The Breeze Inn–in Better Homes & Gardens

Last August, on what seemed like the hottest weekend of the year, our whole family converged on our Tybee Island beach house, The Breeze Inn, for a photo session for Better Homes & Gardens. The shoot was photographed by the amazing Rob Brinson, styled by the fabulous Annette Joseph and her assistant Natalie Holt, and produced by my old buddy Lisa Mowry. Oh yeah, I even wrote the accompanying story. The feature is published in the June issue of Better Homes & Gardens, which is on newsstands now! I’m so proud that an All-Atlanta team produced this luscious piece, and how the gorgeous photographs show off our home to perfection. We’ve already received so many nice compliments about the house, which is really gratifying after all the hard work that went into remodelling and furnishing it. Not to mention the amazing transformation that took place as Annette and Natalie deftly cleared away my clutter, and worked their magic with a truckload of flowers, plants and colorful accessories. So, thanks, Rob, Annette, Nathalie, Lisa, and the wonderful Amy Panos, my crackerjack BHG editor for making our house look like it always did in my dreams. Summer and fall bookings at The Breeze Inn are filling up fast, but if you click over to Mermaid Cottages, our friend Diane may be able to squeeze you in. Thanks go, too, to the whole Mermaid Cottage team who so lovingly care for and manage our house. And in the meantime, it turns out that this is my 300th blog post, something else to celebrate. I love hearing from readers, so let’s have a giveaway. Leave me a comment–complete with your EMAIL and I’ll pick three winners at random to win one of my spiffy T-shirts. Deadline is Weds. May 26. Enjoy!

59 thoughts on “The Breeze Inn–in Better Homes & Gardens”

  1. I've been stalking the newstands waiting for this issue to be available. So happy to find it last night – it was my evening read. We have much the same style so it's always fun to see what you've done! I really love that painted hall tree!
    [email protected]
    I hope I win that tshirt!
    Cyndia

  2. Sitting in Charlotte airport & spotted your Fixer Upper book & some really cool pink handy tools. Small world, I want a T-shirt! Judi's email: tugglebug@ yahoo. Thanks!

  3. Such a beautiful house! I always wondered how they got the homes looking so perfect in the magazine shoots and now I know. It also gives me hope that someday, with the right team of people, my house could be as casually perfect. 🙂

    [email protected]

  4. I'll be dogging the newsstand looking for the issue! Haven't been to Tybee since I was a child but reading your blogs makes me want to BE There!

  7. Read Savannah Breeze and hope to stay at the Breeze Inn someday! The cottage looks amazing – it's absolutely beautiful. Makes me wish I had a knack for decorating … Diane [email protected].

  8. Looking forward to the new book! Would love to see your Tybee Island…my grocery didn't have the magazine YET but I am sure they will this week..can't wait.

  10. I've stayed at the Mermaid cottage (Flip Flop) Imagine my surprise and delight when I read in the comment book there that my favorite author (you : ) had stayed there as well! I love the photos of the Breeze Inn and hope to stay there someday. I want to go out and get a copy of the magazine to keep. Can't wait to read your new book!

  11. I've stayed at the Mermaid cottage (Flip Flop) Imagine my surprise and delight when I read in the comment book there that my favorite author (you : ) had stayed there as well! I love the photos of the Breeze Inn and hope to stay there someday. I want to go out and get a copy of the magazine to keep. Can't wait to read your new book!

  15. I so want to stay at the Breeze Inn. Tried booking for the summer but it is filled up, with the exception of a few days at the end of June. Rats! I need to plan earlier next time. Anyway, I CANNOT WAIT to get my hands on my BHG. It hasn't come in the mail yet. Congratulations on the feature…so cool that you wrote the article! The house is my dream cottage!!

    Heather Sullivan
    [email protected]
    [email protected]

  16. Hello!

    I love your books… all of them! I hope you have another book coming out soon. I can't wait to see your photo spread in Better Homes and Gardens. And my 30th birthday is May 26, so I hope I win won of your prizes as that would make a great birthday present! Have a great weekend! Christian

  17. Your cottages always look so clean, cozy, and homey. Very inviting…I can see myself sitting at the table, having a cup of tea with you sitting across from me…discussing your books and laughing a lot.
    I'd love a tee shirt, too;-)

    Toni's e-mail:
    [email protected]

    (sorry about the "anonymous"..it's the only way I can get it to go through.)

