PM’s refurbishment bill - tablecloth!

JaneJudge

Maybe rather than Carrie Antoinette it's actually Carrie Moquette

??

I think that they (all incumbents of No10) should have to return the flat to an original standard - something neutral like Magnolia throughout before leaving, so the next one doesn’t have to spend ££££ to refurbish it again. Do they get to keep the furniture and items such as the hideous drinks trolley when they go? Maybe they should have to be sold too, and the money used to offset the next £30k binge.

I don’t live in a world where people pay £250 a roll for wallpaper, but others do, and it’s not that in itself that I object to. It’s the sense of entitlement that leads to someone with a very generous and publicly funded budget having to borrow so much more and doing so from a party donor. That smacks of corruption (and definitely has the potential for it) whether there was any in this case or not - it is still being investigated, remember. I also think what are now called ‘the optics’ look bad when foodbank use is so high and that the decoration was happening at a time when Johnson was resisting Marcus Rashford’s campaign to feed children in the holidays.

JaneJudge can actually say I just spilled my tea. Howling with tears of laughter. Dh just shouted ‘what’s wrong with you woman’.
Love the fact of the day and also the fantastic descriptor for Carrie’s fabric ?

Maybe rather than Carrie Antoinette it's actually Carrie Moquette

Okay, fact of the day Dilly is that the fabric used on public transport is called Moquette

I love the idea of your heirloom tablecloth Richmondpark

I used to like the plain paper cloths which the kids could scribble on and on which the waiters totted up the bill remember those days?

Costs are all relative though aren't they. As Mr Micawber said
you know.
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds, nineteen and sixpence, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.”
David Copperfield (1850)

I bought a very long, wide tablecloth for £9 from Lidl a few years back and have used it every Christmas since. It's washable and perfect for when everyone comes to dinner. Went back to try to buy another but they were never seen again.

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.

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.

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".

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

JaneJudge

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

??

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.

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.

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

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!