Michelle Obama praises White House's interior in designer Michael Smith's new book

Former United States first lady Michelle Obama was a resident of the White House for as long as eight years. During the time, she had to make sure that her two young daughters felt at home, and interior designer Michael S. Smith was there to help her with that.

Michael Smith was appointed by former President Barack Obama to the Committee for the Preservation of the White House in 2008 and served on the position till the end of Obama's second term as the president in 2016. He has penned a new book about his work as the decorator of the Oval Office, titled "Designing History: The Extraordinary Art & Style of the Obama White House."

Michelle Obama has written the foreword of the book which was released on Tuesday, reports People. The former FLOTUS wrote about Michael S. Smith: "Immediately, he understood that we were a young family with two little girls who preferred Crate & Barrel over antique credenzas and a grandmother who bristled a bit at any whiff of pomp."

"But we were also the Obamas: the first Black residents of the White House," the "Becoming" author added.

Praising Smith for striking the balance between the two extremes, Michelle wrote: "The pressure on any First Family is enormous. The pressure on the first Black one would be even greater. Michael never lost sight of that."

"He made sure our values and vision for America—one based in inclusivity and a love for all of its people—were reflected in every detail of this remarkable home," the 56-year-old wrote.

Michelle says that home for her was always "a specific place, with specific people and specific memories," and more than that "a specific feeling" with "comfort and warmth and security." When she moved into the White House with her family in 2008, her daughters Malia and Sasha Obama were aged 10 and seven, respectively. The bestseller author said that she sought to recreate that environment for the young girls, who are now 22 and 19.

"My husband and I had done our best to achieve it in our home in Chicago, but when the vortex of a presidential campaign concluded and sent our family to the White House, my biggest worry was the most basic: Would our daughters be able to have a childhood that in any way approached normalcy?" Michelle explained.

She went on to say that while the White House is both an "office" and a "museum," it's also "a place where real families with real lives spend four or eight years together, in and out of the spotlight."