  18. Love the pictures! Can't wait to get a copy of the magazine. I tried posting a comment yesterday and don't see it here today. Not sure what I am doing wrong so if you already have my comment from yesterday please excuse the duplicate. I've stayed at the Mermaid cottage called Flip Flop. I was excited to read in the comment book there that you had stayed there too. Love Tybee and Love the Breeze Inn. Hope to stay there someday : )

  19. What a lovely house — I am SOOO homesick for the east coast now, I could cry! I know it's beautiful here, but it's just not the same. 🙁

    This morning's project is to head straight to Borders and pick up BH&G.

    [email protected]

  20. Finally got my BH&G mag. in the mail and I cheated and looked at your article last weekend at Books a Million……….it is certainly a project to be very proud of and you have worked so hard to attain it……the article is beautiful and so is your beach home! You and Mr. MK should be very proud! [email protected]

  22. Ive been a BH&G subscriber for years and look forward to getting the June issue. Also have made a mental note to put Breeze Inn on list of contenders for honeymoon locations when my boyfriend and I finally get around to getting married – we live in NC so its not too far! 🙂 Keep writing all those great books, I LOVE the characters and locations!

    Angie
    [email protected]

  23. I love the house, so pretty! I can't wait to book it for my girls weekend. I have all your books and most of them are signed. I have met you 3 times over the years and you got me started junkn'! I wear a med. 🙂
    Thanks!
    [email protected]

  24. I was so excited to see your home in BHG!! I even called my sisters and told them to look at the article. And that glider on the porch KILLS me. Love it.

  25. I'm so looking forward to reading BH&G this month! Count me in on The Fixer Upper tee. That was my first MKA book, but by far not my last.

    Sue R.
    cheznishilia(at)hotmail(dot)com

  26. I was sitting in a waiting room yesterday NOT anticipating my annual mammogram and picked up the June issue of BH&G. I was so excited, I forgot to be nervous! Of course, I had to run out and buy the issue as soon as the appointment was over. I love your story and the photos of your house! It was fun, too, getting to see your clan. Have a delightful summer!

    [email protected]

  27. While shopping at my sister's booth space at an antique shop I found a boy's sailor suit, not sure of age but OLD. Thought it would look cute in boomerang boy's bedroom at the Breeze Inn. I thought I would leave it when I talked my husband into vacationing there but as I am 2000 miles away it could be a while before I get there, Sooooo, trade you a sailor suit for an AUTOGRAPHED T-shirt. Love your books and eagerly awaiting Summer Rental.

  29. I like t-shirts! Almost as much as I like your books! Can't wait to read the article and see all the wonderful pictures of The Breeze Inn. Since I live in Boondocks South Dakota, we get magazines a little later than the rest of the civilized world! Keep writing!
    my email: [email protected]

  31. Fixing up our home doesn't sound like as much fun as "The Fixer Upper" or maybe we need your unique spin on it, MKA!!!

    Jean Stafford
    Macon, GA

  32. That is what a beach house should be, I plan to go buy the mag for my mom who is having trouble creating an identity for their newly purchased place in FL. I hope to see you at Art-B-Q in Avondale!

  33. I've been waiting for this issue forever!! I subscribed to the magazine months ago, just so I wouldn't miss this story. Your home is so awesome!! We have the
    same decorating taste! I have been decorating my imaginary beach house in my head for years.
    Congrats!!! I'm waiting for the next book!!!!
    [email protected]
    Cheryl 🙂

  34. I've been waiting for this so long for this article! I subscribed to the magazine months ago so I wouldn't miss it!! I LOVE your beach house! I have been decorating my imaginary beach house in my head for years, and it looks so much like yours. Congrats on the great article. I'm impatiently waiting for the next book.
    Cheryl
    [email protected]

  36. I love your house! It's the look I've been trying to get for years…lol Can't wait to see the article. The Lettered Cottage has some great things to say about you and Tybee..love me some Layla…:-)and some Mary Kay Andrews!

    So excited for a new book. Thanks you for your wonderful gift of quirky Southern women, just like I am and have grown up around!

    Many blessings, Andi [email protected]

  37. I susbscribed to the magazine months ago just so I wouldn't miss the article on your beach house. How I wish I could spend a weekend there!!!
    Keep writing those awesome books!

    [email protected]

    Cheryl 🙂

  40. I will have to find the magazine and check it out, but there is no way that it can be as nice as seeing it in person as I did a few months back. Even had my picture made out front of it.. It is a Awesome Place and a Awesome job that you guys did on it.
    Thanks for all the hard work you put into your books also.. You are such a inspiration to me.

    [email protected]

  41. Your books have been my friends for several years now. I have a wonderful life, but like everyone, there are hard parts of the journey. During those hard parts, they have made me smile, given me something to look forward to, and enabled me to step away for just a moment and simply relax and often laugh! During the good times, well they are just a bonus!

