Little is known about the room's original decor, except that it was likely in the fashionable French Empire style of the day, a tradition that continued until a group of Colonial Revival and Federal-style furniture and art experts appointed by then President Coolidge sought to restore the room according to the period in which it was built, rather than a passing style of a later time.

[citation needed] Following the 1816 rebuilding, inventories suggest the room initially contained French Empire items bought by President James Madison.

[5] Coolidge replaced the heavily patterned floral wall covering with a simple green silk velvet.

[citation needed] Over the next 37 years, subsequent presidents mostly maintained the Green Room as Coolidge left it, with only minor alterations.

[7] In 1961, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy began a major refurbishment of the White House that included the Green Room.

Her renovation was technically overseen by an advisory Committee on Fine Arts made up of museum professionals as well as wealthy individuals interested in antiques.

[8] American antiques autodidact Henry Francis du Pont (an expert in Federal furniture) led this committee.

[10] Although du Pont and Boudin often competed with one another for control of redecoration of a space in the White House, the Green Room represents an area where they cooperated more closely.

Du Pont proposed a green-on-green stripe, while Boudin desired a more subdued, moss-colored silk with a moiré pattern.

Du Pont chose a white cotton with delicate embroidered vines in green and gold for the Massachusetts settees, and an ivory silk with multicolored flowers for the Webster sofa.

[17] With the new window and wall upholstery in place by early 1963, Boudin suggested upholstering all the furniture in the room in green.

These paintings included John Frederick Kensett's 1853 Niagara Falls, Théobald Chartran's 1902 portrait of Edith Roosevelt, and Alvin Fisher's 1849 Indian Guides.

[19] A late 18th-century English Axminster carpet in a Neoclassical pattern was donated by an anonymous individual and placed on the floor.

Conger commissioned Edward Vason Jones and David Byers to design new drapes of striped cream, green, and coral silk satin.

They were topped by hand-carved, gilded American eagles with outspread wings, a favorite decorative motif of the Federal period.

The coral color in the upholstered chairs and in the striped drapery fabric was intensified to a more vibrant shade bordering on vermilion.

The green Turkish Kilim carpet installed in the Nixon administration was replaced by a new rug woven in the Savonnerie style of France.

As a part of the refurbishment the painting The Builders by Jacob Lawrence was acquired by the White House Acquisition Trust.

[21] The Builders and Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City by Henry Ossawa Tanner were at that time the only two paintings by African-American artists in the White House permanent collection.