PM’s refurbishment bill - tablecloth!

Its the £8000 lamp that worried me ,with atoddler in the house?

I would expect one that made the meal, cleared the table and washed the dishes!

I'm not in any way defending what they bought/how much they spent/them

But we mustn't devalue the goods they bought. They were hand made by skilled craftspeople (mostly in our country?) many of whom have trained in heritage craft and/or artists/artisans who have designed and produced bespoke products. So they cost what they cost, whether you could afford to buy them yourself or not.

I have oilcloth btw from Laura Ashley RIP

Goodness, £3000 for a hall mirror. Is that so Boris can stand in front of it and tell himself how wonderful he is, before leaving & on his return!

Maybe the mirror told him Micheal Gove was the fairest of them all and that's why he got the sack

The PM gets £30,000 a year to run their official residence which is the private residence at number 10/11. I think they also get a huge amount to refurbish to their own taste. They all spend it, of course they do. Whilst most, if not all of us, couldn’t afford those prices, rich people can and do pay them. Every PM refurbishes to their own taste. It sounds wasteful, it is wasteful, but it’s the rules. PMs and MofP look after their own interests. Look at the way we pay for all their second homes in London. They don’t give them back when they lose their seats or resign. Of course they don’t, it’s all set up to benefit them. ‘Twas ever thus.

Grannmarie

I would expect one that made the meal, cleared the table and washed the dishes!

I like it.

My most treasured tablecloth is one that we used for the family Christmas dinner every year, red seersucker and goes through the washing machine without needing ironing. It came as a jumble sale leftover for pennies in the early 80s. There are too many people in the family now to do Christmas dinner at home, so we all go to a local pub, but every so often I see the tablecloth in a drawer and smile. It’s priceless to me.

I have another, smaller linen one that my Dad embroidered for my Mum when they first got married, and that too is worth way more then £500 to me.

JaneJudge

Maybe the mirror told him Micheal Gove was the fairest of them all and that's why he got the sack

??

Mirror, mirror on the wall ... very funny!

Seriously, the cost of Johnson's decorations and furniture shows up the gap between the rich like him and Carrie and the rest of us, especially when many workers are using food banks. It just shows how out of touch he is and that alone makes him unfit for office.

Auction the items off separately, with the understanding the original price must be reached. To help boost the sales, each of the highest bidders will then have the right to have dine with the Boris Johnson they admire so much.

Like so many things, just because they can doesn’t mean they should.

Grantanow

Mirror, mirror on the wall ... very funny!

Seriously, the cost of Johnson's decorations and furniture shows up the gap between the rich like him and Carrie and the rest of us, especially when many workers are using food banks. It just shows how out of touch he is and that alone makes him unfit for office.

I agree Grantanow but it ‘‘twas ever thus as I said earlier. When the new PM enters Downing St they will immediately have access to a huge amount of money so they can change the decorations and furniture to their own taste. That’s how it is. It wouldn’t be any different which party leader it was, those are the rules.
Incidentally, there are many, many people much richer than BJ. Tony Blair is one such person. The royal family are others. Some pop stars and celebrities are others. There are many the world over.

I have my grandmother's tablecloth. She used to ask visiting family and friends to sign it and then she would embroider over the names. When mum inherited it she continued the tradition. It's packed with names and tells the story of two generations of my family. It's priceless to me and I wouldn't sell it to anyone, least of all Carrie and Boris, for £5,000.

maddyone

Grantanow

Mirror, mirror on the wall ... very funny!

Seriously, the cost of Johnson's decorations and furniture shows up the gap between the rich like him and Carrie and the rest of us, especially when many workers are using food banks. It just shows how out of touch he is and that alone makes him unfit for office.

I agree Grantanow but it ‘‘twas ever thus as I said earlier. When the new PM enters Downing St they will immediately have access to a huge amount of money so they can change the decorations and furniture to their own taste. That’s how it is. It wouldn’t be any different which party leader it was, those are the rules.
Incidentally, there are many, many people much richer than BJ. Tony Blair is one such person. The royal family are others. Some pop stars and celebrities are others. There are many the world over.

Most incumbents of Downing Street don’t drastically change the decor though maddyone. In all fairness to whoever succeeds Boris and Carrie though, they will have to unless they want to live in what my mum calls a tart’s boudoir. Seriously, it’s what you would call out there, it’s really horrible.

I agree, from what I’ve seen/heard about the designer and wallpaper, it’s not to my taste at all. Each to their own though.

I think elements of the refit would have been acceptable had they been a focus point in more minimal decor rather than so many eye catching bits it looks like a Turkish brothel.

DillytheGardener

I think elements of the refit would have been acceptable had they been a focus point in more minimal decor rather than so many eye catching bits it looks like a Turkish brothel.

to be fair it most probably is some sort of brothel

DillytheGardener

I think elements of the refit would have been acceptable had they been a focus point in more minimal decor rather than so many eye catching bits it looks like a Turkish brothel.

What a lovely idea, Richmond Park. That tablecloth will become a family heirloom. Priceless memories.

Geekesse, how special that your Dad embroidered the linen tablecloth for your Mum, precious memories.

I reset the public paying for luxuries to be honest but I don't expect they really paid more than the items are worth.
A hand-woven or hand embroidered tablecloth could be very expensive in working hours. If an artisan only charged £15 an hour, £500 only buys about 33 hours (less than a week's work. Out of that has to come the materials, yarns, workshop rental/mortgage, heating and any specialist equipment necessary.

If I was making anything more than a small tablecloth I'd want £500 retail.

I think Teresa May bought her items from John Lewis - I seem to think there was a comment at one point about her "style".

maddyone and JaneJudge ??
I wonder if it is similar to public transport and ‘high use’ areas have busy fabrics to hide the stains!
Very crude, my apologies but Jane’s comment really made me chuckle.

When the new Leader is chosen will he/she change the flat decor to their taste I wonder ? Then when a General Election is called will the winning PM then change it again ? Complete waste of tax payers money imo.