A Chat With Carleton Varney
This spring I attended the Dorothy Draper Design Weekend, which was the opportunity of a lifetime. Hosted by the legendary Carleton Varney and his team, I cannot more highly recommend this unforgettable decorating experience! It was incredible to be able to spend time with Mr. Varney, one of the world’s most celebrated interior designers, and I am delighted to welcome him to The Glam Pad today for a Q&A.
Carleton Varney (aka Mr. Color) is one of America’s best-known interior designers and the president/owner of Dorothy Draper & Co. Inc. As Dorothy Draper’s protégé, his work serves as a continuation of her legacy. Mr. Varney has decorated the residences of the entertainment, fashion, and business elite, and he is associated with the restoration and decoration of countless hotels and resorts worldwide. He has decorated various Governor’s Mansions and the U.S Ambassador’s Residences in Tokyo and Dublin. He restored and redecorated the Official Vice President’s Residence in Washington D.C. during the George H.W. Bush administration, and was a consultant for the Carter Presidential Library and various White House events during the Carter administration. He also redesigned and decorated the Carter residences in Plains and Ellijay, Georgia.
Mr. Varney’s versatility in design can be seen in the wide range of products that bear his mark, ranging from dinnerware, crystal, eye wear, home accessories, to scarves, including the 2017 Newbridge Silverware of Ireland home collection that bears his name. He has designed furniture collections for the Romweber and Kindel Furniture companies as well as for Ficks Reed. Since 1962, he has been creating designs for Dorothy Draper Fabric & Wallcoverings, which grace the rooms of some of America’s and the world’s most beautiful resorts and residences. Mr. Varney also writes a weekly decorating column, “Your Family Decorator,” in the Palm Beach Daily News, also known as ‘The Shiny Sheet’.
In 2005, Architectural Digest named him as one of the 30 “Deans of American Design.” In 2015, the Las Vegas International Market awarded him the Design Icon of 2015. He is a member of the Interior Design magazine Hall of Fame, and he has been awarded countless interior design awards. Welcome Carleton Varney!
Q: With a career that spans over five decades, what is your secret to remaining timeless and fresh?
A: I always have a sense of color and new spirit from all the things I see around the world and the different things other people are doing. They affect me because nothing is stagnant… decorating is never finished! I am always traveling and seeing new things, liking new things, and soaking in as much as I can of every beautiful thing I see. We shouldn’t lock ourselves away from change. I am in constant change improving color, changing pictures, lighting, table cloths, curtains. It is something that makes me feel alive and fresh in the world. You have a wardrobe filled with many things, and you don’t stop buying clothes, so why should you stop decorating your home? It’s never over until the fat lady sings.
Q: What role does the past play with interior design?
A: People want to know their roots. In order to be secure in your home, there has to be something rooted there… where you came from, an old photograph, memories from the past. Every home has to have a past, present, and a future.
Q: In today’s world of disposable furniture and design, how do you create interiors with a sense of permanence that will last?
A: Classics will always last, trendy designs tend to disappear. Go to a flea market to find treasures to combine with the latest trends.
Q: What are the essential classic pieces that you recommend investing in?
A:
- A drop leaf table… they are so versatile.
- Nesting tables (any type whether modern or prairie style).
- A comfortable and well-made chair and ottoman that can travel with you forever.
- A beautiful rug, not a cheap thing but woven, maybe Indian or Pakistani, or a tapestry.
- Chinese lamps – export and figural lamps made from jade or crystal.
Q: Do you have a favorite project or one you are most proud of?
A: My favorite project is always the one I’m working on right now!
Q: Where are your favorite places to travel, and how do they inspire you?
A: I love to spend time in Ireland. Inspiration comes to me from the Far East, Bali, and Bora Bora.
Q: Are there any items you love to collect? How do you incorporate collections within your designs?
A: I collect Staffordshire dogs and glass vases, you can never have enough vases in all sizes for flowers.
Q: What are the key elements within a Carleton Varney-designed room?
A: Color, color, and more color and not be afraid to mix them. Plus Carleton Blue as my favorite background color.
Q: Your client Joan Crawford once told you, “You remember one thing: I invented me and you can do the same.” What impact did these words have on your career?
A: I carried it through my entire career and I am still reinventing and will do so until I pass into heaven where I hope I’ll settle in a sky blue and white cloud atmosphere.
Q: What were the key lessons you learned from Dorothy Draper?
A: The importance of scale and it can be larger than life, use no colors that look like gravy, and black and white is always right.
Q: How did the Dorothy Draper School of Decorating come about?
A: It started with my original school, the Carleton Varney School of Art and Design at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. People asked if I could teach at other locations so now I can travel around and teach in our beautiful hotels.
Q: What is in store for the future of the interior design industry? And what does the future hold for Dorothy Draper & Company?
A: More combinations of new and old, new ways of buying, a future in hospitality, new restaurants. Perhaps an online store and retail shops in resort hotels.
