A house is a reflection of its owner, but the ones who often do much of the dirty work are the carpenters, painters and other contractors.

Not at Greg and Jackie Karkowsky's home, or that of Eric and Mary Fisher. The Karkowskys designed every square inch of their Centre Avenue loft, one of nine homes featured on tomorrow's Shadyside House Tour. They also did most of the grunt work, everything from building walls and adding two lofts to creating all of the artwork and furnishings that give that space it its modern, funky flavor.

Mr. Fisher, an architect, designed every detail of his unique copper-sided home with a living roof off Aiken Avenue. For more on the Fisher house, see the Nov. 3 Post-Gazette.

Neither of the Karkowskys is an architect, but they clearly have an eye for design. All but two pieces of furniture in their 923-square-foot loft were crafted by Mr. Karkowsky, an industrial artist who works mostly with aluminum and plastics. Two pieces that immediately grab your attention are the green "picnic chair" and the glass-and-steel dining table, which was created from legs found in an abandoned machine shop. Or maybe you're more smitten with his newest piece: a 7-foot-long chaise longue covered in mod-looking white vinyl.

When they purchased the fourth-floor condo nine years ago, it was little more than a big box; the previous owner had taken down all of the walls so he could use it as a painter's studio. The Karkowskys weren't fazed. As first-time homeowners, they found the idea of being able to create exactly what they wanted, where they wanted it, incredibly appealing.

"Think of the opportunities of not being confined to this space as the living room and this as the dining room," Mrs. Karkowsky says.

Take the crazy-quilt floor in the entryway. A visually arresting mix of slate, marble and ceramic with a little glass and steel thrown in, it flies strongly in the face of convention. Ditto with the tile wall that encases the loft's HVAC unit, which the couple hand-painted a vibrant cobalt blue.

"We're very creative people, so we like different textures and different colors," Mrs. Karkowsky says.

The kitchen area is even more interesting. The checkerboard floor was made from giant gray and black squares of Komatex, a plastic that's used in the sign-making business. The cabinets that hide the cleaning supplies, meanwhile, are made from blue-painted Plexiglas, while all the bakeware, bowls and appliances are displayed on open shelves.

"I love it," says Mrs. Karkowsky, a chef at the Inn on Negley. "It's small, but everything is where I need it."

Plexiglas is also the material of choice in the couple's windowed sleeping loft. Painted a light, golden wheat color, the space almost glows when the lights inside are turned on.

Just as colorful is Mr. Karkowsky's artwork, which is hung salon-style on the 13-foot-tall living room wall. At the center is a piece called "Satellite," an ode to pop culture created out of Plexiglas, aluminum and found objects. It stands in stark contrast to Mrs. Karkowsky's collection of vintage pink-and-black Shawnee Kenwood confetti art pottery, which is displayed near the front door on a shelf made from old closet doors.

In a neighborhood like Shadyside, where stately Colonials and elegantly restored Victorians are the norm, Mrs. Karkowsky acknowledges that people are sometimes surprised by her home. "People expect a normal house and our house isn't that way," she says.