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Book Recalls Charms of the Ultimate Hostess
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Book Recalls Charms of the Ultimate Hostess

By Carleton Varney

If one of your New Year's resolutions is to read more, I heartily recommend "Popovers and Candlelight", a new can't-put-it-down book by Marcia Biederman (SUNY Press, $19.95). It is the story of the rise and...
Decorating with Pumpkin Orange Not a Scary Idea
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Decorating with Pumpkin Orange Not a Scary Idea

By Carleton Varney

Come Halloween, I’m always reminded that pumpkin orange is a magical color for decorating rooms. Now, to be sure, the classic combo of orange and black has never made it big in year-round home decor....
Crafting in Scouts Set Tone for Career in Design
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Crafting in Scouts Set Tone for Career in Design

By Carleton Varney

I was, once upon a time, a Boy Scout.  I remember crafting with my cubs. I believe those crafting lessons helped lead to my days as a decorator. Teaching woodworking to young boys — making...
Help Your Living Room Bloom in Springtime
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Help Your Living Room Bloom in Springtime

By Carleton Varney

I’m thinking about springtime decorating, and that often means designing a room in green and white. It’s often said that a room in blue and white is magical. But a room in green and white...
Shabby Chic Could Be Just the Right Fit for Palm Beach Home
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Shabby Chic Could Be Just the Right Fit for Palm Beach Home

By Carleton Varney

Let’s consider, for a moment, this look of shabby chic. Now I see youth — and honorary youth — dressed in jeans with rips and shreds of fabric appearing on the legs and knees. I’m not...
Find decorating inspiration in colors from the fruit bowl
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Find decorating inspiration in colors from the fruit bowl

By Carleton Varney

Think of the flesh of pale orange cantaloupes and light green kiwi, the rich red of strawberries and the creamy flesh of white pears. Then add in purple grapes and ripe blueberries — and begin...
Decorating for a baby? Sky’s the limit for color, pattern
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Decorating for a baby? Sky’s the limit for color, pattern

By Carleton Varney

I’m Grandpa, the decorator. And “joyful” is only one of the adjectives that can describe the birth a year ago November of my first grandchild — a boy named Bowie, born to my daughter-in-law, Victoria,...