Designing History

by Michael S. Smith, Margaret Russell, Michelle Obama (Forward)

The long-awaited insider's look at one of the design milestones of the twenty-first century: Michael S Smith's celebrated decoration of the Obama White House.

Created for design enthusiasts, political aficionados, and students of Americana, In the White House
documents Michael Smith's extraordinary collaboration with the President and First Lady of the United States. Not since Jacqueline Kennedy's iconic work on the White House has a designer of Michael Smith's stature been commissioned to bring a new design spirit to the mansion. Through extensive photography, behind-the-scenes stories, and rich archival material, the book places the Obama White House within the context of the building's storied past and its evolution over the past two centuries. The book beautifully documents the process of updating the country's most symbolic residence, revealing how Smith's collaboration on the decoration, showcasing of artworks, and style of entertaining reflected the youthful spirit of the First Family and their vision of a more progressive, inclusive American society.

Ultimately, this book will serve as both a historical document and a voyeur's delight, capturing a specific moment in time for the White House, the Obamas, and the American experience.

Genres: Nonfiction, Design, History, Interior Design, Art

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2020

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coffee table book from the Obamas' interior designer Michael S. Smith. Even though I don't really connect with the White House décor, Smith did an excellent job of infusing tradition with modern touches. It's fun to see photos of all the room and the palettes and swatches created for each.

And after all these years, I can finally look back on the Obama administration and not worry. We made it through four years of the hate from electing Obama. But it only lasted four years, and now we have an opportunity to move the country into a positive direction. It's certainly not over - this war, but there's hope and promise and that feels good. And if feels good to honor Barack and Michelle Obama for creating a massive leap forward for the United States.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this book more stars.

Although it is ostensibly about the decorating renovations that President and Mrs. Obama made to the White House, it is also a history of the White House and the many interior design renovations that it has undergone, especially during the 20th century. There are a multitude of historic photographs, especially from the 4 year renovation during the Truman administration, when the insides of the White House were gutted right to the outside walls due to the deterioration of all the interior support structures. All the photography is beautiful, with some before and after photos and insight into the design process, as well as closeups of important furniture and art. Mr. Smith was able to seamlessly combine antiques, reproductions and modern pieces of furniture as well as traditional and modern art to create a family oriented, peaceful and cozy environment for the Obamas, especially in their 2nd and 3rd floor living quarters. His updating of the first floor public rooms always stayed in keeping with the historic nature of the house, yet refreshed the decor.

If you enjoy history as well as interior design, this is the book for you. An absolute recommend.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my birthday present to myself and a very good gift it was. The pictures were gorgeous, and the history of The White House lent it a bit more scholarly heft. A visual reminder of the elegance, intelligence, and respect that resided in The White House during the Obama years. 4.5

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, heavy coffee table book, published at an odd time. Very sophisticated furnishings, palette, and art, very Chicago styled, in my view. So sad that it's all been done over and so glad there's a book to memorialize the Obamas' and their decorator's taste. I saw Obama's portrait last October but didn't pay attention to how huge his hands are.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. First of all, I think the spaces Michael Smith created for the Obama white house were gorgeous, and he was very thoughtful about pulling in all sorts of American voices to decorate the space. I also loved reading about white house history and seeing how the spaces evolved over the years. Beautiful book.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever get a chance to see this book, it is a wonderful combo of White House history and photos (of artwork and furnishings that most of us will never get to see) and what goes into decorating for each president and their residence as well as the rest of the WH. Beautifully done with narrative AND photos.

[Bill Sleeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Designing History – The Extraordinary Art & Style of the Obama White House by designer Michael S. Smith (with Margaret Russell) is, as one might expect from the Rizzoli Press, an absolutely lovely book. Designer and author Smith does an expert job reviewing the history of the White House and the many efforts to create a sense of history, a working office and a home for the president’s family. I recently finished Truman so I was particularly intrigued by the further description from a design professional of the WH renovations undertaken by Truman. The book’s beauty truly lay in the detailed discussion of the design process coupled with the many lovely photos and drawings of the finished rooms. The pictures of the finished Treaty Room are STUNNING! Make no mistake this is a beautiful book that will find a home on many a coffee table.

Although I liked this book very much I am kept from awarding it more than four stars as the writing suffered from (in my opinion at least) multiple poor choices in phrasing. I knew I was in trouble as a reader when an early chapter was actually titled “What’s Past is Prologue!” Yikes! That was the most original start Smith and his editors could come up with? In a later chapter we are subjected to the “surreality” of a situation, a “ludicrous synchronicity” of watching himself quoted on television and the “verticality” of White House spaces. In this same section a telephone call from Barbara Walters asking Smith for information is described as “bizarre.” How so? Not bizarre at all really, rather it is a typical feature of Washington life for a journalist to reach out to a potential highly placed insider for a pithy quote in spite of how tenuous the relationship might be. Smith is old enough and experienced enough with high profile clients that he likely knows this so pretending to be shocked seemed staged. Further into the work we are informed that a delayed project was “back-burnered.” “Back-burnered???” Really? I am aware that this is a correct usage of the past tense but this choice, like much of the writing, came across as clumsy and contrived (as well as fawning to the point of distraction whenever discussing the Obamas). Overall it seemed that Smith, perhaps because the Obamas are themselves so eloquent, was trying too hard to impress with his text when his magnificent art spoke for itself.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book from the designer who was chosen to organize and decorate the White House for the Obama family, especially the family spaces. But he also worked on some of the more public areas. Reading through this, I kept wondering what t-rump's occupation of the same spaces did to undermine the classic elegance he was given.
My only quarrel was with some of the artwork, but that's because I'm not a fan of a lot of contemporary art.
It was interesting hearing about just what could be done, how fast, and how well. And what couldn't be done for various reasons.
Loved the book. I'll probably check it out again sometime.

