Founded by Mintee Kalra in 2018, Peruse is a Los Angeles–based landscape design studio creating cultivated gardens with a quiet sense of permanence and poetry. Our work draws from historical design traditions, architectural context, and the living ecology of each site to shape spaces that feel grounded, immersive, and enduring.
Peruse designs landscapes to be both looked upon and observed from within—compositions that invite stillness, movement, and sensory connection. Every project is approached with equal parts precision and intuition, honoring the complexity of factors that allow a garden to thrive over time.
We believe in an old-world approach to garden-making, where craftsmanship, materiality, and ecological care are inseparable. From hand-selected stone and mature trees to soil health, water stewardship, and habitat support, each element is placed with intention. Sustainability is not an add-on—it’s embedded into every layer of the process.
Mintee Kalra is the founder and principal of Peruse.
Her love of horticulture began in childhood, shaped by regular trips to the redwood preserves and national parks near her Bay Area home. Before founding Peruse, Mintee spent over 25 years in the fashion industry, designing for several high-profile brands. Her work appeared in Vogue, Italian Vogue, British Vogue, Vanity Fair, WWD, and Savage Beauty: Alexander McQueen Retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Her fashion background continues to inform her archival approach to references, color stories, and material texture. Mintee draws deep inspiration from her years working in London, Paris, Milan, Florence, New Delhi, New York, and Los Angeles—places where her design eye was shaped and her appreciation for poetic, architectural landscapes took root.
She later deepened her botanical knowledge through horticulture studies at UCLA and holds design degrees from Central Saint Martins, London College of Fashion, and the University of Westminster.
Since founding Peruse, Mintee has led a range of private residential projects across California, collaborating closely with artisans, architects, horticulturists, and craftspeople to bring layered, site-responsive gardens to life. Her work is guided by a romantic yet restrained approach to landscape design—rooted in historical references and driven by a deep sense of stewardship for her clients’ land and the ecosystems it touches.