The White House Historical Association is a non-public nonprofit academic establishment that funds nearly all of conservation work, preservation and acquisition of recent gadgets on the government mansion.
Sikes introduced the news of his choice on Instagram with a photograph of FLOTUS in a protracted fuchsia coat strolling out of the White House, with this remark: “This is an honor of a lifetime and I am both humbled and thrilled. To create beauty has always been my passion and I’ve also come to realize it’s my purpose. Thank you to The First lady, her team and to those who came before her and those still to come.”
Sikes is well-known in inside design circles and is within the AD100, Architectural Digest’s annual checklist of high inside design skills. “He’s a solid choice, his style is classic and beautiful,” mentioned Amy Astley, editor in chief of Architectural Digest. “It’s not about trendy, it’s about quality. He loves American history.”
Astley added: “He kind of reveres what the White House stands for. He knows the history of decorating there and the importance of being asked to do this.”
The design neighborhood has eagerly been awaiting news of who can be the subsequent White House decorator. Although the Bidens haven’t but formally chosen anybody to do design work within the White House public rooms or non-public residence, Sikes is the primary design skilled they’ve publicly introduced they’re working with since shifting into the White House. The assertion from the First woman’s office additionally mentioned, “While most First Ladies immediately come in and make changes to the areas where they spend the most time, Dr. Biden had not focused on this to date, between her travel across the country, teaching, and her issue portfolio.
The Bidens used New York designer Victoria Hagan when they were living in the Vice President’s official residence. That home had an apple green sunroom, a dining room in sapphire blue and a forest green library, all settings with lots of cozy seating and art on loan from the National Gallery, as well as from Delaware artists. “I wanted it to feel warm and comfortable,” Jill Biden instructed The Washington Post in 2017 as they have been packing up to transfer out. “I didn’t want people to walk through the front door and feel like they can’t sit on the sofa.”
Sikes is a seasoned designer who grew up within the Midwest and works with A-list purchasers together with Reese Witherspoon. He instructed Elle Decor in 2019 that his design heroes have been the late Mark Hampton, for his “timeless, all-American sensibility,” and Bunny Williams and that he had discovered rather a lot from climbing the company ladder as an government at Banana Republic. Sikes has designed rooms for the distinguished Kips Bay Decorator Show House and has his personal furnishings, cloth and lighting traces, amongst others. He declined to remark for this text.
One of his signature appears to be like is crisp blue and white, with plenty of breezy materials that includes stripes, gingham and prints, plus blue-and-white porcelains. Sikes has written two books for Rizzoli: “Beautiful” and “More Beautiful.”
On Saturday, the design world was buzzing on social media and elsewhere in regards to the selection of Sikes for the coveted White House design gig. “I do think it’s very on-brand for the Bidens,” mentioned Emily Eerdmans, a New York design historian. “Mark is always about making beauty accessible. I would describe his style as very American and influenced by the high points of American 20th-century design, including Jackie Kennedy and Billy Baldwin. He is very much inspired by bringing a sportiness to elegance.”
Los Angeles designer Michael S. Smith, who embellished all through the White House for the Obamas, mentioned, “I am happy for Mark. For me, designing the First lady’s office was a really great experience.”
In his e-book “Designing History,” Smith wrote: “To be honest, the East Wing offices never receive much public focus.” Smith created Michele Obama’s formal office to be a multipurpose place the place she may do Twitter chats and host conferences with employees. After portray it in layers of pale terra-cotta topped with glaze and including white shutters that might filter daylight for picture shoots, he added sculpture and work, together with a Mark Rothko on mortgage from the National Gallery. “Michele Obama didn’t have a traditional desk, she had a long table and chairs,” Smith says. “It worked better for her. This is really a working office.”
Not a lot is understood in regards to the look of Melania Trump’s office. In her e-book “Melania and Me,” Stephanie Winston Wolkoff described Trump’s East Wing office as being painted in one of many First woman’s favourite colours, Farrow & Ball’s Middleton Pink, which she selected in session with her designer Tham Kannalikham.
Michael LaRosa, Jill Biden’s press secretary, confirmed that the partitions within the First woman’s office at the moment are painted white. In different phrases, a clean slate as Sikes begins his transformation for a brand new First woman’s style and elegance.