Carleton Varney
Special to the Daily News
Over the years, my staff and I have been fortunate enough to create interiors for hotel resorts on many islands, including Oahu and Maui in Hawaii, as well as the Caribbean’s St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Dominica, Anguilla and St. Martin.
And I have to admit, I love island decorating — and I love those faraway places. Just the mention of St. Tropez, for instance, gets me dreaming about places with sandy names such as Tetiaroa, the late Marlon Brando’s island sanctuary.
As a child, I remember going to the Paramount Theatre in Lynn, Massachusetts, with my sister, Vivian, to see Betty Grable and Victor Mature in the 20th Century Fox film “Song of the Islands.” And of course, who could forget Dorothy Lamour in her sarongs for the “Road to …” films with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, which always fascinated me with their exotic settings far across the seas.