Michael Smith Named White House Decorator: 20 Questions With Domino's Editor (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

Domino magazine has just announced that Los Angeles-based designer Michael S. Smith will be the new White House decorator. Mr. Smith's clients include Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman, Brian Grazer, and Rupert Murdoch. Scroll down for a recent Q&A I did with him.

Domino visited Michael Smith at home.
WATCH:

Here are a few of his interiors by Joao Canziani, courtesy of Domino Magazine. For more images and info, visit Michael Smith's website.

Fill in the blank "I knew I was going to be a decorator when....": At 10, when I couldn't stop re-doing my room. I would become obsessed with certain countries, [and] I would read, eat, and decorate Russian or Spanish or whatever.

Most beautiful room you've ever been in? Kings bath at Versailles.

Best movie interiors? The Leopard; On a Clear Day; Boom; Portrait of a Lady; The Mission.

The Leopard, 1963

How are your gifts wrapped? Brown paper, black ribbon. Always.

What happens if you design something for a client and it ends up looking like shit? You live with it in your own house for a long, long time.

Does every grand room need something humble? Yes, and something brown.

Armani or Versace? Armani

Ironed sheets? Yes, but more for how it feels than how it looks.

What kind of shoes do you wear? Keds, Clarks desert boots, John Lobb

Fancy people all seem to have a binder with all their house's vital info. Do you? Yes, it has phone numbers, housekeeping instructions, maintenance details, manuals, and warranties.

Yay or nay on fake flowers? I love them, but they must be good ones and placed in areas where your perception is softened--not unlike on a movie set. Diane James makes the best ones.

How do you feel about the decorator-karate-chopped pillow? That move should be punishable with a jail sentence.

What about family photos in the living room? Ditto.

Is it okay for overnight guests to come down in their pajamas in the morning? Love that.

What are your best styling friends? Antique textiles, beautiful boxes, and books.

You have a big television on a gilt table in your bedroom. Why does that make me so happy? It's about the juxtaposition of grand and simple, and because life should be about workability and function. Televisions make our lives more interesting and better, so why sequester them?

What's your biggest complaint about Domino magazine? The covers all look same.

What's your favorite thing about it? You find things that are not so easy for people to find on their own, even for decorators. Life is becoming more about specific things. It gives people some control over their lives. Domino is good at focusing on specific things, and examining that subject in a thorough way--like sisal carpets or beautiful gold objects.

What do you stockpile? Coffee from Equator for The French Laundry, chocolate bars from Pierre Hermé in Paris, moisturizer from Roche in Spain, organic conditioner from Whole Foods, and pomegranate bath oil from Santa Maria Novella.

What's your best source for something that looks so fancy but so isn't? The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store for classical busts and torsos.

This interview was originally published at Dominomag.com.

 

Comments

[CLPR]

11:47 AM on 01/25/2009

he'll do a good job.

[PAdemnomore]

01:55 PM on 01/23/2009

$1.22 million to revamp office
When John Thain became Merrill Lynch’s CEO in early 2008, he hired Michael S. Smith Design to revamp his office suite, spending approximately $1.22 million according to documents.

The following is a list of the items in his suite:

— Area Rug: $87,784
— Mahogany Pedestal Table: $25,713
— 19th Century Credenza: $68,179
— Pendant Light Furniture: $19,751
— 4 Pairs of Curtains: $28,091
— Pair of Guest Chairs: $87,784
— George IV Chair: $18,468
— 6 Wall Sconces: $2,741
— Parchment Waste Can: $1,405
— Roman Shade Fabric: $10,967
— Roman Shades: $7,315
— Coffee Table: $5,852
— Commode on Legs: $35,115

[Agentlady007]

03:23 PM on 01/20/2009

I hope this guy follows through with his ideas. I see things ( ideas) "incomplete".

---I see potential of greatness - originality, though.

[dcoxucla]

12:43 PM on 01/18/2009

PLEASE OPRAH GIVE HIM NATE ...THATS CHANGE WE COULD BELIEVE IN

[Berkguy]

02:26 AM on 01/18/2009

He seems nice
His work is BORING - like a bad hotel.
Given all the super talented people to choose from I don't get it

[baseballmom]

07:38 PM on 01/17/2009

Just because there is a budget for something is not by itself justification to spend the money. We set aside money to re-do our family room this year, but due to the economy have decided to be frugal. Instead of custom window treatments I'm buying off the shelf. Instead of new furniture I'm sewing slipcovers. I installed crown molding myself and did my own painting. And while I had originally planned to consult a decorator I decided to go it alone.

