Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette photos Interior designer Diane Laskoski used poly-urethane shell-topped niches and molding to create archi-tectural interest in her Plum home.

By Kevin Kirkland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette To Diane Laskoski's mind, painting a ceiling white is a little like a painter leaving one-fifth of her canvas blank.

"The ceiling is often a missed opportunity. It's the lost element of the cube," said Mrs. Laskoski, an interior designer with The Blind Side in Verona.

Domes, in particular, have become a signature of the Plum woman's work. Many of her residential projects feature hand-decorated round or oval features made by Focal Point Architectural Products, a North Carolina manufacturer of polyurethane moldings and trim.

So it comes as no surprise that Mary Ann Pipski found herself looking up when she and her husband, John, hired Mrs. Laskoski as a decorator for their new home in Fox Chapel. The house built by John Hobart Miller of O'Hara features 20-foot-high angled ceilings in the foyer and the great room and a 13-footer in the dining room.

The first two areas draw "oohs" and "ahs" for their chandelier, skylights and decorative mantel and columns, respectively. But in the dining room, it's the hand-painted dome that delights the eye.

The oval depression is about 4 feet at its longest point and 10 inches deep, but it looks bigger because decorative painter Liz White of Verona extended her flowers-butterflies-and-ivy design beyond its edges onto the ceiling. A coat of glaze gives it depth and the look of age.

	Mary Ann Pipski likes the way a dome created by designer Diane Laskoski and artist Liz White draws the eye to the ceiling in her Fox Chapel home. Click photo for larger image.

Having worked with Mrs. Laskoski on their previous home, also in Fox Chapel, Mrs. Pipski knew she would give the interior unique character that would set it apart from other, similar-looking new homes. Mrs. Pipski appreciates that the designer seeks her input.

"We never would have figured this out without Diane. We do well together. We can compromise, but usually Diane is right," she said, laughing.

"It's not as satisfying when a client says 'Just do it,'" said Mrs. Laskoski, an interior designer for 30 years.

She also managed to make people look up in the Pipskis' first-floor powder room, where cove lighting illuminates a silver-glazed ceiling.

The designer began work before the house was built and incorporated as much of the couple's existing furniture as possible. Working with Ida McConnell of Cuvee Kitchen Designs in Indiana, she decorated the French Provincial kitchen with off-white glazed cabinetry and matching molding from Rutt.

She also found the custom-painted trellis dining table from Bausman Furniture and quirky bee tiles from Country Floors to use as accents in the backsplash. John Tarasi did all the tile work, and Ms. White hand-painted floral swags over the room's windows and doors.

Mrs. Laskoski found the dining room's burnished brass light fixture and the foyer's crystal-and-iron chandelier at Fine Art Lighting. For Mr. Pipski's office in the loft, she worked with project manager Pat Miller and carpenter Mark Hopkins to add to the number of fluted columns and relocate them so they better frame the view of the two skylights and great room below.

But ceilings are Mrs. Laskoski's forte. She recently won first place and $2,500 in a national design contest sponsored by Focal Point for her use of a dome in her design firm's conference room. It now looks more like an Old World cartographer's shop, with an 8-foot dome and ceiling covered with ancient maps. Artist Kathleen Flaherty painted the maps. Mrs. Laskoski had her use a plastic medium and shoe polish to give the ceiling its aged look.

"The dome is always one of the first things people ask to see when entering the studio for the first time," she said. "It's quite the show-stopper."

She noted that domes can be installed during construction or added later by creating a box within the ceiling's joists.

The designer has used Focal Point products in her own home as well -- no domes so far, but matching shell-topped niches in the living room and a rosette frieze in a guest bedroom.

In the formal living room, the columns, shells and crown and dentil molding are painted white to contrast with the walls, painted Caspian teal. Though the house is only 12 years old, ornate molding and other architectural details give it a classical Empire look.

"A lot of new houses don't have much architectural detail," she said, pointing out how she had replaced the usual skinny trim around the front door with wide, curving bar nosing to dramatically frame the entrance.

In the 13-by-12-foot bedroom upstairs, Mrs. Laskoski draws guests' eyes toward the ceiling with a frieze of rosettes underlined by picture molding. In one corner is a small Strauss crystal chandelier she inherited from her parents, then dressed up with feathers.

Her quirky side is also revealed in the house's first-floor powder room. On the ceiling, three blond curly-haired cherubs peek, giggle and point in the vicinity of the commode. The bathroom's user can't help but smile at the painted peeping Toms created by artist Larry Orner. Mrs. Laskoski had him rub kerosene on the painting to give it a fresco look.

"I always like to add a little whimsy somewhere," she said. "It doesn't have to be serious. It should be fun."

The Pipskis' kitchen was decorated in French Provincial style with hand-painted floral swags over the windows and doors.

SOURCES

Cuvee Kitchen Designs, 3400 Harts Run Road, Glenshaw, 412-767-4400.
Focal Point Architectural Products -- www.focalpointap.com.
John Hobert Miller (builder), 1344 Freeport Road, O'Hara -- 412-963-8842
The Blind Side, 751 E. Railroad Ave., Verona -- 412-826-1850 or www.theblindside.com.

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Correction/Clarification: (Published Feb. 9, 2006) This story as originally published on Jan. 28, 2006 included an incorrect address and phone number for Cuvee Kitchen Designs. The correct information is: 3400 Harts Run Road, Glenshaw, 412-767-4400.