While Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie may have been billed £200,000 for their flat revamp in Number 11 Downing Street by Lulu Lytle, the couple could have picked up high street alternatives to their purchases – for a fraction of the cost.
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 leaked copy of the invoice for the renovation, seen by the Independent, reveals that 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.
But FEMAIL can reveal that many items similar to those for sale on the exclusive Soane Britain website can be purchased from high street stores like John Lewis, whose furnishings Carrie apparently rejected, as well as Wayfair and Dulemn – without the hefty price tag.
While Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie may have been billed £200,000 for their flat revamp in Number 11 Downing Street by Lulu Lytle, the couple could have picked up high street alternatives to their purchases – for a fraction of the cost (left, £1,175 lights, right, £30 Dunelm lights)
The Johnsons ordered 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 bill (left). But Wayfair is selling a very similar bar for just £46.99 (right)
While the couple may have spent over £3,000 buying two Aten hurricane lights cost £1,775 from Lulu, the Reflect Easy Fit Plug In Wall Light from Dunelm is just £30.
Meanwhile it’s described as ‘a chic, antique style design’ with a ‘brushed gold finish’ which makes it ideal for statement bulbs.
And it wouldn’t have added to the couple’s expensive £30,000 fitting bill from Lulu – because according to the site, it can be easily attached to the wall and ‘plugged directly’ into a socket.
The Johnsons ordered 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 bill.
Elsewhere, the couple picked up a £3,800 long, low bookcase from the designer in a bold red patterned design (left). But The Range is selling a very similar storage unit for £125 (right)
Meanwhile the £3,650 Leighton table is a cane framed table with a woven rattan top and wrapped joints (left). However a similar green woven table from John Lewis, a store Carrie reportedly eschewed when the flat was being redecorated, is listed online for £375.20 (right)
However a similar drinks trolley is available from Wayfair.co.uk for a mere fraction of the price.
Costing just £46.99, and currently on sale, the Helix Serving Cart has over 400 four star reviews rating it a great addition to anyone’s home.
Similar to Dunelm’s lights, the drinks trolley is also shipped flat to the door for convivence and requires minimal assembly.
Elsewhere, the couple picked up a £3,800 long, low bookcase from the designer in a bold red patterned design.
Aldi’s £80 blue velvet scalloped back chair (right) bears plenty of similarities to a chair from Lulu’s range but costs a fraction of the price (left)
B&M have plenty of items on offer that could rival Lulu Lytle’s in style but cost significantly less, including the £35 gold rimmed mirror (left, pictured right, the Soane mirror)
The Reuben Rosa from John Lewis costs £599 (right), while there is a similar chair listed on Lulu Lytle’s Soane website (left)
However The Range has a very similar storage unit for just £124.99 on its website.
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.
However a similar green woven table from John Lewis, a store Carrie reportedly eschewed when the flat was being redecorated, is listed online for £375.20.
The cheapest item on the couple’s bill was a £500 kitchen table cloth, while £3,000 had been spent on a ‘paint effect’ for the flat’s hallway.
Looking for a new centre piece for the sitting room? John Lewis (right) have a £1,800 cosy blue option while Lulu Lytle’s quilted sofa has a similar design (left) and reportedly charges as much as £20,000 for a sofa
Meanwhile the circular lampshade from Lulu Lytle’s Soane store (left) likely costs much more than the similar design from B&M – which comes with a pricetag of just £2.99 (right)
The Johnsons also ordered a drawing room lamp for £6,000 along with a £2,500 lampshade, the leaked bill suggests.
And despite the controversy surrounding the renovation becoming known as ‘Wallpapergate’, the most expensive order from the wallpaper bill 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 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.
The building works estimate, which included painting, having the floorboards sanded, and installing new furnishings and fittings, came to £30,000.
High street shoppers can snap up a weaved rattan mirror from B&M for just £20 (left) – while Lulu Lytle is selling a similar design for much more from her Soane store (right)
Interior designer Lulu offers a stylish black chair on her site (left) which likely costs many times what a similar £649 John Lewis chair
Eight dining chairs cost £11,280, and the couple spent £7,000 on a rug and £3,800 on an antique mirror for the hall.
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.
The Reuben Rosa from John Lewis costs £599 (right), while there is a similar chair listed on Lulu Lytle’s Soane website (left)
While tables from Lulu Lytle could set you back hundreds of pounds (left), this rattan piece from Aldi costs just £45 (right)
Both Lulu Lytle’s Soane collection (right) and John Lewis (left) are selling trendy rattan chairs this summer, but the high street store’s version costs just £79
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.
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.
Pictured: A section of the leaked Soane’s bill, showing what was ordered for the drawing room
A further section of the invoice showed the spending in the kitchen, entrance hall and dining room
The final part of the bill showed the cost of building work to the property, which was totted up at £30,000
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