My point is just than in the current economic climate, naming an "official White House Decorator" seems a touch extravagant. It makes one think of the bankers that got bailed out going on expensive junkets or the auto industry executives traveling in private jets to Washington to beg Congress for financial help. How admirable it would have been had the Obamas decided to take a more frugal approach.

[Tulka2]

01:20 AM on 01/31/2009

There's a line of poetry...? It goes something like, "how sad to live in a world were writting poetry about trees means you're not paying attention." That's a wrong quote, but that was the meaning. Yeah, Jackie Kennedy giving a White House tour of her redecorating was only cool because the country was humming along with its fat little self back then. Not so much now. People won't like hearing about this.

[welliecat]

05:21 PM on 01/17/2009

Interesting that his house is rather stuffy and dated compared to the photos of his work. I read this to be that he is listening to his clients' voice. He himself does not appear full-of-it.... or stuffy.

[gfk]

03:39 PM on 01/17/2009

Not my taste but then they didn't ask me. Go figure. I would have told them to hire Candace Olsen, Divine Design. She has real talent.

[hapiday]

11:21 AM on 01/17/2009

I watched one of the news shows and they stated the Obamas were not bring their own furniture. They were leaving the furniture at their home in Chicago. Seems like the painters and cleaners will be working in the White House non stop so it will be ready once PE is sworn in. The movers will move in their belongings and hang their clothes up, hang pictures and other personals.

The decorator will help to make their personal quarters their own as every other president's wife has done. The problem some people have is that every single thing the Obama's do is posted for the public to approve or rip apart. Most of the presidents didn't have the internet, bloggers and 24hr media exposure. Transparency is good, but it can be a detriment. The decorating issue really shouldn't be an issue. I don't know how many people would want to move into a house without it being cleaned and painted. The Obamas seem to be very frugal with money. The White House has a budget just like any family. I know some people would like to see the Obamas live in a shack because the country is in economic trouble. Sorry, we are going to give this family everything all the other presidents received.

[antaeus]

02:26 PM on 01/17/2009

Who is arguing seriously against the White House private quarters being redone for them, which is always done for a new president. I thought we were debating whether or not their choice of decorator was a good one.

[enilorac]

10:10 PM on 01/16/2009

Hollywood actors rarely have good taste. Angelica Huston a rare exception. Can't believe the Obamas have made such a boring pick of a decorator. His house looks like a comfy generic expensive hotel anywhere. Where is the design, the sense of the times and Green living, wit, irony and Good Design. Hope the Obamas can change their mind soon.

[krissyderic]

10:42 PM on 01/16/2009

Agreed. I find his taste very tacky AND very boring.

[deadelephant2]

01:47 AM on 01/19/2009

Yup, I felt like I would suffocate in one of the bedrooms. I failed to see much personality there. But I live in an Eichler home which is Minimalism personified, alhthough not to the point of being a designer mausoleum. And BIGTIME disagree with no family photos in the living room. I have two wall-mounted teak wall shelving units of insertable wood shelving with rows and rows of photos of people I love, fun times and my family back 75 years. It's the first thing people go to when they walk into the room. Photos add a sense of history, continuity and personality--the key factor any room should have. This video was brief but I didn't get much of a sense of that from his house, I just felt "designer fatigue".

[Olive]

07:31 PM on 01/16/2009

He seems very mild mannered and accommodating and I would guess that people hire him because he is not dictatorial like some designers. He seems to have common sense. I'm sure the Obama's would like the family quarters of the White House to be elegant and practical and comfortable, especially with their children and their children's friends. I think he'll try his best to please Michelle and he may be quite adept at delivering what the customer wants, even when the customer doesn't know exactly what they want!

[eden4barack08]

07:13 PM on 01/16/2009

I disagree with no family photos in the living room.

[DubiousAtBest]

06:14 PM on 01/16/2009

So let's see...

1) Tons of useless extra pillows? check
2) Fake flowers? check
3) Books stacked up like props in a movie set? check
4) Ubiquitous hackneyed "fruit bowls"? check
5) Pattern and candle OVERLOAD? check

Well, he's certainly no innovator or minimalist.

[marrig]

05:55 PM on 01/16/2009

I was really impressed with the tour of Smith's own home. I LOVED it...as to the expense, there is an allocation for every incoming president. Once spent, the president pays the excess, whatever it is. I DO NOT want my president (especially THIS special president) to have any less than any of his predecessors. And now I'm off to oder Smith's books. Can't believe that hateful, catty remarks on this thread. Would love to see the homes of some of these posters.

[Gary137]

05:42 PM on 01/16/2009

I love the use of light and movement space in Michael's room designs. I'm not much for conversation grouped furniture, but he makes it work. Upbeat, high energy designer for a new president with the same characteristics.