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It took the Obamas 18 months to get round to redecorating the Oval Office, apparently a requirement of the job. This week's Home section in The New York Times ran a feature on the new look, with photos comparing the Bush look with the new Obama Oval Office. Reactions from the design community were mixed to say the least, centering to a great extent on musings about who was going to eat the apples from the bowlful on the coffee table.
Since the Times editors forgot to ask me for my opinion, I thought I'd chime in here. First off, let me tell you that decorating a round or oval room is not a piece of cake. Curved walls are lovely, but they make furniture placement a nightmare. And you're stuck with having to make an expensive custom oval carpet because, quite frankly, a rectangle just wouldn't look right.
The Oval Office is where the president has his desk, where he receives visitors and holds meetings. This furniture arrangement, with the two large high-backed three-seater sofas and two small leather armchairs, is about as impractical as you can getand the scale is all wrong. Anyone with a three-seater sofa knows that no-one ever wants to sit in the middle, especially if they're strangers. Plus these two sofas are so high that with a large crowd in the room, the people sitting behind the sofas would effectively be left out of the meeting. What you need here are three two-seater sofas and a selection of attractive armchairs to bring in as needed. And I'd do something about those pillows.
I really like the mix of furniture styles in the room, though that coffee table is a bit clunky and I expect there'll be some dented shins before long. The white wainscoting and trim is dynamite, and the wallpaper is nice and cheery, a huge improvement on the monochromatic Bush walls, but I'm not convinced by all those caramels and browns. Too dreary. Reminds me of dead leaves. You need some brighter contrasts to perk it all up and the blue lamps that pick up the color of the stars on the seal in the carpet aren't quite enough.
I get the idea that the Obamas were going for a casual look, but let's face it, this is the Oval Office, not the family den. It needs some pizzazz and excitement, for goodness sake! And what's with all that greenery over the fireplace?
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