Yellow Oval Room

The Yellow Oval Room is an oval room located on the south side of the second floor in the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States. First used as a drawing room in the John Adams administration, it has been used as a library, office, and family parlor. While First Lady Dolley Madison in the early 1800s decorated it in yellow damask, it was not officially designated the Yellow Oval Room until the restoration overseen by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s. Today the Yellow Oval Room is used for small receptions and for greeting heads of state immediately before a state dinner.

The room is entered from the Center Hall on the north side of the room. Three large windows on the south side of the room face the South Lawn and The Ellipse. The southwest window has a swing-sash door leading outside to the Truman Balcony. Double doors on the west side of the room, with flags of the United States and of the presidency on either side, lead to the president and first lady's bedrooms, private sitting room and dressing room.