Mix Masters

A composition of design books, art and ceramics forms its own still life.

To take advantage of the master bedroom’s sprawling window bank, Laslie and Guerrero painted the walls in Benjamin Moore’s Silhouette. The dark walls become the perfect frame for enviable views of the city, “really an artwork in itself,” says Laslie, from a “dead-on view of St. Ignatius Catholic Church” to Golden Gate Park and the marina. The statue is from Interiors Market.

The mid-century nesting tables in the master bedroom were a gift from Guerrero’s brother.

Thanks to a generously sized South of Market farm table and a pair of mid-century cabinets, the dining room is transformed from office space to dinner for eight in the blink of an eye. Iron chairs with brass pineapple finials and rattan armchairs from PierceMartin complete the relaxed, elegant look. Laslie found the turquoise vase on a sale rack on Bennett Street and immediately took it to Lamp Arts to have it wired as a lamp. Mirror is from Interiors Market.

The hallway features a rustic Chinese demilune from Mimi Williams Interiors and a contemporary painting from Lost Art Salon, a San Francisco gallery.

The living room is a perfect example of Laslie’s layered approach. A Saarinen table, Bertoia chairs and marble cocktail table mingle effortlessly with slipcovered chairs, a down-filled sofa and an evolving collection of artwork. The room overlooks Twin Peaks, the highest point in San Francisco.

Scott Laslie loves layers. Using carefully curated colors with just the right contrast, playful but pretty patterns on pillows and rugs, and an almost effortless mix of periods and styles, the interior designer—like a sculptor—infuses his interiors with architectural dimension. So when love, business and fate collided, resulting in a move to San Francisco from Atlanta, it was with great ease that Laslie and partner Alex Guerrero, a mid-century purist, mingled their belongings to create a welcoming, personal space that’s every bit as fresh as it is fabulous.

Tucked away in an anything-but-ordinary 1920s Spanish Baroque-style building in Buena Vista Park, their apartment-cum-office is compact but clutter-free. “Living our lives in 900-square-feet, we’re around only the things we love the most,” Laslie says. “We make due with the space.” It’s a philosophy Laslie and Guerrero, a fashion consultant and former merchandising manager for Dockers and The North Face, have parlayed into a successful business platform called FoundMarket.com.

Offering room-by-room design services—at exceptionally reasonable prices—the web-based experience is where do-it-yourself meets custom-designed spaces for today’s technology-, design- and price-savvy audience. “There are people who love HGTV, who want the hands-on experience and love the challenge of doing it themselves,” Laslie explains, “but they still need the nod from the designer to know that they’re doing the right thing.”

Keeping design accessible and personal, in fact, was the foundation for their new home. On a moment’s notice, the dining room table—a farm table from South of Market—can be transformed from desk to dinner for eight, thanks to a pair of mid-century cabinets that gracefully conceal each man’s office clutter. Also important to the pair is showcasing artwork they’ve collected through the years. Their solution: salon-style walls in the living room and master bedroom, which reveal a mixture of mediums and meanings, whether it’s a sketch by Atlanta artist Todd Murphy or a Paris flea market find.

Another element Laslie and Guerrero couldn’t ignore: the sixth-floor apartment’s panoramic views, which stretch from the Pacific to the Golden Gate Bridge to the San Francisco Bay. In the master bedroom, Laslie painted the walls in Benjamin Moore’s Silhouette, so at night the black wall of windows becomes a frame for the most beautiful work of all—enviable views of the city, down to the waves crashing beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and its red flashing lights. It’s the final, finishing layer that completes the home’s effortless complexity.