The Install: Life & Design with Paloma and Caroline

After High Point, Paloma and Caroline catch up on friendship, design, and a sofa saga with a surprisingly happy ending. Then Kate Rheinstein Brodsky explains how working with Jeffrey Bilhuber—and growing up around her mother, Suzanne Rheinstein—led her to a more playful path in retail. The conversation moves from the “committee on taste” and paint swatches to the realities of family life, AI-generated design images, and the art of keeping geraniums alive. Along the way, Kate offers a perfect example of her mother’s polite way of saying she hated something: “That is so fun.”Subscribe and follow!Subscribe to The Install Edit on Substack: https://theinstallpodcast.substack.com/YouTube: @theinstalldesignpodcastInstagram: @theinstallpodcastTikTok: @theinstallpocastPaloma: www.palomacontreras.comInstagram: @palomacontrerasdesignTikTok: @palomacontrerasdesignShopMy: @palomacontrerasCaroline: www.carolinegidiere.comInstagram: @carolinegidieredesignTikTok: @carolinegidieredesignbtsShopMy: @carolinegidiereMusic attributionMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: SUDAKA5LHSDHNL85Chapters00:17 High Point03:02 TV Talk10:24 Highs & Lows15:08 Sofa Update19:06 Kate Joins21:19 Shop Freedom24:17 Retail Roots26:21 Suzanne’s Lessons29:33 KRB’s Curation32:47 Retail Realities35:35 Committee Taste39:53 Painted Floors42:06 Know Thyself45:46 Design Pet Peeves49:09 Proper Curtains51:14 Geraniums58:06 Suzanne’s Wit58:48 Rapid Fire

From the tyranny of text messages to the perils of patterned sofas, Caroline and Paloma have a few things to get off their chests. They discuss the pleasures of period dramas, the decidedly unpleasurable business of bad manners on social media, and why sharing the less-than-perfect side of design matters. Then it's time for a spirited round of Would You Rather?, where they're forced to choose between design dilemmas no sensible decorator should ever have to face. Wall-to-wall carpet in the kitchen, anyone?For more on design, entertaining, style, and the art of living well, subscribe to The Install Edit on Substack!https://theinstallpodcast.substack.com/The InstallYouTube: @theinstalldesignpodcastInstagram: @theinstallpodcastTikTok: @theinstallpocastPaloma ContrerasWebsite: www.palomacontreras.comInstagram: @palomacontrerasdesignTikTok: @palomacontrerasdesignShopMy: @palomacontrerasCaroline GidiereWebsite: www.carolinegidiere.comInstagram: @carolinegidieredesignTikTok: @carolinegidieredesignbtsShopMy: @carolinegidiere00:20 Texting Overload06:00 Television Favorites10:00 Austin Adaptations13:00 Marie Antoinette16:30 Online Manners19:00 Design Community27:30 Design Dilemmas31:30 Client Confessions38:00 Rapid Fire46:30 Design Regrets48:00 Personal Touches

Good taste may open doors, but what gets a room into a magazine? Dara Caponigro joins the ladies to discuss Domino’s legacy, Frederic’s distinctly grown-up point of view, and why memorable interiors need more than pretty things. Along the way, she shares what aspiring contributors should actually send an editor, the pleasure of pressed sheets, and the decorating detail she could happily retire. First, Caroline and Paloma prepare for High Point, where a leisurely lunch can cost you a very good antique.Subscribe to The Install Edit on Substack: https://theinstallpodcast.substack.com/YouTube: @theinstalldesignpodcastInstagram: @theinstallpodcastTikTok: @theinstallpocastPaloma: www.palomacontreras.comInstagram: @palomacontrerasdesignTikTok: @palomacontrerasdesignShopMy: @palomacontrerasCaroline: www.carolinegidiere.comInstagram: @carolinegidieredesignTikTok: @carolinegidieredesignbtsShopMy: @carolinegidiereMusic licensed through Soundstripe. Code: SUDAKA5LHSDHNL85Chapters00:17 High Point Bound04:10 Antique Urgency06:45 Highs and Lows14:14 Hair Apparent17:21 Meet Dara18:38 Cultivating Taste21:24 Domino Grown Up22:20 Betting on Print24:56 Building Frederic27:31 Editorial Point of View29:26 Memorable Rooms30:44 Standout Stories33:26 Emerging Talent36:47 Joining Schumacher38:38 Inside the Archives41:29 Creative Cross-Pollination43:31 Beyond the Magazine45:17 What Comes Next45:58 Print Meets Digital48:43 Getting Noticed49:53 Submitting Your Work50:40 Choosing Covers52:17 Rapid Fire

