Lafia/Arvin, A Design Corporation

Creekside Design – Cabinetry has been working with Lafia/Arvin – Monique on numerous projects for 5 + years. I design cabinetry for related projects for luxury residences, and work closely with clients (homeowners) and their designers/architects. Working together with Monique is a pleasure. Monique is so skilled and talented – with her extensive architectural and design background, as in the beautiful Estate work on the Buster Keaton Estate, Gretzky, and other Estate projects of which I was very familiar from Design publications, I was excited when first introduced to Monique by Snyder Diamond for a French chateau Monique was designing. Since we started, we have worked together designing kitchens, bathrooms, closets and beautiful offices – brand new construction, and remodels – large estates, to ocean getaways. What is great is the consistency – Monique ‘s taste is impeccable – style, color finishes – and most importantly she has unmatched skills in space design/utilization. Beauty and functionality, it is very enjoyable and smooth working with Monique on special projects! I have yet to see a project in which her clients have not been thrilled with the design and professionalism that Monique handles with ease. Also important – the projects run very smoothly. Monique has amazing “people skills”. Often on projects I have seen some difficult situations in which the team is “dysfunctional” or "out of sink" (architect/contractor/subs/ designer). Monique has a keen talent in keeping the “team” focused, and working together cohesively without gaps. This is so important when all aspects of the project impact the cabinetry - such as lighting, technologies, plumbing, electrical, structural et al .. which are ever so more detailed, and complications arise when team members don’t communicate together. Its great having an Interior Designer like Monique that is so focused to detail and design, like we pride ourselves in, to make sure the completion is perfect and that the homeowner is more than Happy!

Los Angeles Fine Art Gallery was founded in 1979, and is located on La Cienega Blvd in West Hollywood. We have grown into one of the West Coast’s premier art galleries, with over 1000 paintings in stock including period European paintings catering to every taste!. We have working together closely with Monique since the beginning of her career at Hendrix/Allardyce, and continuously with Monique since Lafia/Arvin was born in 1997. Monique has sourced many beautiful paintings for Lafia/Arvin’s Estate projects, such as the Wayne Gretzky Estate (published in the Robb Report), and a recent California Homes cover publication of a French Estate on Los Angeles Country Club/Beverly Hills, to L/A’s Getaway projects, such as a Getaway/Estate project in the Montecito, CA area that we are meeting with Monique and the Client about next week for new art! Every time Monique comes in quite prepared, furniture plan, fabrics and all! We generally would describe Lafia/Arvin – Monique as having a thorough knowledge and passion of the subject and history, exceptional sense of color and placement, easy to work with. She is always quite professional in her assembly of selections, meetings with Clients at our Gallery. Clients have been very pleased with the whole process of Art selection with Monique as the initial introduction to our Gallery, and in turn referred their friends. In our opinion, you will be pleased with Monique – Lafia/Arvin.

The Decorative Carpets was founded in 1955, is located in West Hollywood – Melrose Avenue, and is known among designers as the premier resource for luxury carpets and rugs. We have been pleased to have been working closely with Monique – Lafia/Arvin since 2000 to supply custom carpets and rugs for her projects across the spectrum – many beach houses across the California coastline (such as Malibu, Santa Barbara, Montecito, et al.), Estates (such as the Buster Keaton Estate – Beverly Hills, Los Angeles Country Club Estate, The Oaks of Calabasas Estates, Manhattan, and a current Estate-Getaway in Sandyland Cove). We admire Monique’s impeccable skill in selecting beautiful colors, patterns and styles, that blend so nicely with the architecture and décor of the residences Lafia/Arvin has designed. Installations have gone smoothly in all cases for our products, and the clients have been very pleased with the beautiful selections, which is very important to us. For us, we always to enjoy seeing our rugs and carpets in the many fine national Design magazines publications Lafia/Arvin has had published over the years! In our view, you will be pleased with the results of your luxury getaway or main residence project if you engage Monique – Lafia/Arvin.

The Golden Lion provides the finest residential hardware Europe has to offer, and now along with high-end more contemporary options. We are thrilled to have started working with Monique of Lafia/Arvin on her projects for the past 6+ years – she is a joy/easy to work with, and we are impressed with her wide and extensive design/architectural skill and elegant taste! We often meet with Monique and her Clients who she brings to our showroom. We observe that Monique involves L/A’s clients in the selection process, and gets them excited about the process and these important architectural details! As a couple examples, Monique selected all of the hardware for a gorgeous French chateau she designed (such as door/cabinet knobs, hinges, plates, cremones, door stops, hinges, et al), which might as well have been built in the 1500’s in Louire Valley, France – which seemed natural to her (likely from the repeated European design expeditions in France and Italy!). Today we are working closely with Monique – Lafia/Arvin in supplying more contemporary/transitional selections for all of the hardware for a Getaway Estate in Sandy Land Cove/Montecito area. Its our opinion that you will be pleased with the design process and detailed selections for your special project if you engage Monique – Lafia/Arvin.

We have worked closely with Lafia/Arvin, and referrals, which is a pleasure . Like us, Monique is very attentive to detail, and easy to work with (she is very accessible, and works closely with other professionals / subs on the projects). Our attention is to the exterior landscaping and related projects. Monique-L/A’s primary attention is to the interiors but with the objective of blending the interiors and exteriors, transition, and adding exterior living space. It is a pleasure working with professionals such as L/A because they have great experience and background, and when you know the result will be so complete and beautiful, it makes the whole process go so smoothly. We have observed that clients we have worked on together have been very pleased with the process and the results.

