Celebrating the History of Interior Design at the White House

Table Of Content

• The main drawing rooms are among the most visible areas of the mansion. They connect to the main hallway, Cross Hall.
• Opinion: My mother set herself on fire. Why do people choose to self-immolate?
• Furnishing the White House: The Decorative Arts Collection
• Exterior Photo of the South Portico
• A Green Kitchen
• The Blue Room houses the official White House Christmas tree.

President Harry S. Truman began a renovation of the building in which everything but the outer walls was dismantled. The reconstruction was overseen by architect Lorenzo Winslow, and in 1952, the Truman family moved back into the White House. Theodore Roosevelt enlisted the help of architectural firm McKim, Mead and White to oversee a much needed expansion, which would include the addition of the West Wing.

The main drawing rooms are among the most visible areas of the mansion. They connect to the main hallway, Cross Hall.

The East Room of the White House—which is now used for events such as dances, press conferences, ceremonies, banquets, receptions, and concerts—was then used by Abigail Adams as a laundry room. Before we explore the White House’s most prominent interiors, let’s explore the famed home’s history. This current president, however, is certainly not the first to have his hand at revamping the White House.

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Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff shared the grim numbers of the growing public health crisis. Both the makeup and the messaging were consistent for Kardashian, who has used her platform and influence to push for criminal justice reform since 2018. Looking to refurnish your home or find that missing piece to give your space a special touch? We’ve got you covered with a beautiful selection of chairs, sofas, tables, beds, and accessories to complete any room.

Furnishing the White House: The Decorative Arts Collection

John Adams was the first president to live in the White House, moving in on November 1st, 1800. The executive mansion has been the official residence of every subsequent president. Each president adds their own personal style to the workspace, choosing artwork from the White House collection or borrowing from museums. Six desks have been used in the Oval Office, the most famous of which is the Resolute desk.

Exterior Photo of the South Portico

The State Floor features some of the White House’s most treasured spaces, including the East Room, the Blue, Red, and Green Rooms, the State Dining Room, and the Family Dining Room. When President Harry S. Truman moved into the White House in 1945, he became concerned about the state of the building. In 1947, a chandelier in the Blue Room almost fell on Bess Truman and her guests from the Daughters of the American Revolution, and in 1948, the leg of Margaret Truman’s piano pierced through the floor of what is now the private dining room. Engineers confirmed that the building was at risk of collapse, and Truman and his family relocated to Blair House, the president’s guesthouse located nearby at 1651 Pennsylvania Ave. The White House has undergone many renovations throughout its history, starting with Thomas Jefferson, who, along with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, added the East and West Colonnades, which now link the East and West Wings with the Executive Residence. The first major renovation of the White House took place during the War of 1812.

Contrary to a popular myth that the building was painted white to hide scorch marks after the fire in 1814, the residence was first painted white in 1798 to protect the exterior from weather damage. The residence features a 42-seat movie theater and a tennis and basketball court. The White House bowling alley was given as a gift to President Truman and was later moved to the basement of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The West Wing also houses the Situation Room, the Cabinet Room, the Press Room, and offices for advisors and the chief of staff.

During the Kennedy administration, Rachel Lambert “Bunny” Mellon redesigned the White House gardens, including the famed Rose Garden outside the West Wing. The East Garden, also redesigned by Mellon, was later named in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy. First lady Michelle Obama added a 1,100-square-foot vegetable garden on the south grounds in 2009. In addition to the Presidential Bedroom Suite, the second floor includes historic spaces, such as the Queens’ Bedroom, the Treaty Room, the Yellow Oval Room, the Center Hall, and the East and West Sitting Rooms. The central Executive Residence is home to the president’s living spaces and the State Rooms. The ground floor originally housed service areas, but now includes the Diplomatic Reception Room, the White House Library, the Map Room, the Vermeil Room, and the China Room.

In 2019, she paid $10.65 million for a mansion across the street that featured a large backyard and a swimming pool. In May 2021, the singer bought good pal and next-door neighbor Nicole Richie‘s four-bedroom, four-bathroom home for $10 million. The 33-year-old has been doing a tour with various top-end radio stations via Zoom to promote her new album, 30. On October 15, 2021, the singer sat inside what appeared to be her home study, with shelves behind her lined with some very interesting items. Overseeing Tuesday’s panel and advocating for the administration’s federal action plan was Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris. Marine One, the presidential helicopter, is another such mode of transportation.

