Vermeil Room - Kennedy Use and Redecoration

Kennedy Use and Redecoration

At first only displayed in the Vermeil Room in a museum like setting, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on recommendation of her friend Rachel Lambert Mellon began using the collection for the display of flowers and fruit in the rooms on the state floor. During the Kennedy White House restoration, interior designer Stéphane Boudin proposed painting the room in a style used in 17th and 18th century England and Normandy. Boudin had used a similar treatment in the Blue Bedroom at Leeds Castle in Kent, England. Rather than attempting to putty and polish the rough sawn timbers he chose to highlight the porous texture of the paneling. The walls were first rubbed down with wire brushes to bring up the grain and create an "aged" surface. Next a solid coat of off-white paint was applied, and that was followed by a "dragged" coating of blue paint. This was sealed using a bar of wax dabbed in pure dry blue pigment, and finally the surface was lightly distressed to tiny specks of white in the underlying base coat.

The interior of the shelves displaying the vermeil were covered in white velvet. One of two neoclassical caryatid mantels was installed (still in place). White damask drapes were made with blue and off-white fringe trim. A finely patterned blue and white carpet was installed, and a large center table was created with a custom dyed blue velvet cloth not delivered until the Johnson years. A gilded chandelier, making reference to the vermeil collection was installed. The result was a gallery room, not a sitting room. The 1964 White House guide, the White House, shows an architectural cross-section with Boudin's blue Vermeil Room.