brass castors? Or, how about an upholstered side chair, like a wing back? You can also use a beautiful dining room chair if you need something in a smaller scale. If you spend lots of time at your desk, be sure to pick a chair that fits you well, providing plenty of support for your back and arms.

Computer Table. Since most of us use a computer for our daily work, you’ll need spot for all your gear, like your printer, scanner/copier, router or modem.  You may prefer a specially designed computer credenza that allows you to hide everything away. Or, you could go for something less conventional  and use a sideboard or hutch to house your technology.

Side Chairs. You may work best when you are folded into a comfy chair with your net book or tablet on your lap. Sound like a dream job? Then you’ll want to invest in a great chair and ottoman. I’d also recommend pairing the chair with a sizable side table to hold your papers, coffee and phone.

Bookcases.  Dan never met a book he didn’t love, so books have slowly taken over our house. If you can relate, bookcases will be a must in your home office space. Even if you don’t have stacks of books, still consider placing a big, tall bookcase in your home office because these majestic pieces ground a room and add another layer of warmth to your home.

Organizational Tools. Let your creativity run wild when you’re thinking of ways to organize your office. Here are a few must haves: apothecary jars, wooden boxes, big baskets and silver serving pieces. Use an old silver spooner to collect pens and pencils. Fill a small apothecary jar with paperclips. Fill baskets and boxes with files.

Lamps. One of the great things about working from home is the chance to escape from overhead florescent lights. You’ll need great lighting in your home office, but make it beautiful. Scout for a chandelier that’s lovely or intriguing. Top your bookcases with picture lights. Place reading lamps on your desk and side tables.

4. Figure out the optimal room configuration.

Your floor plan for your office will flow from your answers to points one and two above – who will use the office and how.  Then, keep in mind how you work best. Do you concentrate best when your desk is against a wall so you have fewer distractions? Do you prefer to be by a window so you can feel the sun on your shoulder? Or do you want to float your desk in the center of the room, so you’re right in the middle of everything?

If you’re going to entertain clients in your home office, you might want to divide the room into several key areas. Section off a workstation. Then create a meeting area, either with a table or a cluster of chairs. Build in an area for storage, like a row of bookcases.

5. Create a vibe that helps you do your best work.

Are you most at home in an office that’s dark and dramatic, light and open, or right and bold?  The paint you pick for your office will not only have a huge impact on the overall look of the space, but also on how well you work there. Check out my custom line of interior paint for colors that are sure to inspire. Once you have picked your palette, you can bring it to life through your accents, artwork and textiles, like window coverings, upholstered furnishings, accent pillows and area rugs.

-Mary Carol Garrity, Owner, Nell Hills

Jan
18

Nell Hill’s: Make Your Bathroom an Oasis

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After a long, hard day at work, for me, there is no better therapy than stepping into a steaming hot bath and letting the stress of life float away. Whether or not your bathroom is the place you go to relax and rejuvenate, make this all important space lovely and inviting. Here’s how.

Make Practical Stuff Look Pretty


From shampoo to mouthwash to bath salts, we all have lots of toiletries to work around when we decorate our bathrooms. Instead of hiding them away in a cabinet, why not create displays that make your toiletries so beautiful, they look like something from a decorating magazine? It’s surprisingly easy to do – all you need is an assortment of lovely containers. For instance, put your bubble bath and lotions in pretty decanters, and pour your bath salts into apothecary jars. Fill a sorbet cup with pretty soaps. Place them atop a lovely…

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