The Edit · Los Angeles
A selective, sourced guide to the designers whose work survives among the modern: built on antiques, period furniture and provenance.
Los Angeles is not where one expects the antique to hold its ground, which is what makes the city's antique-led designers worth naming.
Against a backdrop of glass, light and the relentlessly new, a small group of designers has kept period furniture, decorative arts and a collector's eye at the centre of the room. There is a lineage to it: Michael Misczynski of Atelier AM trained under Rose Tarlow, and his partner Alexandra under Michael S. Smith. The result is a recognisable Los Angeles manner: genuine antiques set, often sparely, against modern architecture and California light.
The list is short by design and follows the Standard: each name is here for a body of antique-led work, with sources noted and caveats stated plainly. Inclusion is editorial and unpaid.
The antiquarian's antiquarian of the West Coast.
She opened R. Tarlow Antiques on Melrose in 1976, and grew into a defining force in classic California taste: an exacting eye behind a handpicked stock of antiques and a famously short list of private clients.
European antiques, Californian light.
A designer who sets European antiques and classical references against a relaxed American ease: high decoration without the stiffness. He trained at the Victoria and Albert Museum, apprenticed with the antiques dealer Gep Durenberger, and led the Obama-era redecoration of the White House.
French antiques and château restoration.
A designer associated with French eighteenth-century taste and the restoration of historic French properties: comfortable interiors built on period furniture. He is the only American honoured by the French Heritage Society for restoring several of the country's landmarks.
Spare, exacting rooms for serious collections.
Alexandra and Michael Misczynski's studio is known for restrained, architecturally disciplined interiors in which antiques and serious art are placed with great precision. Michael trained under Rose Tarlow, Alexandra under Michael S. Smith.
Designers are selected for a body of work in which old objects carry the room (period furniture, decorative arts, original surfaces, patina and provenance), not for fame, billings or press. Where a designer sits at the edge of the standard, the caveat is stated rather than hidden. Inclusion is editorial and unpaid; no designer pays to appear. The full method is set out in About & Editorial Policy.
Last reviewed: June 2026. If an entry is wrong or out of date, the corrections page explains how to tell us.
Who are the leading antique-led interior designers in Los Angeles?
Vecchio Lusso's Los Angeles edit names Rose Tarlow, Michael S. Smith, Timothy Corrigan and Atelier AM. There is a clear lineage among them: Michael Misczynski of Atelier AM trained under Rose Tarlow, and his partner Alexandra under Michael S. Smith. Each is here for keeping period furniture and a collector's eye at the centre of the work.
Can antique-led design work in Los Angeles?
Yes, and the contrast is the point. Against a backdrop of glass, light and the relentlessly new, a small group of Los Angeles designers has kept genuine antiques, decorative arts and a collector's eye central. The recognisable result is a Los Angeles manner: real period pieces set, often sparely, against modern architecture and California light.
Los Angeles is one chapter. The full reference is organised by city, from London and Paris to New York and beyond.
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