The White House is getting a makeover as a new president moves in and calls 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. home.
When Donald Trump moves into the White House on Jan. 20, his suits will be hanging in the closet, personal photos will be placed throughout, and everything from the rugs, furniture, and wallpaper will be just the way he’s requested, just as presidents before him find upon move-in day.
"The entire house has to be just the way the incoming family wants it," former White House chief usher Stephen Rochon told USA Today.
But the makeover can’t happen until the Obamas take their final exit for the inauguration ceremony on Friday. Careful attention is made to make sure the outgoing president doesn’t “feel like they are kicked out of the house,” Rochon says.
That said, as soon as they make their exit, the staff spring into action for a makeover that “would put HGTV flip shows to shame,” USA Today reports.
"It's more like less than five hours," Rochon says about the timeline to complete the house transition.
In that short time span, all of the outgoing president’s family’s belongings are packed up and moved out. All of the incoming first family’s items are then moved in and unpacked.
"The outgoing president sees the house the way he always saw it," Dean Mercer, a former Secret Service agent assigned to both President Clinton and President George W. Bush's details, told USA Today. The incoming president "walks in and everything that is his is there."
Source: “Obamas, Out. Trumps, in: Flipping the White House Is a 5-Hour Sprint,” USA Today (Jan. 16, 2017)
