Palm Beach offers its own, distinct style

There are cities that exude style. I am lucky. I happen to live in one.

Palm Beach is a town where all the famous and infamous who's-its of the world, that know the best of the best, come to rest and relax in their very stylish homes.

Mention the name Palm Beach anywhere in the world and chances are they know it or have visited it. But what exactly has made this flat, tiny 10.4-square-mile island make headlines around the world? Well, the beautiful weather, the architecture, the luscious landscape, pristine gardens and of course, the people who live here.

Both West Palm Beachers and Palm Beachers alike are the most nonchalant and hard to impress folks you have ever met. This is why many celebrities and industry magnates like it here. Rarely does anyone care who you are dining next to, comes into your shop to browse or is brought to the cocktail party. During a third of the year, the "season," the world visits Palm Beach. Everyone gets "privacy" here, unless you are grandstanding, and yes, we have more than our fair share of that, too.

Let's get back to the people that make the Palm Beaches and its homes beautiful. No other place will have more Realtors that show beautiful estates and condominiums, or a list of architects and interior designers as vast in the phone book or web listings, nor an antique district with a variety of reputable dealers and unique items in the world. So it is safe to say that design sensibilities are sharp in this town.

But just what makes a "Palm Beach interior." Of course, there are many versions of what makes a home in Palm Beach, but there are some shared design elements.

Palm Beach interiors often exude a laid back elegance. Both in traditional and contemporary versions, there is always a sense of understated opulence. A mix of highbrow and lowbrow is what makes these interiors reflect a lifestyle.

Here are some take-away tips:

• Palm trees: Both real and faux (not plastic … but brass, silver, stone) as a general theme or an accent.

• Animal prints: Often times overdone, but effective in small dosages.

• Lots of white: From walls to flooring to fabrics.

• Serious art: Picassos to Warhols, the more the better.

• Quality antiques: Some worthy of museums, some not.

• Linens and cotton fabrics: Not really a town for heavy velvets … well sometimes.

• Collections: From foo dogs to Samovars, show your passions.

• Pinks and greens: An eternal homage to Lilly Pulitzer.

• Seagrass and sisals rugs: To get the effect of "interior" sand at your feet.

• Slipcovers: To protect the furniture from the "sun," but a step above shabby chic.

• Orchids: The more the better!

• Splashes of blues: From royal blue to sky to aqua.

• Global accessories: A chance to show off your travels away from paradise.

• Floral fabrics: To celebrate the Florida foliage.

Lilly Pulitzer summed it up best … "Style isn't about what you wear, it's about how you live."… and believe me, Palm Beachers know how to live.

• Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Florida.

© 2016, Creators Syndicate