By Harriet Johnston For Mailonline
Published: 05:35 EDT, 8 July 2022 | Updated: 15:30 EDT, 14 July 2022
Boris and Carrie Johnson have been ridiculed for their taste after an estimate revealed the proposed makeover of their Downing Street home cost more than £200,000 - including a £3,675 drinks trolley and £8,500 lamp.
The couple, who share son Wilfred and daughter Romy, refitted the grace and favour apartment at No.11, which reportedly looked like a 'John Lewis nightmare' after Theresa May's residency, with the help of society interiors guru Lulu Lytle.
Lytle is the founder of Soane Britain, a company offering clients wall-to-wall luxe with a promise of bringing 'joie de vivre' into the home - for a hefty price. A single rattan light can cost £7,200, while a desk can be more than £10,000.
A leaked copy of the estimate for the renovation, seen by the Independent, reveals that the proposal for the No11 flat makeover included a £7,000 rug, a £3,675 drinks trolley and two sofas which cost more than £15,000 in total.
However the couple were quickly mocked for their taste online, with many social media users tweeting their dismay at the cost of the renovations.
One commented: 'Leaked: £200,000...That's what it cost to transform Boris & Carrie's flat into a Tunnock's Tea Cake shrine.'
Meanwhile another wrote: 'Surely this isn't the result of the PM's refurbishment of the flat in No.10! If you're a migraine sufferer you must be really into pain to live with this.'
A third added: 'I'm sorry but Caza taste is abysmal. Maybe they should of gone to Ikea.'
The cheapest item on the estimate was a £500 kitchen table cloth, while £3,000 had been proposed for a 'paint effect' for the flat's hallway and two Aten hurricane lights cost £1,775 each.
The couple, who share son Wilfred and daughter Romy, refitted the grace and favour apartment at No.11, which reportedly looked like a ' John Lewis nightmare' after Theresa May 's residency, with the help of society interiors guru Lulu Lytle
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The Johnsons also considered a drawing room lamp for £6,000 along with a £2,500 lampshade, the leaked estimate suggests.
And despite the controversy surrounding the renovation becoming known as 'Wallpapergate', the most expensive order from the wallpaper estimate was £2,250 for 10 rolls of 'Espalier Square design' used in the entrance hall.
Wallpaper in the drawing room came to £1,500, while 15 rolls for the kitchen came to £825, meaning £4,575 was estimated to be spent on wallpaper in total.
Although described as 'emerald and stone linen' in colour, the 'Espalier' wallpaper is believed to have inspired Mr Johnson's frustrated remark that his wife was 'spending thousands on gold wallpaper', reports say.
However the couple were quickly mocked for their taste online, with many social media users tweeting their dismay at the cost of the renovations
One roll of wallpaper - £1,500
One antique double wingback chair - £4,200
36m fabric for sofa - £2880
One antique low ottomon - £1,000
One long book table/low bookcase - £3,800
Two little side tables - £3,000
Fabric for dining chairs - £1,200
The building works estimate, which included painting, having the floorboards sanded, and installing new furnishings and fittings, came to £30,000.
The Johnsons' estimate included a 'Nureyev Trolley' worth £3,675, and said to be 'inspired by a French 1940s drinks trolley owned by ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev', according to the leaked estimate.
Meanwhile the £3,650 Leighton table is a cane framed table with a woven rattan top and wrapped joints, which is entirely hand-woven by skilled weavers at Soane’s rattan workshop in Leicestershire.
Carrie and Boris spent £200,000 decking out the flat with the luxury interior designers latest products (pictured: the products on sale from Soane)
The Cabinet Office leak will revive the long-running controversy over the Johnsons' refurbishment of their flat above No11.
Money was at the centre of the backlash last year following the news Lytle had been brought in to redesign Downing Street, with critics questioning why the Johnsons needed such an expensive makeover, as well as, more importantly, how it had been funded.
An estimate of £208,104 was sent to the Cabinet Office - which has an annual budget of £30,000 for renovating the Prime Minister's residence - at the start of 2020 in the early stages of the project, the Independent reports.
It was later recorded in the Electoral Commission report that the project cost £112,549 inclusive of VAT.
