White-on-white elegance. That was Donald Trump's first exposure to my design work, the foundation for our professional collaboration from the late 1990s to the present day.

Mr. Trump and I share several common ideals. We both value aesthetics and appreciate elegant design, and we both believe in a fundamental concept that you should "Make the most of what you have." In Donald's case, that provides a fairly large playing field.

My work with Donald Trump was born from his desire for excellence in design and started with the redesign of his beloved Scheherazade Restaurant at the Taj Mahal. In 1999, on a visit to my home during the holiday season, Donald Trump sat in my living room and admired the classic shades of white accents. Mr. Trump has an impeccable sense of style, and by the end of the evening, he had not only requested that I use my home design as the direction for the Scheherazade redesign, but he made me responsible for design at all Trump Hotels and Casinos going forward.

Over the next several years I would take on a number of projects that required my signature work, not the least of which was the creation of "the hottest nightclub on the East Coast." Donald had a defunct baseball-themed sports bar with green, red, and yellow striped walls. Drawing on the exotic theme of much of Donald Trump's Taj Mahal, I would transform that tired setting into the club "Casbah." As I toured the forlorn area with Mr Trump that January day in 2000, I began formulating my plan. Wooden beams would now become steel trusses. Memorabilia display cases would turn into "windows" behind the banquettes revealing night shots of the Atlantic City skyline. Gold Sultan's drapery would complete the illusion. The merchandising area would become an intimate, circular rotunda with curved bar, banquettes, and marble floor inlay. I expressed the basics of what I "saw" and Donald immediately said, "Carolize it." From that moment, my company name was born.

Caroleyes it, went on to provide elegant design for numerous Trump projects, including:

My designs appeared as the backdrop on several scenes from the first season of The Apprentice. That same year, I was the recipient of the Five-Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Services, selected as "one of the finest corporate interior decorators worldwide." Recently I completed all the guest rooms at Trump Plaza, and have redesigned the Plaza Tower and East Tower corridors.

As Caroleyes it, Inc. continues to grow, our hope is that we'll be bringing the world-class design enjoyed by Trump properties to your enterprise--be it professional or personal. Let us take your vision and, as Donald and I would say, "Make the most of what you have."

photos provided by jeffreytotarophotographer, ASMP

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