Meet the Hamptons decorator who papered the Oval Office
Renovations to the Oval Office include a new carpet, drapes, furniture, and wallpaper designed by Long Island decorator Elizabeth Dow. Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
A little Hamptons style now graces the walls of the Oval Office.
Four artists working for wallpaper heavyweight Elizabeth Dow spent several weeks at her Amagansett studio hand-painting the texturized, camel-color striped paper unveiled this week as part of the makeover of President Barack Obama's White House work space.
The new look debuted on TV Tuesday when Obama addressed the nation regarding Iraq. On the walls: a modification of one of Dow's existing patterns called Buff Stripe. In the White House version the stripes are three inches wide, the color has been customized and the brush stroke technique emphasized, Dow said.
Dow didn't have direct contact with Obama - specifications were dictated by Los Angeles designer Michael Smith, and Dow shipped the order to the Oval Office. Has she been invited to the finished room? "No plans as of yet," she said.
Dow also decorated the walls for the White House solarium and a couple of rooms in the Obamas' private family quarters, but the Oval Office trumps those, she said. "It feels different. It's the most public, well-respected room in the country."
Dow's wallpaper also has been used in homes owned by Gwyneth Paltrow, Calvin Klein and Paul Simon. Her custom work allows a more three-dimensional look than paint, says Manhattan designer Patrik Lönn.
Dow only sells to interior designers such as Lönn and Smith. Prices range from $55 to $145 a yard for her made-to-order hand-painted wallcoverings, says Janet Mercel, who works in showroom sales for Holland & Sherry, Dow's New York distributor. Buff Stripe sells for $68 a yard.
Dow would not say what she was paid for the Oval Office commission, referring calls to Smith, who could not be reached. Taxpayers did not pay for the remodeling; leftover privately raised funds from the Presidential Inaugural Committee were donated to the White House Historical Association to cover most of the cost, according to the White House. It is customary for each president to redo his office.
Dow works out of the top floor of a red barn in Amagansett; the bottom floor is the Applied Arts School she runs. She recently purchased the Sag Harbor United Methodist Church building and plans to move her wallpaper operations there and expand the school in its current location.
Dow's wallpaper is in Lönn's den of the 2010 Hampton Designer Showhouse in Sag Harbor, open through Sunday.
Dow has no plans to use the Oval Office job in her advertising, but she said, "Certainly I expect a lot of people will be directed to our website. It doesn't get better in terms of press."
-- With Valerie Kellogg