The remainder of the cost had been secretly funded by Lord Brownlow and the Conservative Party until Mr Johnson was told to pay for it himself when the scandal was uncovered.
Interior designer Lulu (pictured) previously revealed she 'hated every minute' of being caught in the 'political storm' over her makeover of Boris and Carrie
Lytle slammed the 'huge misinformation' circulating about her brand during the controversy and defended her costs
After a refurbishment of Johnson's Downing Street flat - led by a celebrity designer and including gold wallpaper - Britain's electoral commission fined the Conservatives £17,800 for failing to accurately report a donation to pay for it.
Johnson's ethics adviser later criticised the prime minister for failing to disclose some messages exchanged with the donor.
However, he concluded that Johnson had not intentionally lied about the messages.
Interior designer Lulu previously revealed she 'hated every minute' of being caught in the 'political storm' over her makeover of Boris and Carrie.
Pictured: A section of the leaked Soane's estimate, showing what was proposed to be ordered for the drawing room
A further section of the estimate showed the proposal for spending in the kitchen, entrance hall and dining room
The final part of the estimate showed the cost of building work to the property, which was totted up at £30,000
'I hated every minute,' she told the Financial Times. 'I found it incredibly disquieting to be caught up in a political storm.'
Lytle slammed the 'huge misinformation' circulating about her brand and defended her costs, saying: 'If you’re paying your staff properly, and there’s healthcare and there’s training, that all comes at a cost.
'We don’t know how chemicals are being discarded of in manufacturing in certain parts of the world.'
The woman who inspired Carrie's lavish makeover is Lulu Lytle – one of the UK's most influential and successful interior designers.
Her designs combine a riot of bold colours and showstopping old-fashioned glamour.
Think oiled-oak shelving, rattan furniture, shimmering gold wallpaper and intricate textiles. A marble bathroom, perhaps, with wrought iron finishings.
Downing Street's restyled décor is said to have been inspired by celebrated eco interior designer Lulu Lytle (pictured)
She is especially passionate about sustaining traditional British craftsmanship.
She built up her Soane Britain interior design studio by scouring the country for the best artisan blacksmiths, cabinet makers, upholsterers and stone carvers creating furniture, lighting and fabrics using skills going back to the 18th century and beyond.
In 2011, she put her money where her mouth is and bought the last rattan-weaving workshop left in England and started an apprenticeship programme.
Prince Charles, himself passionate about sustaining traditional craftsmanship, visited the Leicester workshop a year ago, just before lockdown, to admire its creations.
Soane's clients include five-star hotels and restaurants, private members' clubs, boardrooms, yachts and private houses all over the world.
Mrs Lytle, 49, says her furniture, upholstery, lighting, fabrics and wallpapers all aim to 'contribute to the joyful atmosphere of any interior'.
Born and raised in Worcestershire, the youngest of four sisters, Lucy Elizabeth Kottler, known as 'Lulu', developed a romantic passion for Egypt and took a degree in Egyptology.
She met her husband Charles Patrick St John Lytle, known as Charlie, when he was training as a barrister.
He is now a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Mrs Lytle worked in antiques for four years, before starting Soane when she was 25, originally from the couple's one-bedroom flat in Notting Hill, west London.
Her plan was clear and has never changed — to create beautifully made contemporary furniture based on antiques.
She said: 'The life of an object is endlessly fascinating, there's a depth to old things.' The Lytles moved to a flat in one of London's nicest squares, close to Hyde Park, in 1999.
They then bought its neighbour and knocked through to create a £4million home, which is now a stunning exhibition of Mrs Lytle's interior design genius and often showcased in glossy magazines.
It mixes old and new Soane pieces, along with textiles collected worldwide, paintings, maps and artefacts.
Searing Chinese yellow walls make a study area dramatic, while hand-painted lapis lazuli rocks bring luxury to the master bedroom's Carrara marble ensuite bathroom.
The couple share their home with their three children Tom, 20, Bunny, 18, and Xan, 15 – as well as a greyhound named Panther and Hammy the hamster.
I'm amazed by the sheer pretentiousness of it all....
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