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The World’s Most Famous Office Gets a Makeover

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Two of my favorite subjects – politics and decor – recently collided when the final images of President Obama’s updated Oval Office were released.

Photo Credit: Doug Miller/New York Times

The critics are split on their opinions of the new decor.  It certainly seems to be a fairly big change from that of President Bush’s office (seen below).

Photo Credit: Ron Edmonds/Associated Press

My first thought was that it is a major SnoreFest.  I mean, how beige can you get?  I’ve always enjoyed the formality of the Oval Office decor that most presidents (or their wives) choose.  When Laura Bush designed a smaller rug that showed-off the gorgeous hardwood floors beneath it, I thought it was the bees knees.

But upon further consideration, I’m actually really loving the Obama redo.  Further investigation reveals that it’s really a very subtle change – the large furniture pieces have simply been re-upholstered and the historical pieces have all remained in place.  It’s been said that the Obama Oval Office is more of a working office than that of his predecessors, so the slightly more casual fabrics now reflect the office’s use.  I would personally be happier working in a more comfortable environment than a more ostentatious one, much like I prefer to eat in our casual breakfast room than our more formal dining room.  Although casual, the office is still beautiful enough to be a great photo op for visiting dignitaries.

Photo Credit: Doug Miller/New York Times

Some of my favorite updates are the addition of the gold striped wallpaper and the arm chairs recovered in that delicious leather.  The designer, Michael Smith, added midnight blue lamps for a splash of color in the otherwise beige room.  I also love that the new rug features quotes from some of the nation’s most inspiring leaders.

What I could do without is the mica coffee table.  I think it’s too modern for the rest of the room.  Perhaps I should offer up my Britney Spears coffee table as a replacement?

A commentary-free video of Obama’s new Oval Office can be seen here.  All decor updates were provided by private donations (as with all White House decor updates), so no taxpayer funds were used to make the changes.

All politics aside, what do you think of Michael Smith’s room design?  If you were the President and his senior staff, what style of workspace would you prefer?

P.S. Any comments of a political nature will be deleted.  Focus on the decor, people.  My little blog is not the place for ranting about one party or another.  🙂

How to Create a Layered & Ruffled Cribskirt

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One of the first inspirations I had for Emma’s nursery came in the form of vintage bedskirts I found at Austin’s City Wide Garage Sale.  I’ve talked about this show before, and you may remember that it’s more a vintage and collectible show than it is a “garage sale.”  In the piles and piles of old linens that one vendor always carries, I found white bedskirts edged in lace and crocheting for $4 each, so I bought four of them to turn into Emma’s new cribskirt.

I also used some pre-made curtains that I cut up for the brown layer in between the white (the curtains were cheaper to buy than it would have been for me to buy the actual fabric yardage).

I needed to piece together the bedskirts and curtain panels to fit the crib.  I simply made three panels in each fabric (one for the front and two for the sides – I didn’t worry about the back of the crib, since it would never be seen) that were about 2.5 times the length of each side.   I made the height of each panel exactly the same – 19 inches.  It was enough for a few inches to tuck under the mattress and the rest to hang down and just touch the floor.

After I had my panels pieced together and hemmed, I ran them through the ruffler on my sewing machine.  If you don’t have a ruffler and have some extra money lying around, you should TOTALLY get one.  I used to pull all of my ruffles by hand, but that was just too much work for the length of each of these panels.  I would marry my ruffler if could.  Anyway, after the fabric panels were ruffled, there were just about the length I needed for each side of the crib.

I found this genius idea to make your skirt panels with ties on the top so that you can just tie them onto the mattress frame for easy adjustment.  I love this idea, because there’s nothing I hate more than a cribskirt that drags on the floor once you have to lower the mattress when the baby gets bigger.  Zack’s cribskirt was too long once we had to lower his mattress, and it drove me crazy!

But, here’s where I got completely lazy.  Instead of sewing all of those little ties onto the top of my panels, I used safety pins and ribbon that I already had on hand.  I just pinned a length of ribbon onto the panels and tied it to the mattress frame.  I started with my bottom layer, and tied it so that the bottom of the skirt just touched the floor.

Then, I took the 2nd layer (my brown layer) and did the same thing, tying it a little higher so that the lace from the bottom layer just peeked through.

It looks like SUCH a mess, I know, but you can’t see that when the mattress is in the crib.

Then, I did the same thing with the top layer, again tying it a little higher so that the brown layer just peeked out from the bottom.

Now, I have a tiered, ruffled cribskirt that can be easily adjusted and took very little time to put together.  Go me!

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I’m very excited to announce the winner of the Xpresiv Designs vinyl giveaway!  Our winning commenter was #52, Megan from Motherhood Unedited, who said:

Today’s Moments are Tomorrow’s Memories and always remember to kiss me goodnight for my sons room.

Awww, so sweet!  Congrats, Megan!

In case you aren’t Megan, Aimee is offering a fabulous 20% off code for Living With Lindsay readers!  Just enter LINDSAY at checkout for your discount.  Thanks, Aimee!