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Designing History: The Extraordinary Art & Style of the Obama White House
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About Designing History: The Extraordinary Art & Style Of
Product Description 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, featuring a foreword by Michelle Obama. 2020 HONORABLE MENTION FOR THE FOREWORD INDIES AWARD IN HOBBIES/HOME Created for design enthusiasts, political aficionados, and students of Americana, Designing History documents Michael Smith's extraordinary collaboration with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. 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 Ultimately, this book will serve as both a historical document and a voyeur's delight, capturing a specific moment in time for the White House, the Obamas, and the American experience. Review "Smith's modern designs for the White House made history, just as the Obamas' presence was, in itself, trailblazing. Further, all changes to the White House's private residences were added to the 250-year-long history in every room—a place where layers of wallpaper tell a story of past administrations." — OPRAH.COM "Michelle Obama provides the foreword to this insider’s look at interior designer Michael S. Smith’s decoration of the Obama White House. Created for design enthusiasts, political aficionados, and students of Americana, the book documents Smith’s collaboration with the Obamas. With 230 photographs, behind-the-scenes stories, and archival material, Designing History places the Obama White House within the context of the building’s storied past and its evolution over the past two centuries." — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "In 2008, designer Michael S. Smith got the commission of a lifetime: designing the interiors for the Obama White House. In this book, the designer takes readers inside the process of decorating for the First Family and shares the illustrious history of interior design in the People's House. Oh, and there's a foreword by Michelle Obama." —HOUSE BEAUTIFUL "The decorator Michael Smith, who has transformed interiors for the Obamas, Rupert Murdoch and Cindy Crawford, is spilling paint in a new book." —NEW YORK TIMES "Decorators often lament the fact that once a room is redone, nobody remembers their work. For Michael S. Smith, documenting his design of the Obama White House—and processing the eight years he shuttled back and forth to Washington, D.C., for the first family after an introduction from Obama’s social secretary, Desirée Rogers—became a personal mission. 'It was important to kind of take a moment and not just let history flow by,' he says. The result is Designing History: The Extraordinary Art & Style of the Obama White House, a monograph out now from Rizzoli that situates the Obamas’ friendly, unpretentious décor within the snow globe of White House style." —WSJ. MAGAZINE "Smith offers readers an inside look at his work ushering in a new era of decor at the historic residence." —IN STYLE "...by far the most comprehensive illustrated record of the executive mansion and Smith's deep dive into the history of the white house, as he helped the Obamas update the stolid mansion with a more contemporary and open aesthetic, easing the burdens of a young family living in the White House." — TOWN & COUNTRY "Smith shares everything from the advice he got from Nancy Reagan to the secret code his staff used to refer to the Obam
