This San Francisco Home Is A Portrait In Black-And-White Design

Custom wing chairs in Pierre Frey Leopold fabric, a Noir coffee table, and an oil painting from Saatchi Art: “Bye Bye Blackbird” by Laszlo Sallay, fill the living room of this San Francisco home.

Custom wing chairs in Pierre Frey Leopold fabric, a Noir coffee table, and an oil painting from Saatchi Art: “Bye Bye Blackbird” by Laszlo Sallay, fill the living room of this San Francisco home.

Picture a five-story, single-family house high in the Russian Hill neighborhood of the City by the Bay. Then imagine you live there and have a taste for a striking black-and-white palette, a taste you honed when living among the clean lines of Hong Kong design.

That is the story of this family and this home, occupied by a married couple with two children. But the tale gets much more intriguing – it becomes more of a page-turner, thanks to the private-style eye of interior designer Jeff Schlarb.

“The couple loved that restrained color scheme in Hong Kong,” Schlarb notes. “When we show restraint in color and use minimal patterns, the ones that do exist really pop. For instance, you notice the black-and-white wallpaper and the fun shapes and shades of the pillows.”

Custom dining table by Jeff Schlarb. Dining room chairs by Baker in Opuzen fabric. Tommen rug by Stark in dark charcoal.

Custom dining table by Jeff Schlarb. Dining room chairs by Baker in Opuzen fabric. Tommen rug by Stark in dark charcoal.

The custom wallpaper is the most compelling detail, made by a French company with a global following and this slogan: Auteur & Éditeur. The Élitis brand tells a story with unique, haute couture materials. This pattern, Panoramique Crépuscule – the second word means “twilight” or “dusk” – creates a dramatic cliffhanger in a space that overlooks Russian Hill.

Living room custom sofas by Jeff Schlarb Design Studio with Holly Hunt fabric in Great Plains, Riva. White coffee table by Phillips Collection. Hand-painted draperies by Nicole Hayden. Light fixture by Matthew McCormick Studio Inc. Mila Pendant. Laurel Marble Side Table in Nero Marquina, painted in satin matte.

Living room custom sofas by Jeff Schlarb Design Studio with Holly Hunt fabric in Great Plains, Riva. White coffee table by Phillips Collection. Hand-painted draperies by Nicole Hayden. Light fixture by Matthew McCormick Studio Inc. Mila Pendant. Laurel Marble Side Table in Nero Marquina, painted in satin matte.

The living room, with soaring 15-foot ceilings, is furnished in black, white and texture with an ebony stain to elevate the floor statement. The drapes are hand-painted, and the fiddle-leaf fig plant inserts a note of fresh green growth. For the dining room, Schlarb designed a custom marble table that plays perfectly against the owners’ inky-black credenza and an elegant, black-as-night lampshade.

But just in case you’re wondering, yes, the pristine sofa upholstery was pretreated to repel spills and stains – a must to keep these dramatic lines cool and fresh. In the end, it’s not just a story. It’s real life.

Photography by Aubrie Pick.

For more like this San Francisco home, be sure to check out the rustic grace of this Riverside Connecticut residence.

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