Kitchen Magic
Author:Abigail StoneKitchen Design Group’s Caren Rideau brings heart and soul to the kitchens she designs
Kitchen Design Group’s Caren Rideau has an uncanny ability to imbue the kitchens she designs—she’s created over 500 of them to date—with life. “Maybe it’s more than 500?,” she says. “I mean, I’ve been doing this for over thirty years.” But she gave serious consideration to retiring after losing her showroom in last month’s Palisades fire. “I thought, Maybe it’s time to give it all up, maybe I don’t belong here anymore.” But, from the number of clients who’ve called her to confirm she’ll be available for their rebuild, it’s clear that her work in the close-knit Pacific Palisades community extends well beyond the kitchen triangle. “Kitchens are more than just places to prepare food, they truly are the heart and soul of the home.”
More than just Nancy Meyers-level beautiful—with finely crafted cabinetry, meticulously chosen materials, perfectly integrated appliances, and the thoughtful details, like knife drawers and coffee stations, that populate wish lists—Rideau’s kitchens are both functional and fun. “There’s so much you need to know when you work on a kitchen,” she says. “There’s appliances and storage and layout—you’ve got a lot to fit into a relatively small space while still being able to move around comfortably—and I love to introduce personality Into a kitchen with cabinetry in different woods, finishes or colors and intriguing tiles.” Lately she’s been fixated on layered lighting, muted colors, like dusty blushes, deep navy, and deep sage greens, scullery pantries and eat-in spaces that foster family connections.
The daughter of a Mexican mother and a Louisiana Creole father, her parents instilled in her a love of cooking, food and entertaining. These are the touchpoints that fuel her work as a kitchen designer, as a winemaker (She and her husband, Andres Ibarra, opened Terra Y Vino, a boutique winery in Santa Ynez with a tasting room in Buellton, in 2012. “It’s really small, we only produce about 1200 cases a year,” she notes) and as someone who loves to entertain. She documented the intersection of her passions in a book, beautifully photographed by Meghan Beierle-O’Brien, Caren Rideau: Kitchen Designer, Vintner, Entertaining at Home.
“I understand innately how a kitchen should function,” she explains, pointing out the small nuances that can make a difference in how a kitchen works: the amount of clearance you might need for refrigerator door or an open dishwasher or when there are two people cooking. “I start with the layout and build in the beauty from there,” she notes. “How are you really going to be using your kitchen throughout the years? How does the kitchen related to the rest of the house?” She also handles bathrooms. “Really anything that has to do with cabinetry and stone and materials,” she explains. “But we always start with function before diving in aesthetics.” Her advice for those about to embark on their own kitchen remodel, “Keep it simple, keep it real and build from there.” Good advice for kitchens, for life and for building a blockbuster career.
