Melania Trump announces restoration of Blue Room furniture

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House Blue Room is getting a new old look.

Melania Trump has announced the restoration of a collection of furniture made for the White House by Frenchman Pierre-Antoine Bellange. The first lady says a team of curators has spent more than a decade restoring the furniture. The Committee for the Preservation of the White House approved the restoration project.

President James Monroe bought the Bellange suite in 1817. Almost all of it had been auctioned off in 1859.

Former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy began reacquiring original pieces in 1961, with replica chairs made to supplement the originals. Both the original and reproduction pieces have remained in the Blue Room since the Kennedy administration.

Mrs. Trump plans to reinstate the Bellange suite in the Blue Room in the fall.