MONIOMI Design

photo by Jeanne Canto

If you could have a second home anywhere, where would you live?

Monica Santayana: Tuscany
Ronald Alvarez: Tuscany because I think that’s what Monica would say!

What are three words to describe your style?

1. Saturated

2. Layered

3. Patterned

Tell us about your childhood bedroom?

MS: I wanted a canopy bed with all the 80’s stripes and floral patterns. When my mom created it for me that was the first time I had experienced a finished room, it brought me so much joy and mad eye realize the power of a designed room.
RA: I never had much of an opportunity to design my own bedroom as a child. My mom was the decorator of the house. However, I always kept my room neat and organized.

What’s the first investment piece you ever bought for your house?

MS: A Karim Rashid chair I could not afford at the time, but I had to have it. Karim signed it while visiting the design store I worked at.
RA: Our first home dining chairs, which are now our patio dining chairs. Fifteen year plus of use and still look brand new. One of the best investments we have ever made.

In the history of design, if you could hire any designer other than yourself, who would it be?

MS: Gio Ponti
RA: The set designer for Bridgerton

No room is complete without:

MS: Layered lighting
RA: Window treatment

People think of me as ___, but I am really

MS: competitive, but I just don’t lose.
RA: practical, but I am a romantic.

Things you omit from:

• A flower arrangement

  MS: Monstera leaves, once upon a time we used them but not anymore
  RA: Eucalyptus

• An hors d’oeuvre platter

  MS: Things with bones
  RA: Anything sitting out too long

• A bar cabinet

  MS: Magnum sized bottles
  RA: Cheap liquor

A song for:

• Dinner at home

  MS: Whatever Ronald is playing
  RA: 808s & Heartbreak Album

• Working at your desk

  MS: Dave Matthews
  RA: I like music that makes me move while I’m working, Hip Hop & Reggaeton

• Going for a run

  MS: Black Eyed Peas

Biggest Vice?

MS: Online shopping and returning
RA: Shoes always needing to be clean

If you were on an Ambien high and internet shopping, what would you buy?

MS: More shoes for the closet I don’t have!
RA: Also more shoes for the closet I don’t have.

Do your clothes reflect your design sensibility, if so, how?

MS: It’s layers of colors, textures, and patterns like our interiors.
RA: Definitely. I love pushing the boundaries and experimenting with fashion in the same way we do with our interiors.

Who is your star crush?

MS: Antoni from Queer Eye
RA: Still have a big crush on my wife!

What is the thing you would never do on a project, but don’t detest when you see others do it?

MS: Bare painted walls
RA: An all white kitchen or bathroom

If there were a fire, and you could only keep one design book, what would it be?

MS: I’m saving my handbags before I save my books.
RA: I’ll be too busy helping Monica save her bags.

For posterity, what would you like your work to be known for? 

MS: The ingenuity of our interiors
RA: Uniqueness, not to be compared

photo by Jeanne Canto

Your Favorite:

• Movie:

  MS: Pretty Woman
  RA: Elf

• Scent:

  MS+RA: Our Moniomi #10 Candle

• The fabric you always come back to:

  MS: Moire
  RA: Mohair

• Dream project:

  MS: A project without a client
  RA: A project without a budget

• Meal:

  MS: A good Cuban vaca frita
  RA: Fried chicken

• Drink:

  MS: Spicy Margarita, as spicy as you can make it
  RA: Anything neat

• Hotel:

  MS: Old Miami Viceroy
  RA: The Breakers

• Travel Destination:

  MS: Anywhere a direct flight can take me
  RA: Any relaxing place, with a pool, a spa and a full bar

• Artist:

  MS: Josef Albers
  RA: Kehinde Wiley

• A cause near and dear to me:  

  MS: Gang Alternative in Miami
  RA: I love to support local causes tied with our community. We look forward to our back to school drives and holiday toy drives.

• Thing to collect obsessively:

  MS: Everything I love, and I love a lot of things.
  RA: Monica does all the collecting we need. There can only be room for one collector in the house.

• Era in the history of design:

  MS: Art Nouveau
  RA: Renaissance

• Museum:

  MS: The Met
  RA: The Getty Center

• Paint Color that always looks great:

  MS+RA: Snowbound by Sherwin Williams (7004), the perfect shade of white.

• Favorite person to follow on Instagram:

  MS: Martha Stewart
  RA: DJ Khaled

• Dogs, Cats, or No Pets?

  MS: Dogs
  RA: Definitely dogs