    I was actually reading through the article in the magazine yesterday and the first pages got stuck together so I didn't know that it was your home. I promise you I was reading through it thinking this is just like a Mary Kay Andrews book and then realized, duh, it should be! The house, well, it makes me happy too. It's bright, cheerful and full of love.

    Bottom line, thank you for bringing joy into my world. I appreciate your work so much and the fact that you are actually my friend on facebook too – well, that just puts the icing on the cake. Hope you have a wonderful day!

  42. I will have to find the magazine and check it out, but there is no way that it can be as nice as seeing it in person as I did a few months back. Even had my picture made out front of it.. It is a Awesome Place and a Awesome job that you guys did on it.
    Thanks for all the hard work you put into your books also.. You are such a inspiration to me.

    [email protected]

  43. Mary Kay, ran right out to buy the magazine, just like I do all your books. Tybee is my favorite place in the world, and reading about it or any place in Georgia in your books makes my life here in land locked Utah bearable. Love everything you do! Thanks for sharing your home and your talent!
    Angi
    [email protected]

  45. Just got my June BH&G issue in the mail today and immediately flipped to your section. Love all the colors around the place! Since we moved into our house a couple years ago, Ive been redecorating it with coastal inspired colors and pieces, so that even when we cant afford to get away, at least our home will still have kind of a retreat feel 🙂 And my fella loves my love of junkin' because our money goes so much further and we get a fun, quirky style to boot!

    Angie
    [email protected]

  46. I loved that your home was in Better Homes and Garden! It really got me ready for summer and makes me wish I was in Tybee instead of Athens! Maybe I can get down there sometime this summer. And I would love to be entered into the contest: [email protected].

  47. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to stay in such a charming place! I'll definitely have to get a copy of BH&G for this! I'm going to see if my girlfriends and I can get a weekend stay together soon! Would love a T-Shirt! [email protected]

  48. I love the house. I can only dream of living near the ocean and all the southern charms. I am landlocked in Arizona. So, I read and dream. The house is wonderful, so enchanting. I love the books, too, of course. I would love to win your giveaway….Help me keep dreaming…[email protected]
    Phyllis

  51. Love the Breeze Inn! It is beautiful! I picked up 2 copies of BH&G, so I have one to put up with your books and one to read. Love, Love, Love, your books. I have started buying another set of them to give to my sister, so she has her own to enjoy too!

    Della
    [email protected]

  52. Completely LOVE how you decorated your beach house. Really has inspired me to decorate with the things I love and the beach!

  53. I LOVE THE COTTAGE!!!! It is on my "Bucket LIst" of things to do – Girls Weekend there!!!! Maybe next year for my 40th my dear hubby will send me!!!

    The Article was amazing! My Librarian at school told me about it and I rushed out and got a copy.

    Glad to hear you are wrapping up the next book – dying to read it – just know it will be fabulous!!!! AS ALWAYS!!!!

    Thanks for the Book Plates for Mother's Day!!! I loved mine as well as my Mom! Such a sweet treat!

    Wish I could have slipped down to Nags Head to see you – we live 2 hrs away and really thought about it. Hope you had a great trip – sounded like it was successful writing. Did you go to Awful Arthurs to eat?

    [email protected]

  54. Loved the article in BH& G. Because of it I now have bought three of your books too! Great characters and settings – I love getting lost in your books.
    Would love to visit the Breeze Inn sometime. ITs wonderful you made it a place to share, that others could experience it!
    Jana
    [email protected]

  55. Mary Kay, I was SO excited when I opened the new BHG & saw your house & article. It was SO much fun to read more about your family and your little cottage at Tybee. I remember when I first met you & you were still shopping for the beach cottage & it sounded like you were having so much fun. If you ever get to B'ham, please let me know. I'd love to catch up again. It was so great to see you in ATL at Eddie's event & I wish we'd had more time to chat.

    I'm going to link over to your blog and mention the article to my readers. I want to be sure they see it!

  56. My FAVORITE author's beach home featured in one of my FAVORITE magazines. LOVE it! I am just on pins and needles waiting for the next MKA novel. I wish I could read them slower and make them last longer, but there is just NO way!

  57. Hello Mary Kay….

    I came via Rhoda….loved the article in BHG, so very nice to meet you….Tybee looks wonderful, I live in the NE…someday I would love to get down your way.

    I am adding your blog to my blog roll, we have a private family blog…:)

    All the best,
    Kathy 🙂
    [email protected]

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