Caroline Gidiere
If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live? Paris
What are three words to describe your style? Classic, Colorful, Refined
Tell us about your childhood bedroom? The one I designed had cream walls, a coral ceiling with sage green trim, cream chintz balloon shades with coral bows at the pleats on the header. I used my grandfather’s brass bed and had a cream chintz, quilted bedspread with appliquéd bouquets of coral flowers tied with sage green bows. I had an antique chest of drawers and a skirted round table with sage green overlay for nightstands.
What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house? A set of 6 Louis XVI chairs. Classic. Purchased at the Marché aux Puces.
In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be? Daniel Romualdez.
No room is complete without something old.
People think of me as confident, but I am really very shy.
Things you omit from:
• A flower arrangement: (very few dislikes in the flower world) Birds of Paradise???
• An hors d’oeuvre platter: Spanakopita (spinach in teeth at a cocktail party and no one to give you a heads up??? A no go)
• A bar cabinet: nothing!!! The more, the better
A song for:
• Dinner at home: They Say It’s Wonderful by Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane
• Working at your desk: Birds of a Feather, Billie Eilish
• Going for a run: Church Girl, Beyoncé
Biggest Vice? Talking too much. Say less. I tell myself this all the time.
If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy? Anything from the Suzanne Rhinestein collection at KRB.
Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how? Yes and no. My clothing is usually black, cream, or navy, and monochrome (unlike my colorful interiors), but always classic, always refined, always striving for good taste and beauty.
Who is your star crush? Charlize Thèron.
What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it? There is very little I would not do if it were right for the project/house/location – I have lived long enough to never say never.
What design book do you find yourself going back to again and again? Frances Elkins and Billy Baldwin Decorates.
For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? Timelessness, beauty.
photo by Isabel Parra
A Few Favorites:
Movie: Thomas Crown Affair
Book: All The Light We Cannot See (HATED the mini series)
Scent: Roses de Damas, Officine Universelle Buly
The fabric you always come back to: Pierre Frey’s Les Plumettes – a perfect companion for anything you might be doing.
Dream project: Creative Director at Dior Home, a boutique hotel, anything with a lovely client with a large budget in a beautiful location.
Meal: Dover Sole meunière
Drink: In my Brunello era
Hotel: Claridge’s at Christmas, Bastide de Gordes in the summer
Travel Destination: Dying for Japan, Paris is always a good idea
Artist: Twombly
A cause near and dear to me: anything that is in support of children, animals, elderly in need
Thing to collect obsessively: Botanical prints, chinoiserie boxes
Era in the history of design: Louis XVI, Neoclassical
Museum: Rijksmuseum or Centre Pompidou
Paint Color that always looks great: FB Pink Ground
Favorite person to follow on Instagram: Morgan Stewart
Dogs, Cats, or No Pets? Dogs