Paloma has two new hires and a welcome reminder that a full calendar can also be a sign of abundance; Caroline has family travel on the horizon and very little tolerance left for television gore. On the design front, the ladies question why hiring a professional should come with a hundred fabric samples’ worth of homework—and make the case for floors that will outlast a trend. A seemingly innocent game of what they’d give up quickly becomes a negotiation over chintz, designer clothes, and whether vacations and beauty treatments are constitutionally protected. They close with advice on tricky vendors: extend grace, follow up, and know when being nice needs to become being firm.Subscribe and followSubscribe to The Install Edit on Substack: https://theinstallpodcast.substack.com/YouTube: @theinstalldesignpodcastInstagram: @theinstallpodcastTikTok: @theinstallpocastPaloma: www.palomacontreras.comInstagram: @palomacontrerasdesignTikTok: @palomacontrerasdesignShopMy: @palomacontrerasCaroline: www.carolinegidiere.comInstagram: @carolinegidieredesignTikTok: @carolinegidieredesignbtsShopMy: @carolinegidiereMusic attributionMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: SUDAKA5LHSDHNL85Chapters00:00 Impossible Choices00:39 Birmingham Afterglow03:18 High Point Plans05:20 Growing the Team08:24 Recognizing Abundance13:18 Sleepless Nights15:30 Family Travel17:31 Television Troubles22:17 Designer Homework29:04 Timeless Floors34:09 Giving Things Up35:21 Chintz Negotiations36:42 Books or Television40:52 Vacations or Vanity41:34 Fabrics or Fashion42:46 Instagram or TikTok44:36 Bread or Cheese45:33 Wallpaper or Furniture47:03 Tricky Vendor Relationships53:55 Until Next Week

Together in Birmingham, Paloma and Caroline find Antiques at the Gardens tickets approaching black-market status and their social calendars threatening a perfectly respectable bedtime. Between Caroline's Harry Styles high and an accidental three-pair sunglasses purchase, they launch “Gracious or Graceless,” passing judgment on early arrivals, shoes-off parties, reclining airline seats, and the delicate business of telling someone there’s spinach in her teeth. The etiquette extends to design: borrowed ideas, unsolicited requests for sources, and knowing when inspiration has become imitation. The ladies finish with advice for a renter facing honey oak—and a welcome reminder that an unfinished house is no reason to put your life on hold.Subscribe and followSubscribe to The Install Edit on Substack: https://theinstallpodcast.substack.com/YouTube: @theinstalldesignpodcastInstagram: @theinstallpodcastTikTok: @theinstallpocastPaloma: www.palomacontreras.comInstagram: @palomacontrerasdesignTikTok: @palomacontrerasdesignShopMy: @palomacontrerasCaroline: www.carolinegidiere.comInstagram: @carolinegidieredesignTikTok: @carolinegidieredesignbtsShopMy: @carolinegidiereMusic attributionMusic licensed through Soundstripe.Code: SUDAKA5LHSDHNL85ChaptersBirmingham TogetherAntiques After HoursWeekly HighsHarry’s House PartySunglasses in TriplicateSunscreen Discussion*Gracious or GracelessArrival EtiquetteShoes Off?Spinach DiplomacyTable MannersFree Design AdviceClient KnockoffsReclining RightsInspiration Versus ImitationResource RequestsParty PostsRegifting RulesSending It BackHoney Oak HelpPermission to WaitOn the Road