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How Obama's Designer, Michael Smith, Does a Spanish Villa

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Say you had some extra cash lying around, and the guy who most recently redesigned the Oval Office and dressed an Academy Awards greenroom told you to buy a two-building Majorcan villa. Even if it were "cold, dissonant, and charmless," you'd probably be convinced, right? That's exactly what happened with close friends of Michael S. Smith, who let the interior designer's wisdom and charms pave the course for what has since become their vacation home. The estate, featured in the November Architectural Digest, went from "missing the layered, unifying aesthetic that makes a house a home" to a "timeworn look" layered with furniture, fabrics, and accessories from Majorca, Europe at large, and North Africa. Embarking on "pure decorating" job rather than making architectural changes, Smith filled the home, built in 1992, with an eclectic mix, including a mirror that once belonged to David Easton, a Moorish-style tiled backsplash, floor coverings by Leonie Brown, an antique Majorcan canopy bed, and patterns ranging from geometric to floral. Below, a look:




Photos by Tim Beddow/Architectural Digest

· Michael S. Smith Reimagines a Majorcan Estate [Arch Digest]
· All Michael Smith coverage [Curbed National]