Nov 21, 2008

Carlton Varney to Share Storied Career at Las Vegas Design Center’s First Friday Series

(LAS VEGAS) –— One of the best-known interior and restoration designers will be featured Friday, December 5 during First Friday at the Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center Las Vegas.

Carlton Varney of Dorothy Draper & Company will speak from 10-11:30 a.m. during the monthly First Friday event. His presentation will take place in the Las Vegas Design Center (C-184) of World Market Center’s Building C, 475 South Grand Central Parkway in Las Vegas. Varney is president of New York-based Dorothy Draper & Co. Inc., one of the oldest established interior design firms in the United States, named after the company founder who was one of the doyennes of interior design from the 1920s to the 1960s. Continuing Draper’s tradition, his design philosophy stresses the use of bright colors and the rejection of all that is impractical, uncomfortable and drab.

Varney plans to share his history, recount stories about celebrity clients, offer design tips and cover the topic of design as a business.

“I will speak about decorating around your personality and how you can find who you are in the rooms in which you live,” Varney said. “I will also talk about many of the personalities I have worked with.”

Attendees will leave with a knowledge of Dorothy Draper and why she was an icon. What Coco Chanel was to fashion, Dorothy Draper was to interior design, Varney said. He will share the company’s methods for bringing components of residential design into the framework of commercial projects so they never look “cookie cutter.”

Varney’s newest book, Houses in my Heart (An International Decorator’s Colorful Journey) was released in October. The lavishly illustrated book features many of the interior design projects from throughout his career.

Following his “First Friday” presentation, attendees are invited to join Varney and his colleague, Brinsley Matthews of the European office of Dorothy Draper, in the Robert Allen | Beacon Hill showroom (C-101) where he’ll sign copies of Houses In My Heart, amidst the Dorothy Draper Collection of furniture by Kindel Furniture Company. Robert Allen/Beacon Hill offers a wide array of fabrics, furnishings and accessories for the home.

“Houses in My Heart is not so much an autobiography as an illustrated memoir,” writes Varney in the introduction to this lavish book, which celebrates the interior designer’s colorful career.

Varney has decorated and restored countless hotels and resorts all over the world, including Adare Manor, Dromoland and Ashford Castles in Ireland; The Waldorf Towers and Plaza Hotel in New York; and The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. He also was the design consultant to the Carter Presidential Library and numerous White House functions. His fabric designs are found in the homes of entertainment, fashion and business superstars.

About First Friday at Las Vegas Design Center
A not-to-be missed shopping day for local and out-of-market design professionals, “First Friday” at Las Vegas Design Center features educational opportunities, unique showroom specials, hospitality and other exclusive offerings for the trade.

About Las Vegas Design Center
Sitting at the epicenter of the world’s fastest growing home furnishings complex, Las Vegas Design Center at World Market Center is a year-round resource for designers showcasing top names in fine furniture, decorative accessories, wall décor, lighting, floor coverings, fabrics and trim, and kitchen, bath and building products. Open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the LVDC boasts hundreds of leading manufacturers’ lines. An important source of education for the industry, Las Vegas Design Center also attracts many of the industry’s most prominent thought leaders to its comprehensive slate of seminars, networking receptions, and other sought-after events. For more information, visit www.lvdesigncenter.com.