Stepping inside the freshly reimagined Michael Del Piero Good Design studio and shop at 372 Montauk Highway in Wainscott, visitors immediately feel an intentional shift in atmosphere, entering a world where design elements separated by centuries co-exist with an informal, texturally rich ease. For this summer’s collaborative salon, running through August 30th, principal designer Michael Del Piero has paired her nationwide full-service interior design firm’s sensibilities with Los Angeles-based Studio Balestra. The partnership serves as a master class in expert editing, staging rare antiquities alongside contemporary original works to create spaces that feel unified without ever feeling matched.
Rather than highlighting isolated statement pieces, the studio presents these global treasures—sourced from Africa, Japan, the Netherlands, and France—en masse, united by a singular, vital trait: they bear the undeniable patina of human history. “I think one thing they have in common is they’ve all been used,” Del Piero shares, emphasizing her deep love for objects with a past. “That’s what’s so important, pieces that have souls, because they really lived and have been a part of a life, a part of a home.”
Design Director Elizabeth Buchenroth and Principal Designer and Owner Michael Del Piero of Michael Del Piero Good Design in their Wainscott showroom. They are standing in front of the organic, mixed-media canvas Going to Sleep With Sand on Our Feet by Luc Van Der Walt, an artwork created using natural clay and pigments gathered directly from the land in Africa.
Original painting by David Slivka, 1970s; vintage Pierre Jeanneret daybed; 17th century Finnish bookshelf styled with Japanese antiquities; antique French torso wall sculpture, bronze sculpture by Thomas Junghans on concrete pedestal.
Dolmen dining table by Studio Balestra; Reflection stool by Michael Del Piero; Mixed-media canvas Going to Sleep With Sand on Our Feet by Luc Van Der Walt; 17th century Japanese Shigaraki Ware Vessel.
Mid 20th century hand-carved West African wooden mortar; early 20th century handmade Native American basket; late 19th century primitive Spanish clay pot; 19th century Thai collection basket; late 18th century wood candle holder from Japan; set of pre-Neolithic hafted cut stone adzes.
Bronze Collage sculpture by Thomas Junghans; Portrait bronze sculpture by Thomas Junghans; both atop pedestals made from reclaimed wood flooring.
Fresh Pond Modular Sofa by Michael Del Piero; antique limestone table; Contemporary painting Decoller by Carola Kastman; Ceramic vessel #52 by Ilona Golovina.
This devotion to craftsmanship guides the entire multi-layered exhibition, where every vignette is built within a strict, harmonious tone, selecting art and furnishings that resonate on the same frequency of warmth and depth. In one corner of the gallery, a vintage 1950s Pierre Jeanneret daybed upholstered in plush mohair sits alongside a striking 17th century Finnish bookshelf, minimally styled with Japanese antiquities and a bronze sculpture by Thomas Junghans, resting on a reclaimed-wood pedestal. Look closely at the side of the Jeanneret piece, and original hand-stamped numbering still details its historic architectural origins from mid-century India. Nearby, the firm’s signature Fresh Pond Modular sofa anchors the living room layout, framed by an antique limestone table and texturally dense, soulful paintings by Stockholm-based artist Carola Kastman.
For Design Director Elizabeth Buchenroth, hand-curating this evolving visual narrative is an intuitive, daily storytelling process that embraces the relaxed lifestyle of the East End. “The story we tell in every interiors project and in the curating and styling of the gallery leans into a relaxed, thoughtful, and considered lifestyle,” Buchenroth explains. “Stories with pieces of history found in antiquities, interesting one-of-a-kind objects, and the weathered and patinaed meld into a single narrative.”
That narrative extends beautifully down to the smallest detail, including handmade llama-wool ottomans from Argentina woven with ancient techniques, primitive 19th-century Spanish clay pots, and organic, raw-pigment canvases by Luc Van Der Walt. Because these rare, one-of-a-kind antiques naturally rotate out as design collectors claim them throughout the summer, the showroom remains a living, breathing canvas. Far from a logistical hurdle, this fluid landscape keeps the creative energy in Wainscott vibrant, proving that a room truly finds its power when the past and the present carry on a seamless, soulful conversation.
