Carleton Varney

Carleton Varney grew up in Nahant, Massachusetts. His parents loved to garden and one of his greatest influences was living among the natural colors of flowers. Varney graduated from Oberlin College, where he majored in Spanish with dreams of becoming an ambassador. His studies took him to the University of Madrid and Europe. There he was forever impressed by the simplistic cottages as well as the magnificent cathedrals and palatial interiors he visited. Upon returning to New York in 1962, he earned a Masters Degree in Education from New York University and later joined the decorating firm of Dorothy Draper and Company, Inc. Now forty years after becoming the company’s president, he still imbues each design with a color-filled imagination. Varney writes a regular syndicated column that appears in the Palm Beach Daily News. He has published twenty-seven books on decorating, penned two novels, and written the official biography of Dorothy Draper. He has been the design consultant to the White House, decorated Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel, and now serves as the curator and designer to the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. He appears often on his live HSN television show, Live Vividly, and has just released his first CD, Music with Style, for Rick Dees Entertainment. Mr. Varney resides in New York and Palm Beach.