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book, full of beautiful colour photographs of many pieces of antique furniture, paintings and other soft furnishings, and the historical details associated with these pieces such as who bought them, who disposed of them and how, and how some have been returned to the White House itself or into storage from where future occupants of White House can view and choose which items to return to the Executive Manion should they so wish.

It was very difficult to find a place to stop reading, but as it was raining and I had a cold, I carried on reading.

[Joseph J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply superb. The photographs are beautiful and the text informative, well written and at times humble-even a top designer like Michael Smith had some things to learn, i.e .why White House paintings seem to be hung higher, and the complications of loaned art to the White House. I was impressed how respectful Smith was of the history of each room in adapting to the Obama's good taste. Even a rare glimpse of one of the third floor bedrooms. A treat for any White house fan or student of the Presidents.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so much more than I expected. I learned fascinating details about the history of the White House. I understood more about the life of the occupants in this fascinating building. I came to respect and appreciate the difficulty of designing a home that is also a public building and work space. And I simply loved the beautiful spaces created by Michael Smith and his team. The Obamas are, of course, featured prominently. I learned more about this fascinating first family and their lives in this incredible American home.

[Chris Aylott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend to just leaf through coffee table books, but this one pulled me in. The history and the challenges involved in designing and decorating a place as big and full of function as the White House come through clearly, and I really appreciated the careful balancing of national and personal symbols in the spaces.

[Jays · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should go without saying that, frankly, you don't read this book for the prose. You read it for the incredible images of a part of the White House that most of us will never, ever see. Even if you're not a big fan of interior design, going through this book with Smith's guide as to how they achieved each individual look is just a lovely experience.

I'm personally very lucky - Because of the work I do, I've been fortunate enough to have been inside the White House several times and in a few different areas of it (all semi-public areas). And while the White House is never not a humbling and awe-inspiring place to be, I'll admit that my usual reaction to it was "yes, this is impressive, but would you really want to have to live in this building?" The public areas always felt a little stuffy to me. They're excessively formal and feel like being inside a museum where nothing can be touched and no one can be too loud. The design aesthetic is solidly stuck in the mid-19th century. Because of that, I've always been curious about the residential areas of the White House and how it is that anyone can spend four to eight years with it as their home and ever really feel comfortable.

Turns out that was exactly the central issue for Smith as the designer and Michelle Obama as his primary client. They both wanted to create rooms in the parts of the White House where the Obama family would actually live that would feel like a real home. Seeing how Smith managed to take historically stuffy rooms loaded with titanic moments in US history and coax them into a living room or a bedroom that actually feels modern and welcoming is part of the joy of reading this book.

And while it is still, at its heart, a curated and cultivated look at how the White House looked during the Obama years (No one was taking pictures when rooms were messy or anything other than perfectly staged, obviously), getting to see the private spaces of the President and First Lady does help pull the curtain back just a little more on who Barack and Michelle Obama are as people. You can learn something about someone seeing how they like their living spaces to look.

The book is light (not literally - it's a heavy coffee table book), airy, and a fun dive into some serious American iconography, both in terms of the building and the people inside it.

[Ellison · Rating 5 out of 5]

this shares the efforts to fashion the executive mansion to the likings of the obamas. due to a million visitors a year areas need to be refreshed about every seven years. features paintings from the very early day of the building. destroyed. rebuilt, eventually restored. remodeled.

shows the daughter's rooms, the first couple's romantic hide-a-way, books, art, state dinners, and political dinners with the top people. insightful.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An article about The First Ladies included a discussion of the historical accuracy of the sets -- especially for the Obamas. It mentioned this book, written by their decorator, and I decided to give it a read.

Oh my. Just oh my!

The details, the discussion of the history, the photos -- all had me captivated. This wasn't my usual type of book choice but I'm glad I expanded my horizons!

[Sharon Saxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea the Obamas were so involved in the arts as well of all of their other accomplishments. A fascinating read with great stories of how to make the White House a home and how to combine personal taste with historical correctness. Much better read than I anticipated.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Marian Parish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Well written. Couldn’t put it down. Deserves a book club.

[Micebyliz]

wonderful photos and captions with poignant historical information. A thread of pride and sadness runs through the text (at least to me) as the history of the White House is covered.

[Rapowers212 Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t really read it all but enjoyed the pictures of the White House and the furnishings.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fascinating and actually very enlightening historically about the design and decor of the White House during the Obama administration and before.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right when the writing seemed tedious or repetitive, a neat tidbit of information or awesome moment would be mentioned (Prince moment late in the book). Detailed photos, too, with full explanations.

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful coffee table book written by the Obama's interior designer. It covers the history of the White House, his experience working with the Obamas, and their final choices on redesigning the White House as their home. Lots of great pictures and details about the thoughtfulness of the design choices.