Michelle Obama To Decorate White House With Pottery Barn

Michelle Obama loves to dress in J. Crew, and now she's bringing her affordable aesthetic to her new home. According to Us Weekly, the First Lady will use Pottery Barn to re-decorate parts of the White House.

Michelle is working with L.A.-based Michael Smith (clients: Steven Spielberg, Michelle Pfeiffer) to furnish the rooms of Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, with items from the reasonably-priced shop and Anthropologie, an Obama staffer reveals in the newest issue of Us Weekly.

Smith says he'll take design cues from the Obamas' "casual style" while "utilizing affordable brands." (The family also brought a portion of their collection of African and Asian art from their $1.65 million home in Chicago's Hyde Park.)

Read more about White House decorator Michael Smith.

Comments

[gil mac]

11:30 PM on 02/03/2009

As a "Main Street” retailer, I am not surprised by the influence of Pottery Barn. They bombard us with catalogs we didn't ask for and one cannot help being influenced by their glossy perfectly photographed layouts. Unfortunately, this endorsement by the First Lady will lead even more people to purchasing cheap foreign made products at big box stores at the expense of independent retailers and manufacturers of domestically made products; products that often end up being copied in China or other countries by big retailers such as Pottery Barn. I voted for Mr. Obama and if it is truly time for change, then I hope that Michelle Obama will embrace the many independent retailers in the Washington metro area that compete with the Pottery Barn’s of the world. To assume that PB is the only choice in tough economic times is a mistake. If you like the PB "style" it originates from independent designers and retailers. We create fashion, furniture and innovative ways to express style with almost nothing; the same "style" that big retailers bring to the masses. Yes, it is the American way. What we need is your support. We are disappearing at an alarming rate and it’s like a local independent florist likes to end her talks to the area garden clubs, "remember to support stores like mine or one day when you need a florist to do your daughters wedding, you'll have to go to the florist at the grocery store because I'll be gone."

[tabatha]

05:04 PM on 02/03/2009

Pottery Barn can really use this advertising help---its sales have been way down for quite some time....

Pottery Barn is ranked as the lower middle class slice of the market---it's owned by Williams Sonoma, whose higher end stores are doing okay

PB has some really nice items....furniture, bedding, tableware etc.....

Anthropologie is hardly a "reasonblly" priced store---I just love their stuff, but can't afford to shop there too often

[linden]

08:44 PM on 02/02/2009

I'm not a big fan of Pottery Barn. It's a little too cookie cutter for me. However, I am glad that the Obamas are making a statement (ie. the kids don't need $15,000 bedrooms). As for me, I've seen the best bargains in furniture out there on craigslist. If you are patient, whatever you want will come up, including great Pottery Barn stuff for a fraction of the original cost (if that's your thing.)

[DandaPanda]

03:28 PM on 02/02/2009

this reminds me of the Friends episode where Phoebe decides she hates Pottery Barn

[jhw22]

01:56 PM on 02/26/2009

But she falls in love with the apothocary table. LOL!

[mythster]

02:44 PM on 02/02/2009

Now here's the kind of idle gossip folks can really get their teeth into.

[DovesRoost]

01:16 PM on 02/02/2009

I like the idea of downscaling...but couldn't Mrs Obama go a little further and insist on "Made in America?" If we could just open up some of our factories.

Don't you think?

[BoboPalinski]

12:27 PM on 02/02/2009

Since we are becoming Sweden why not add a little Ikea ?

[chedet]

03:38 AM on 02/03/2009

hey hey watch it I love ikea!

[Jo Manning]

12:27 PM on 02/02/2009

Love Anthropologie! Great decorating ideas and great clothes for women and children, also.

[BoboPalinski]

12:11 PM on 02/02/2009

I find myself liking Michelle more and more and Barack less and less.

[ReesieKitty]

11:46 AM on 02/02/2009

How many commenters here are idiots who cannot seem to get it through their tiny heads:

1) EVERY First Lady gets to do some basic redecorating of the FAMILY APARTMENTS in the White House. Obviously whatever the Bush family has would not suit the needs of a younger family and so on with EVERY previous president. We are talking about redecorating their OWN apartment- NOT the State Rooms or public part of the White House. If you move into a new apartment, don't you need to get some new stuff? Especially with two growing kids? Some things are provided for by the White House's maintenance budget- like replacing the mattresses, etc. but a lot of it will come from the Obama's personal budget.

2)The White House has a regular budget for annual upkeep- which is totally different from what would be needed to 'redecorate' the public areas of the house in a more modern way or the Shaker tradition or whatever. The public part of the White House is actually designated as a MUSEUM and many things in it are from the famous Kennedy restoration, which worked hard to get actual antiques and historical pieces into the home. That is part of the reason why the President's family apartments should be decorated in the way that makes them most comfortable- the White House must function as a home AND a museum AND a working office to run the country all at once!

