Melania Trump gives the White House a makeover restoring antique furniture and refreshing faded fabrics cost-effectively
Just like all the first ladies who have inhabited the White House in the past, Melania Trump has used her distinct taste in interior designing to redo parts of the monumental building that were falling apart — something that foreign dignitaries will be able to witness when they arrive on Friday, September 20, for the second state dinner under her husband's presidency.
Among a number of home improvements projects undertaken by Melania since she moved to the White House are a redone wall fabric in the Red Room, re-purposed draperies in the Green Room and restored furniture in the Blue Room.
Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association which helps fund the maintenance work of some rooms, said that some of the renovation projects overseen by Melania were long overdue, according to a Daily Mail report.
For example, the wall fabric in the Red Room was "so faded" from sunlight streaming in that "it was almost pink". "Those rooms should always look their very best and it was just very faded and really, really needed to be done," McLaurin said.
Apart from tending to the Red Room, Melania, who has maintained a low profile compared to her predecessor, has also designed a new rug for the Diplomatic Reception Room, located the main entrance off the South Lawn. After her redesigning, the replacement now has a border showing the flowers of the 50 states.
The Green Room in the White House was spruced up by switching the existing draperies from the backside to the front and replacing their fringes, which saved the cost of buying new ones and replacing the curtains entirely, McLaurin said. In the Blue Room, Melania restored several pieces from a historic 53-piece furniture set known as the Bellangé suite.
She has also supervised the refinishing of the wood, brass, and lighting inside an elevator that takes Donald Trump to and from the private living quarters. A bowling alley in the White House residence that dates to the Nixon administration, has been renovated under her. It was last renovated under former president Bill Clinton, in 1994.
Among the guests on Friday's three-course state dinner who will get the chance to check out the spiffed-up public rooms, will be Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife, Jenny.
