Blog By Knight
Memo to the Obamas: You don’t need to decorate at Ikea

My friend Claudia made me take a tour of the white house once, for which I am now grateful, since I would never have stood in a hot, two hour line without her urging and cajoling, but the tour didn’t include the oval office.

Recently, the Press made a big deal out of the fact that Bill Clinton gushed over how much he liked the new Oval Office rug during a meeting hosted by W. for the former living Presidents. I thought I would check it out.

The Oval Office was created in 1909 when William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing of the White House. The White House already had an elliptical-shaped State Parlor, which inspired the oval shape to the Presidents Office. It was built with three large south-facing windows behind the president’s desk and a fireplace at the north end of the room. It must be somewhat of a decorating challenge being round and having four doors: the east door opens to the Rose Garden; the west door leads to a private smaller study and dining room; the northwest door opens onto the main corridor of the West Wing; and the northeast door opens to the office of the president’s secretary.

According to Wikipedia

A tradition evolved in the latter part of the twentieth century of each new administration redecorating the office to the President’s liking. A new administration usually selects an oval carpet, new drapery, the paintings on the walls, and some furniture.

Since the late 1700′s our country has had a Seal of the United States of America and Rutherford was the first President to design a presidential seal which he based on what is known as the Great Seal.

Truman was the first to commission an Oval Office Rug that incorporated the Presidential Seal. His rug was monochromatic with the seal indicated by varying depths in the cut pile. Eisenhower and Kennedy kept Truman’s rug in place for their tenures in office. Since then each administration has created its own rug working with an interior designer and the Curator of the White House. I really like the decor of the Reagan White House. That Nancy Reagan had the touch.

George Bush says that one of the first duties he assumed as Commander in Chief of the United States of America was to delegate the responsibility of designing the Oval Office Rug to Laura Bush. I have to admit the $61,000 cream rug with melon and sage accents is a huge improvement to the Clinton rug with its cliche of red, white, blue and gold.

Nixon’s was really garish in bright blue and gold. Most incoming presidents continue using the rug of their predecessor until their new one is installed. The retired carpet very often is then moved to the presidential library of the president for whom it was made.
See this slide show for more examples

Obama might have gotten a headstart on his rug since during his campaign, he designed a seal that was placed on the front of the podium that he would speak behind. That seal seen below is similar to the official seal of the president of the United States The Latin on it, Vero Possumus, by the way, does not mean “very much like an opposum” and instead, cleverly enough roughly translates to “yes we can”.

Nina at Voted off the Island, found the picture below of Ikea’s suggestions for furnishing the Oval Office rendition of the Oval Office. Someone suggested that, in these new austere times, (especially with children and a new puppy), maybe Obama won’t bother with a rug and opt for trendy bare floorboards instead. Despite the fact that our country in is the midst of the biggest economic crisis in recent history, I really hope the Obamas don’t end up going to Ikea to decorate their new digs.

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