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President Truman had been asked in 1951 if the interior was going to be restored to what it had been before the demolition. Many of the furnish­ings had been returned to their previous locations, and bright emerald green silk damasks from the mid-1940s were rein­stalled in the Green Room. But the new, vivid colors of the wall coverings and upholsteries in the Red Room and Blue Room reflected the modern tastes of the postwar period. The Red Room damask, copied from an 18th-century design, was a bril­liant lipstick red, as was the red chenille carpet that covered the floor wall to wall. The furniture in these rooms was a mix of English and American pieces; some pieces were reproductions suggesting neoclassical styles of the late 18th and early 19th cen­turies. Many had been donated to the White House since Mrs. Coolidge’s redecorating pro­gram in the 1920s.

The office's oval shape was inspired by the shape of the Blue Room on the first floor. This is a view of the table settings in the State Dining Room for a White House Dinner. The room has oak paneling, three eagle-pedestal side tables, Queen Anne-style chairs, and circular tables.

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Ann Marie’s own taste plus her study of new design trends results in new items arriving every day. Their talents, combined with your ideas, can create stunning room makeovers or just that extra something to highlight and add character and comfort to a space. While most of these interiors also feature some colour, what unites them is their bright white walls and mostly wooden floors. The lack of paintings and other wall hangings could have felt cold and sparse, but instead creates an almost monastic, peaceful feeling.

The commission thought it necessary to appoint an advisory committee—the Advisory Committee on Interior Decoration of the Executive Mansion—to give overall approval to Altman’s proposals. The Commission of Fine Arts, involved for decades in deci­sions relating to White House interiors and acquisitions, was represented by its chair, David Finley, who brought in Mrs. Dwight Davis, a former member of the White House furnishings committee, as a consultant. Douglas W. Orr, president of the American Institute of Architects and vice chairman of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion, was also a member, but he was most concerned with architectural issues. Chief Usher Crim, tire­lessly insisting that all decisions relating to the furnishings be submitted to President and Mrs. Truman for their approval, rep­resented their interests by show­ ing all drawings and samples to them and consulting with them on numerous details. Lorenzo Winslow was advised by the noted New York architect William Adams Delano, a graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, appointed consulting architect by the president. Delano let it be known that he would “naturally like to have a word in the matter of furnishings.”7 His long associ­ation with the White House went back to his work on the third-floor addition of 1927, and he designed the South Portico balcony at Truman’s request in 1946.

To the mem­bers, that meant the Georgian style of the late 18th century— the period of the building’s con­struction. By the late 1940s, the Colonial Revival interiors, which dated from 1902, con­tained a varied mix of furnish­ings selected for the state rooms by White House occupants, architects, and furnishing com­mittees over the years. The White House has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.

Additional offices for the president’s staff are located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. The vice president has an office in the West Wing, as well as the ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Today’s structure was built in 1942 and sits atop the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. The two-story East Wing houses the office spaces of the first lady and her staff.

The Blue Room walls, formerly a solid blue rep, were covered with a gold neoclassical floral design; the same design was used on the upholstery of the white and gold French Empire style furniture made in New York for the room by Leon Marcotte in 1902. Written by Betty C. Monkman, William G. Allman, Lydia S. Tederick, and Melissa C. Naulin with photography by Bruce M. White, the book chronicles the White House's stylistic periods over time. One will see moments from the late Federal Period, eras when the White House was outfitted in French and British taste (echoes of the Gilded Age), to the emergence of true American identity and Colonial revival. Alongside the images of furniture, china, lighting, textiles, silver, and glass are stories of how presidents and first ladies lived and entertained while in the White House. Under the Biden administration, the White House's East Wing underwent a $1.2 million renovation following the Trumps with the help of Los Angeles-based interior designer, Mark D. Sikes, who is well known for his traditional style and blue and white color palette.

Previous roundups include Scandi-style living rooms, loft conversions by architects and L-shaped kitchens. On March 27, 1952, President and Mrs. Truman returned to a freshly renovated White House after living at Blair House since November 1948. They were delighted with the success of the three-and-one- half-year project in spite of all its problems and disruptions. A week later they welcomed their first house guests, Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, and on April 22 the building was opened once again to the American people. The house, now structurally safe, had many new amenities, such as central air conditioning, modem bathrooms, and built-in closets that replaced heavy wardrobes and chests. While George Washington chose the site and design of the White House, he did not ever live in the residence.