23 May Presidential Redecoration

Redecorating a room can be stressful. Carpets have to match furniture selections, furniture selections need to match drapes and everything needs to be rearranged to maximize the new space. But imagine if your redecoration wasn’t just meant for you and a few guests. Imagine if your carpet choice was scrutinized by world leaders, powerful politicians and the President of the United States every day. Feeling stressed yet?

But that’s exactly the kind of pressure that designers face when redecorating the Oval Office. With every new President comes a new look and feel to the Oval Office.

The tradition of redecorating the President’s office was started in the latter half of the 20^th century. Most often redecoration involves changing out the carpet, drapery, artwork and some furniture. The basic layout of the room is often kept the same. For instance, the President’s desk is always housed facing away from the windows. And in recent years many of the Presidents have used the same, ornate 19^th century desk called the Resolute Desk. The Resolute Desk is so named because it was made from the timbers of the H.M.S Resolute, an artic exploration vessel from the 1880s.

Another stable feature of the room is the fireplace in front of which Presidents often meet with other heads of state. There is also a large grandfather clock regularly kept in the room as well as a series of bronze sculptures of horses.

The carpet, however, changes with each president. The carpet always contains the Presidential Seal in the center but the design around the seal and the color of the carpet vary between administrations. Richard Nixon, for instance, opted for a royal blue carpet with a golden seal. Jimmy Carter put in a floral pattern and George W. Bush went with a sunburst effect. Obama chose a beige color with a smaller seal. Around the edges of the current carpet are some of Obama’s favorite quotes.

Some controversy ensued when it was uncovered in 2010 that Obama’s carpet attributed a quote to Martin Luther King, Jr. which the civil rights leader had really borrowed from another source. The phrase “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” was actually a paraphrasing of words spoken by Massachusetts abolitionist Theodore Parker in 1853. The White House defended the quote, however, by saying that no mistake was made and that the President was aware of the other source but chose to quote King instead.

Artworks for the Oval Office also differ from administration to administration. Bill Clinton, for instance, kept a bronze sculpture of The Thinker by French artist Auguste Rodin. And George W. Bush put up one of his paintings from home as well as a painting by southwestern artist Tom Lea. Obama, meanwhile, has left much of the art alone.

While we can’t all have desks made from the timbers of a 19^th century ship or personally designed carpets, our redecorations require careful consideration as well. And they also need maintenance and cleaning.

If you’ve recently redecorated and now discovered that the carpet just doesn’t have the same sparkle that it used to or the drapes are looking a little dingy, contact Steamer’s Carpet Care today. At Steamer’s we know how to keep your home looking fresh and smart for all of your guests, family and friends—even if those friends aren’t presidents, prime ministers or senators.