WHY: Carleton Varney

“Taste is like fog: You can see it and you can feel it, but you can never touch it.” – Carleton Varney

WHERE: The Greenbrier

“The Casino Club, with architecture by Michael Oliver McClung, includes three restaurants, a shopping concourse, and gaming rooms. The entry foyer combines all the colors I love with a traditional black-and-white checkerboard floor pattern in marble. The eighteen-inch squares are laid out on the diagonal – a Dorothy Draper design must. The columns are covered in a cerulean-blue-and-white-striped wallpaper, while Brazilliance, a pattern of green banana and grape leaves on a white ground, plays along the main walls. I like to think of accessories and special antique pieces as the ‘jewelry’ in a space. In this hallway, the gold acanthus-leaf detail on the black-lacquer credenza and the brass railings on the stairs leading up to the hotel’s reception lobby add a glittering touch.”

Copy and image courtesy “Mr. Color: The Greenbrier and Other Decorating Adventures” (image via goodbonesgreatpieces.com).

To purchase a copy of “Mr. Color: The Greenbrier and Other Decorating Adventures” by Carleton Varney, please visit bn.com.

WHEN: The Early Days at Dorothy Draper and Company, Inc.

At What’s New What’s Next 2011, Carleton Varney painted a vivid picture of life in Dorothy Draper’s New York offices in the mid-twentieth century:

“We worked in a large room with black walls and white desks – because Dorothy used to say that those were the only color surfaces you could really look at color against. Every day she would go through the design studio, desk by desk, talking to each designer about their work. And she would stand there, rolling her arms in front of her” – and here he gestured dramatically, with arms stretched long – “and she would declare, ‘Show me nothing that looks like gravy!’”

Image courtesy The Museum of the City of New York.

WHO: Carleton Varney

It’s no secret that Carleton Varney is a color person. “I like bright colors, bold contrasts and floral patterns.” But when he feels the need to reflect and renew, the private Varney retreats to the soothing palette of a simpler landscape. “I have done several jobs in Ireland, and I have a house there. It’s a spot for me to recharge.” He sees travel as inspiration and uses the rich landscapes for research. Since becoming owner and president of Dorothy Draper & Company at age 29, Varney has applied Draper’s vibrant style to singular interiors for private planes, yachts, hotels and homes around the world.

For more information, please visit www.dorothydraper.com or www.architecturaldigest.com .

Image and copy courtesy Architectural Digest.

WEEKLY Ws: Mr. Color

Sometimes what seems like a misstep sends you down a new and exciting path. Last week at What’s New What’s Next, Baker hosted two Wall Street Journal-sponsored presentations. I thought I was going to hear staff editors discuss design trends, but instead I wandered into a presentation by Sara Story and Carleton Varney. It turned out to be one of the most informative, entertaining and enjoyable hours I’ve ever spent at a design center! We're sharing Carleton Varney’s wit and wisdom this week, and one word of advice: If you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak – GO!