Color and composition have always fascinated Sylvia Thompson-Dias, an Arabi native who grew up studying painting before pursuing an architecture degree from LSU. Shortly after receiving that degree, Thompson-Dias began her decorative arts business, Sylvia T. Designs LLC, and for 25 years has executed projects large and small, residential and commercial, historic and new construction. A full-service decorative arts firm, Sylvia T. Designs offers decorative plaster finishes, plaster restoration, custom signage, gilding, custom stencils, faux finishes, murals, cabinetry and furniture finishing, interior design and more.

Many people don’t know what the decorative arts can encompass—it’s not just ‘faux finishes,’” says Thompson-Dias. “It’s form and function that is also artistic. It boasts thousands of years of history,” she says. The firm honors both tradition and progress by mastering classic approaches and techniques while also incorporating innovative materials and methods.

Regarding today’s trends, Sylvia T. Designs encourages alternatives to wallpaper, which can show seams and suffer from moisture and humidity. Plaster finishes or stencils can cost the same or less, for example. Additionally, revitalizing your kitchen or bathroom through cabinetry refinishing can add pizzazz to older, factory-finished cabinets, says Thompson-Dias.