She’s done a lot with the place. Like anyone who has ever spruced up their home, Melania Trump will have a few new touches to showcase Friday when guests visit the White House for only the second state dinner of the Trump presidency. There are refreshed wall fabric in the Red Room, repurposed draperies in the Green Room, and restored the furniture in the Blue Room. And those are just some of the home improvement projects the First Lady has overseen to keep the well-trod public rooms at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. looking their museum-quality best. Some of the projects were long overdue.

White-house needed change

Sunlight streaming into the Red Room had left some of the wall fabric “so faded it was almost pink,” said Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, which helps finance upkeep of some rooms in the 132-room mansion. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy founded the private, nonprofit organization in 1961. “Those rooms should always look their very best and it was just very faded and really, really needed to be done,” McLaurin said.

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First Lady re-decorates the White House

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife, Jenny, and guests for Friday’s three-course state dinner in their honour should have an opportunity to check out the spiffed-up public rooms. In her role as caretaker, the First Lady — whoever she is — meets regularly with the chief usher, the head curator, and other White House staff to figure out what improvements should top the to-do list. Mrs. Trump, who keeps a relatively low profile as the First Lady, has put her interest in history to use overseeing the restoration projects. “Our family is grateful to live in this true symbol of our nation’s history, but we are even more honoured to play a part in restoring and enhancing our country’s sacred landmark,” she said at a May reception.

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The New Look

The First Lady designed a new rug for the Diplomatic Reception Room, the main entrance off the South Lawn after foot traffic wore a path across the old one, McLaurin said. The replacement has a border showing the flowers of the 50 states, a touch added by the First Lady. The White House also refreshed draperies in the Green Room by switching material from the backside to the front, eliminating the need — and cost — of replacing the curtains entirely, McLaurin said. Only the fringe had to be replaced. Last year, Mrs. Trump returned to the Blue Room several restored pieces from a historic 53-piece furniture set known as the Bellangé suite.

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The multipurpose White House

Decor upgrades are a bit more complicated at the White House than for typical homeowners. Renovation ideas are shared with the Kennedy-created Committee for the Preservation of the White House, which provides advice on preserving the public rooms on the Ground and State floors. The committee requests funding from the historical association, whose board typically authorizes spending $1 million to $1.5 million on such projects each year. The White House serves several purposes: It’s an office for the president and his staff, a home for his family and a living museum. Approximately half a million tourists visit every year, apart from dignitaries and others who attend receptions and other events. “The White House does get a lot of wear and tear,” McLaurin said.

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