“Perhaps I did it backwards,” muses designer Timothy Corrigan, who began his career in advertising, eventually becoming an executive in a large agency’s international division, overseeing a staff of 6,000 worldwide. He began restoring and designing houses for himself in his free time, and when he started getting requests for his help from friends, Corrigan recalls, “I decided to follow my heart and moved into that world.” Now, as head of his Los Angeles– and Paris-based architectural restoration and design firm, Corrigan works with a staff of 10 and wears the hats of “both creative director and account executive,” creating environments imbued with European elegance tempered with a dash of California casual.

Choosing to remain small, he explains, has afforded him the opportunity “to take only the jobs where we really like the clients as well as the projects,” which currently include a Los Angeles house that will be “totally ‘green,’ down to the reclaimed-wood floors and recycled insulation,” and the complete restoration of an 18th-century château and garden in France. Staying small has also allowed Corrigan the flexibility to expand his business in other directions: In late 2006 —“because we couldn’t find any good ones to recommend to our clients”—he introduced a line of all-natural polishes and cleaners for antiques under his Timothy Corrigan Home banner with additional products to follow. And soon, antiques, furnishings and art will be available on his Web site.

Timothy Corrigan

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