The White House interior is never static.  Each new first lady has an opportunity to make history through the décor and furniture she chooses. How then will Michelle Obama furnish her new family home?  According to a statement she released when designer Michael Smith was appointed as the White House decorator, her vision is to “create a family-friendly feel”.  She’ll be presented with catalogues of antique furniture and art available from the White House collection, but how will that combine with her desire for “incorporating some new perspectives”?  The words of her husband’s stirring inauguration speech about the hard work ahead might just provide some inspiration.

A hard-working house has come to mean one that provides comfort, practicality, retreat and beauty. We can assume Michelle will desire their personal kitchen to be harder working than the room’s name currently conveys. She may appreciate the flexibility of a room in which the family can not only cook, but do homework, send emails, enjoy fireside chats and share family meals. A room such as this would certainly become the hub of the house.

The “atmosphere of being” offered by a space in which each member of the family can coexist while carrying out differing activities can become priceless in the midst of a jam-packed schedule.  Such a space requires subtle zoning  - keeping the room as one, at the same time defining its many parts.  This is where the hard work of design comes into play.

Barack Obama’s mother-in-law resides in the White House to help with the kids: where will she sit to read the girls a story? A conversation bed inspired by the work of our Chinese ancestors might provide the solution; it provides a protected yet light permeable zone for reading and learning activities.

In a sociable room how does a cook preserve the space they need to prepare and serve food uninterrupted?  The breakfast bar and island configuration is one such way to direct visiting friends to a perching place where eye contact can be maintained with the cook.

President Obama’s inauguration speech reflected on the “greatness earned by the makers of things”. In this context, it is highly skilled artisans who know how to change a texture, colour or surface height to give maximum potential for the activity carried out at any given piece of furniture. Carefully combined, these pieces create a space that waits expectantly for individuals to dwell as a sociable group. In other words, a space that creates an “atmosphere of being” - where everyone can be themselves and be together at the same time.

- Leila Byrne, UK

See the entire concept presentation here.

Most American families would leap for joy at the thought of free room service for four years. But really, how long could you last before that urge of cooking your own meal sets in?

Alas, the majority of the population will never get the chance to test such a theory. However, in this post-Bush, Obama White House era, everything is rightfully under scrutiny. It seems very clear that the newly elected president and the first lady have been endowed with strong nurturing skills. Discipline, respect and transparency are the family trademarks.

More than most, they know that maintaining a daily bonding process will now be more critical than ever. It won’t be easy. No longer can Barack step out for a brisk morning walk with his wife or take the kids out for some ice cream. Spontaneity is not part of the Secret Service vernacular.

Hence, it has often been said that the White House is ‘a bubble of isolation’. Can we replace these words with ‘an inner sanctuary’? After all, Obama is now a work-at-home dad. The family needs their own active space, a place where they can connect on all levels. In essence, a room for all reasons. It is living, dining, cooking, playing, laughing, being – in a single, open family environment.

Traditions like whipping up pancakes on a Sunday morning or telling stories by the fire do not have to hibernate during Obama’s presidency. This room should not have to echo the museum-like qualities of the other White House rooms.

This proposal looks to redesign the existing Yellow Oval Room on the second floor. This new family room will be the nest of the White House. It will ultimately reflect the ideals of the modern American family. The room embraces democratic planning and offers the opportunity for quiet contemplation or social engagement, depending on the time or whim of the day.

The design embodies a sustainable language that echoes the family’s heritage and world-centric perspective on things. The value of this room comes not from its material wealth, but rather its nurturing capability, to which all American homes can aspire.

- Kevin Hackett, San Francisco

See the entire concept presentation here.

A    Ethanol Fire (non-wood buring) By: Eco-Smart Fire;
Above mantel: flat screen TV behind Lincoln portrait
B    Iranian Peace Rug (pressed wool) By: Melina Raissnia
C    Organic Sushi Daybed By: Pie
D    Seating: Ligne Roset Möel upholstered with hemp fabric
E    Doggy bed
F    Nutmeg tree: producing fruit for cooking and reminder of childhood in Indonesia
G    Sculpture by Hawaiian artists: Saturo Abe & Sean Browne
H    Herb garden
I     Kenyan tapestry and instruments from ancestors
J      Social round dining table (can be enlarged to accommodate extended family)
K     Standing furniture with storage for dining accessories
L     Herb garden
M    Tea service and wet bar
N    Wall storage units located close to dishwasher

O    Cork floor - ergonomics, durable, and easy on spine
P     Breakfast/Sandwich zone with tambour & counter
Q    Energy rated refrigerator and freezer
R    Wall oven and microwave
S    Pantry storage
T    Built-in formal dining banquette with privacy wall
U    Recycled glass bar with social seating
V     Wash-up zone: raised dishwasher, sink counter with storage
W    Prep & cook zone: Gaggenau vario steamer, gas rings with backsplash andtelescopic swivel downdraft
X    Central island: main prep counter (lava stone) with EVO flat round cooking plate for family
cooking with ventilation hood
Z    Private reading/media pod encased in felt

Harry Truman said it was like living in a big white jail. How will the new first family cope with their new home? Will they change the interior of the White House? It may not be the most crucial element on a new president’s agenda, but says historian William Seal, in the FT’s Jan 18th House and Home section, ‘you can be sure it will be one of the most observed and scrutinised things the incoming family will do’.

No decorator has been appointed yet, but as journalist Tony McMullen, goes on to explain, the White House is like a living American museum where there are 40,000 revolving exhibits to choose from its permanent collection, all kept in check by a committee, complete with a curator.

The White House is an unusual genre: it is part office, private home and entertaining and ceremonial venue. It is mixed use par extraordinaire. It possesses elements of a country house hotel or a live-work unit on a grand scale. Somewhere in one’s imagination it might be in between a Roman palace, an 18th century aristocratic home, or even a medieval merchant’s town house.

Regardless, the crucial issue remains the health and happiness of the chief incumbents, as decisions that come from it affect the entire world. Creating a safe and truly comfortable haven for the president and his family is thus vital for our future.

We know that the happiest times of day are around 6 -10 pm, and the place where people spend much of this time is the kitchen. As far as we can tell, the domestic kitchen in the White House is not a sociable place. There is a gap in facilities for the Obama’s family, in terms of chances of intimacy and time together cooking and eating.

For the Johnny Grey Design team, the key question is not the décor, or just creating the perfect kitchen. It’s more fundamental. We think it is necessary not only to create a place for the first family’s well-being, a series of environments that offer sanctuary, as well as offices for staff and spaces for public ceremonies, but also the social heart of the first family’s new home. This is where  a sociable kitchen could truly come into its own and take on a new meaning.

Over the next week, we will be posting vignettes of our imaginary sociable kitchen space for Barack and Michelle and their daughters. We think the new president, as a visionary leader, should use the opportunity to send a public message – both symbolic and practical  – that would be part of his change initiative to make family life happier.

We plan to write an open letter to the president outlining family-friendly proposals as to how design can improve the United States from an eco-based point of view. Watch this space.