Monique and her clients are a joy to work with! She is a total professional and a bunch of fun to boot! We look forward to working many more projects with her!

We specialize in adding innovative architectural finishes to our client’s residences. For most of our work, we are hired by an Architect or Contractor to add venetian plasters, marmorino, tromp l' oeil, faux paint, gilding, murals to the projects. Fortunately, we were engaged by a top-tier Contractor, Tyler Construction, who was building a French Estate on Los Angeles Country Club Golf Course. That project had Richard Landry, AIA, as the Architect and Lafia/Arvin as Designer. This was our first project with Lafia/Arvin (about 7 years ago) and it was a little intimidating to be working with these architecture and design heavyweights but Monique' s extensive knowledge of decorative arts, textures and colors made this an enjoyable experience for us. Monique has incredible creative and design skills and is a joy to work with. She has a unique ability to bring all of the players together in a great positive and non- confrontational atmosphere no matter. It was great to have this project featured on the Cover of California Homes also, and to receive such positive feedback on this project to this day! This was our first project together and Monique has since brought us into numerous projects, including: an Estate in Topanga, an Estate in “The Oaks – Calabasas Estates”, and currently a new construction Estate-Getaway project for a family in the Montecito/Sandyland Cove area. Her faith in us is very much appreciated. My team enjoys working with Monique in creating/installing beautiful venetian plastered walls and ceilings because it is such a joy from a creative point of view, and to see the Clients so pleased with how our work together with Lafia/Arvin ends up blending so well with the furnishings that Monique designed to make a residence very special / similar to a work of art (as opposed to white walls!).

Lafia Arvin is a design firm that we have worked with on many projects, future and current. We have created many custom pieces for their firm on a variety of projects ranging from beach home to city condos and country ranches. It is a pleasure to work with Monique and Chris, they are extremely talented and professional. We look forward to a long business relationship creating exciting custom furniture and helping them creating beautiful one of a kind environments.

The name of our Showroom is “Cache”, and we are located on Melrose, in West Hollywood near the Pacific Design Center. Cache specializes in the design, manufacture and sale of luxury design furniture and furnishings, most often for estates/fine residences and vacation homes. We have been working with Monique Lafia of Lafia/Arvin since 2002 – now about a dozen different projects. Our first project together was manufacturing several tables from our collection for the Wayne Gretzky Estate, with Monique’s added touches. Since then we have worked together on a wide range of projects of Lafia/Arvin – from the “Buster Keaton Estate” (a historical estate in Beverly Hills), to a historic brownstone in Manhattan, Estates in Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Hawaii, and Getaways on the Beach. Currently we are working very closely with Monique – Lafia/Arvin and the Client on the manufacture and design of unique custom furnishings (chairs, tables, sofas, desks, et al) for a stunning project that she is Designing on the beach in the Montecito/Sandyland Cove area. The residence has 100% ocean view, and mountain views. Monique is designing the furnishings to very specific design specifications and details, to maximize the views and space usage for the large family that enjoys the residence 5 months of the year at the beach compound since their main residence is in the desert. Since the husband is a CFO executive of world-wide company, its important that the office built in the residence has full/extensive function as such, and yet he and the family may enjoy their home at the same time (ocean, entertainment, living). Monique’s skill and attention has blended the two quite nicely! I would describe Monique as exceedingly talented and with great taste and ideas. She is very attentive to the smallest of details, follows through, all of her Clients are extremely pleased / thrilled with her work and design – in fact most of the projects Monique has brought us into relate to clients who have come back to Lafia/Arvin for several projects. Yet the design and items we have had the pleasure to manufacture have all been unique and custom. We are regularly going on sight with Monique at her current beach project since Monique would like to have very specific customized details and dimensions, and we observe that she works fabulously with the project team (contractor, architect, electrician et al) – as typical working with her very fulfilling from a design/creative project, and enjoyable for all!

Clear, consise, professional design. Monique is a pleasure to work with. Extraordinary taste and implementation. Professional and perfect from the start to finish. This is our third project with this company.

For the last 16 years I have worked with Lafia-Arvin on several luxurious homes in Malibu and Pacific Palisades. We are an excellent team and collaborate with eachother in order to get the best possible outcome for our clients. They are very creative and their designs are beautiful. Whenever I recommend them, I can be assured the my clients will be very happy. Richard Blumenberg, AIA, LEED AP RLB Architecture

I had the privilege of working with Mark David Levine for my exterior landscaping and Mark referred Monique Lafia of Lafia/Arvin to me. When she walked into my Westlake estate she inquired if I thought about painting my house? I really didn’t! However, as she was showing me coffee cream, olive martini, and birch white to name a few of paints we used in the house. I could see where Monique was going with her designs. She has a way of showing me lots options and price points of what would be right for my home. When a showroom had a designer sale I met her the last day of sale and bought a wood inlay coffee table for my living room that I love. We have a relationship where when things come up, for example I am looking for a wrought iron front door, Monique not only finds it, it's gorgeous and she found the installer for the very heavy custom door!. She is a wealth of information and it’s been a real collaborative project. I would highly recommend her to my friends. In fact, Monique has assisted my sister in law, and my husband's colleagues (one of my husband's colleagues has a gorgeous estate that Monique designed, and they are very pleased also). We have been working with Monique since February 14, 2012.