Check It Out! An Old RUEHL Ad to Spark Memories

"Package...Suggestive...Attitude..."

This is an ad for 'The V' premium demin line from RUEHL No.925. I don't know when it was released, but it totally makes me wanna jump into a pair...if only, if only.... The male model by-the-by (who plainly makes you just ignore the jeans anyway) is Alan Ritchson.

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Decorating the Seats of Power

So, we've been all chewing over President Obama's new Oval Office decor. It has been received with an overwhelming ... eh... and that's on the positive side. Some people, perhaps unwilling to publicly criticize Michael Smith, rumored to be the designer, have supported the decor as at least being satisfying to Mr. Obama. Because after all, the client is always right, right? Personally, I think the designer's job is to bring to the client more than he or she thought was possible. But it must be acknowledged that whether it was Mr. Smith or someone else who did the design, it couldn't be easy to design by committee. Some wonder why we should care, it's his office after all. And to that, I say, no, it's not. The White House isn't known as "The People's House" for nothing. The Oval Office is meant for ceremonial purposes and should reflect the national and international importance of that room. Of course, the President should feel comfortable in the space, but he does have a private office as well. This is his public office and "We The People" are the owners of the space. All our Presidents are temporary inhabitants, there because a majority of those who voted gave them the permission to move in. And so I think it's entirely appropriate that we all weigh in on how we're represented to the world. And, it got me wondering, how does The Oval stack up to other heads of state around the world? (In all honesty, I thought this would be an easy post but it turned out to be more time consuming than expecting. So I've only pulled pics of the French Presidents Office and the UK's Prime Minister's office.)

US: The White House (recap)

France: The Élysée Palace

President Nicolas Sarkozy's office, open for tours during a Heritage Day celebration.

via Travels with Terry

via Global Dashboard

via Daylife

Like The White House, The Élysée Palace (finished in 1722) consists of private living space as well as offices and formal public spaces. However, French Presidents seem to have made individual choices as to whether to live there. Mitterand preferred his own home on the Left Bank, Chirac did live in the Palace and Sarkozy apparently prefers to live at Carla Bruni's home in Paris (according to Wikipedia).

United Kingdon: 10 Downing Street

via Conservative Party on Flickr

PM David Cameron and his wife Samantha welcome their new daughter Florence home to the iconic front door at 10 Downing, today! (via The Conservative Party on Flickr)

Former PM Gordon Brown with some Americans

via The Independant

Current Prime Minister David Cameron (r) in his office

10 Downing Street was once a private residence and is a fairly congested section of London. The famous black door entrance is relatively unassuming as compared to The White House or The Élysée Palace. The rear of the building is much bigger looking and is the true entrance.  The Prime Minister's and their families do live in the building, which Margaret Thatcher referred to as "living above the shop".

I think the differing design styles of the three spaces is pretty obvious and expected. All showcase their own countries decorative arts and architecture. France is bolded and gilded to the extreme, England is classic and conservative; and the US is certainly classic, but still a bit of a mish-mosh. One thing I've realized that our Oval could use - large and bold artwork, or groupings of smaller pieces. The small scale of the artwork on the Oval's walls just seems skimpy compared to the sumptuous detailing of France, or ancestral portraiture of England.

Don't forget, I'm running a poll about who's Oval Office (from FDR to BHO), so cast your vote if you haven't already done so. You may be surprised by who's winning! And, since we've all been saying what we would want to have seen in the Oval's design, I'm challenging those interested to come up with a design board of what they would do. Let's put our design chops where our mouth's are. Entries accepted between now and September 30th. I'll post all and offer a prize (TBD).

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POTUS in the Oval: Who did it best? (the decor, of course)

So, one of the big topics of conversation today is the reveal of the newly decorated Obama Oval office, done by Michael Smith, who also did the Obama's private living space. If we take a stroll through the history of the Oval, the Obama office is pretty much more of the same. I have to say that I think it's pretty dull, in general. I like the idea of the quotes around the edge of the rug, but the center is blah. 


#44 President Barack Obama

#43 President George W. Bush

digital rendering of Bush 43's carpet

#42 President Bill Clinton

digital rendering of Clinton's carpet

This shows the Clinton rug replica being made for his library. It really shows the size of the carpet.

#41 President George H.W. Bush

#40 President Ronald Regan (#43 borrowed the carpet until his was made). Clearly #43's carpet was inspired by this one.

#39 President Jimmy Carter used #38 President Gerald Ford's decor:

 #37 Richard Nixon:

 President Ford using the Nixon decor, before redecorating

#36 Lyndon Johnson

this is the replica office in the Johnson Library

#35 John F. Kennedy

Sadly, this decor was installed while President and Mrs. Kennedy were in Dallas in November 1963. It was dismantled before Mrs. Kennedy returned to the White House.

 #35 President Dwight D. Eisenhower

#33 President Harry Truman

#32 Franklin Roosevelt

Bonus President: Josiah Bartlet ("The West Wing"):

Love the sconces!

 So, who do you think did it best?

Which President did it best?
	Obama 44
	Bush 43
	Clinton 42
	Bush 41
	Reagan 40
	Carter 39 and Ford 38
	Nixon 37
	Johnson 36
	Kennedy 35
	Eisenhower 34
	Truman 33
	Roosevelt 32
	Josiah Bartlet
pollcode.com free polls

So, we basically have 60 years of the same old, same old. So, the question is, if you were decorating the Oval, would you do something different? And what about when we finally have a woman President, would we see a little something floral and not just the same old "man cave" as Maureen Dowd calls it?

I thought I'd run a little contest. Create a single panel design board (via Olioboard or Polyvore, or with any other format) of how you'd love to see this, the world's most influential room, look. Email me your entry by September 30th. I'll post them all and we'll run a little poll about who got it right. Don't forget to tell us if you're decorating for a male or female president, or, why you don't think it would matter. I'm not yet sure of the prize, but I have a ton a fabulous new design books, so am thinking a book of your choice would make a nice prize. So, you have 30 days to create your own oval office.

images courtesy of The White House Museum and other sources



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