Such an honor to have Mr. Varney join us today! Please visit www.carletonvarney.com to shop for exclusive designs from the Carleton Varney and Dorothy Draper collection, and to read his not-to-be-missed weekly decorating blog. You can also follow @carletonvarney on Instagram for ongoing inspiration. A Dorothy Draper School of Decorating workshop is scheduled for June 21-23 at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, and for additional information on upcoming Dorothy Draper Design Weekends at The Greenbrier, please follow @the_greenbrier on Instagram.
Sweet Home Alabama: A 19th Century Restoration
Instagram is such a fun way to meet interesting people from all over the world, and one account I have particularly enjoyed following is @riverbend_c.1840. The account documents the transformation of a 1840s home in Camden, Alabama with interior design by Ryan Dunagan. If you love before and afters, historic preservation, and elegant classic decor, you will love @riverbend_c.1840. The home incorporates salvaged bricks and materials, murals by a local artist, beautiful antiques, and designer touches throughout. Here are some highlights…
And here is a look at some before pictures… what a transformation!
Be still my heart, isn’t it beautiful?! This home is such a perfect example of how antiques, oil portraits and classic paintings, Persian rugs, crystal chandeliers, and “brown furniture” (design staples often deemed as “granny” by the younger generations) can all be used in a modern and fresh way. Current wallpapers and fabrics along with a few contemporary pieces among the mix breathe new life into these interiors, creating a modern yet traditional approach. This is a home that is timeless and will never go out of style. For ongoing updates and further inspiration, please follow @riverbend_c.1840.
Addison Mizner: Architect of Fantasy and Romance
When I think of Palm Beach, the legendary architect Addison Mizner immediately comes to mind. His distinctive architectural style of the 1920s defines the island even to this day. “Perhaps no other architect has done as much to shape the look of Palm Beach as Addison Mizner,” noted the Palm Beach Daily News. This month, Rizzoli released a new book that celebrates Mizner’s work, Addison Mizner: Architect of Fantasy and Romance, by Beth Dunlop.
The go-to architect for the Jazz Age elite, Mizner created a new architectural style and a new lifestyle for the wealthy and socially prominent of Palm Beach—America’s preeminent winter resort town of the time. Building mansions, clubs, hotels, an apartment complex, and commercial spaces evocative of old Spain, Venice, and the Moorish capitals of Granada and Seville, Mizner established a design vocabulary and tradition that continues to influence architects, designers, and builders today.
Often known as “Mizner Mediterranean,” the spaces he designed featured courtyards with fountains, trellises with climbing bougainvillea, arched windows, glazed tile floors, spiraling marble columns, and expansive interiors with grand proportions. Addison Mizner: Architect of Fantasy and Romance explores Mizner’s legacy through such storied homes as La Guerida, best known now as the Kennedy Estate (where JFK composed his inaugural address), the lavish Cloister Inn in Boca Raton, as well as Villa dei Fiori – built for the heir of the Jell-O fortune. Celebrated for their beauty, opulence, and decorative detail, the houses and buildings Mizner built stand as monuments to the grand living and romance of a bygone era.
This beautiful new book is a must-have for anyone who loves Palm Beach and historic architecture. Addison Mizner: Architect of Fantasy and Romance is available for purchase via Amazon. And to see more of Mizner’s work, please visit the links below from past features by The Glam Pad…
Bunny Williams: Love Affairs with Houses
With an illustrious career spanning four decades, design legend Bunny Williams says in her latest book, “It still thrills me that every new project is like a new romance. There is the initial getting-to-know-you phase, the discovery of how people live, what their dreams are, what inspires them – such critical information as we begin the design process. Each stage has its exciting moments as well as its anxious ones.” Bunny Williams: Love Affairs with Houses is a story-filled monograph in which Williams presents new work through 15 houses she has decorated and loved.
Williams also tells the tale of each “affair,” tracing the style of the spaces, what drew her to the projects, and her approach to decor that evolves with the lives of her clients. She offers personal secrets for choosing classics—and for decorating with flexible pieces that can play more than one role in a design scheme. As Williams says, “The best pieces have the best stories.” Bunny Williams: Love Affairs with Houses shares these stories while showcasing the chic, but always comfortable, residences Williams has designed during the latest phase of her celebrated career.
This beautiful book is a must-have addition to any interior design enthusiast’s library. Bunny Williams: Love Affairs with Houses is available for purchase via Amazon, and it would make a perfect gift for Mother’s Day!
Bunny Williams is a world-renowned interior designer and industry leader. Williams is a member of the AD Hall of Fame, ELLE Decor A-List, and Interior Design magazine Hall of Fame and has received House Beautiful’s Giants of Design award. Williams designs and produces handcrafted furniture and accessories under Bunny Williams Home and has licensed collections with Ballard Designs, Century Furniture, Currey & Company, and Dash & Albert.
