The White House Situation Room — a space of great mystique and even higher secrecy — just got a $50 million facelift. The 5,500-square-foot, highly secure complex of conference rooms and offices in the West Wing has undergone a gut renovation that took a year to complete. This is where the p…
Photos: Inside the White House's color-coded rooms
The White House's Green Room, which was originally listed as a "lodging room," has served as a dining room, drawing room and parlor for holding teas and receptions, according to WhiteHouse.gov.
The first major piece of green decor came during Thomas Jefferson's administration in the form of a "canvas floor cloth, painted green."Â
The Blue Room got its signature color in 1937 during Martin Van Buren's administration and is where the president and first lady usually greet guests during formal receptions. Its geometric design came around 1870 when President Andrew Johnson's daughter Martha Johnson Patterson redecorated.
It's one of four oval rooms in the White House and has served as a place for meetings, luncheons and dinners, as well as the site for President Grover Cleveland's wedding in 1886.
The Red Room got its name in 1845 after it was redecorated with furniture upholstered in "crimson plush." It had previously been know as the "president's anti-chamber" during Thomas Jefferson's presidency and has often been used as a private parlor for first ladies to receive guests.
Rather than being painted red, the Red Room's walls are covered in red satin.
The Yellow Oval Room is located directly above the Blue Room. President John Adams' first reception was held here in 1801 before the White House was officially finished, according to the White House Museum. The room first got its yellow color when Dolley Madison decorated in 1809.
The Yellow Oval Room served as the location for the first White House library in 1851, as well as the house's first Christmas tree in 1889.