[hollybork]

10:51 AM on 02/02/2009

Whatever Michelle does is fine with me. She has a wonderful sense of style and is very down to earth and confident in her taste. The re-decoration is a private matter, for their own home spaces on the second floor and they are entitle to do whatever they want. So let Michelle decorate with stuff from Pottery Barn or Good will, Bergdorfs or the Versailles shop of Marie Antoinette french antiques. Good for her.

One modest suggestions: If I were Michelle, I would commission American carpenters and craftsmen to make furniture here in America using cherry and oak wood, which are plentiful, or repurposed wood. Just saying, we make some nice functional and practically priced furniture in North Carolina, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Think about it.

[karinova]

09:00 PM on 02/02/2009

I love your suggestion.

And there's something else. I notice that a lot of people give their kids "throwaway" furniture.
At that age, I had real (vintage, not antique or anything) wood furniture. Point 1: I always felt so grown up when I saw other kids' rooms-- all that cheap plastic laminate, yuck! Point 2: I learned that some things are supposed to last. You need to take care of your stuff. Use a coaster. Point 3: I still have that furniture today. Sometimes I get choked up just looking at it, I love it so much.

[shamaniceconomist]

10:47 AM on 02/02/2009

That Pottery Barn is considered "reasonably-priced" shows how removed the White House and much of journalism is from the experience of the average American.

[kateemo]

03:33 PM on 02/02/2009

Exactly. When I've bought from JCrew, it's been from a warehouse sale or clearance. As for Pottery Barn, I could probably afford a set of coasters.

[cleatocracy]

12:37 AM on 02/02/2009

Okay, two points...

1) Why exactly are we redecorating the WH when we're hemmoraging cash at the moment? I know it's just a drop in the bucket but it still seems slightly absurd. I mean I find the "style" of DC in general to be lacking, but it is what it is at this point.....we have bigger turds to flush;)

2)Pottery Barn??? Really??? We're going to decorate the WH with cheap imported crap that will likely be falling apart before the first term is over......this is wrong on so many levels. How about supporting American craftspeople and designers?

[maori]

03:05 AM on 02/02/2009

LOL, yes you're right, HOW DARE Michelle decorate the place she'll be living for the next 8 years? Just because every other first lady did it, doesn't mean she should get to, even if it's with her own money. She should also be using her own money to advance Protectionism.

Jesus people, they haven't even been in the place a month...

[wineandjazz]

09:26 AM on 02/02/2009

Go ahead First Lady Michelle!! Do YOUR thing. This is YOUR home for next 4 - 8 years. Decorate it that way you want to. Don't listen to all of these folks that feel the need to critisize you more they have to Laura or Hillary when they decorated the WH the way they wanted to. Which ever way you decide will be done with style and class.

[Over50WhiteWoman]

11:14 PM on 02/01/2009

I have thought for a long time someone needs to bring the White House--the whole White House--out of the 18th century. I hope they go to Target and Pier1 and Pottery Barn for the residence, but it would be really cool to re-do the Map Room the way it was when Roosevelt ran WWII from there--to choose events that happened in the rooms and decorate them in that style, whether from 1798, 1812, or 1929, or 1968.
With American designers exclusively, of course. And Shaker and Amish/Mennonite furniture would be really great, too. There are 132 rooms, so there's plenty to do. But they only get $100K from the taxpayers. Michael Smith is the one who did Thane's office and got that $87,000 rug--so he's not really one to pinch a penny. It looks like they will keep a lot of it the same. BTW--why don't they ever open those draperies in the East Room? Is the window broken? Kind of wondering.

[lovelivelife1987]

06:22 AM on 02/02/2009

I love Target and Pottery Barn!

[berrycooda]

08:56 PM on 02/01/2009

More nit picking.....

They will decorate to suit their own tastes for their personal quarters.

It was already stated that new mattresses were always put in after the
new occupants came in.

[wineandjazz]

09:40 AM on 02/02/2009

For some reason folks keep thinking they can tell either President Obama or First Lady Michelle what to do. Give me a break.

[Horus]

11:48 AM on 02/02/2009

Maybe because they work for us. Oh wait, nevermind, I forgot that I was on my huffpost account....what I meant to say was, YEAH, LEAVE THEM ALONE! THEY ARE AWESOME! Personally if anyone wants to criticize ANY measure or decision made by this administration we need to get their name and the names of their family and friends and investigate them thoroughly to make sure they aren't a threat to Obama and then possibly get them enrolled into some kind of educational class to inform them on what they SHOULD be thinking.