'Opulent curtains', 'velvet sofas': UK PM Rishi Sunak, wife Akshata's Downing Street home gets an exquisite makeover

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty recently undertook a makeover of their No 10 flat in Downing Street at their own expense, according to a report.

The couple has reportedly installed opulent curtains and velvet sofas in jewel colours, The Guardian reported quoting British magazine Tatler.

According to the report, the Sunaks employed the upholsterer John Challis from Richmond, the PM’s North Yorkshire constituency, who told Tatler what his work for No 10 involved. The Sunaks have reportedly opted for long, fully interlined curtains for all five windows overlooking the garden, hand-pleated and held back with heavy coordinating tassels in red, gold and the ivory of the damask.

Window seats in most of the rooms are in a complementary colour, while most of the sofas are velvet in jewel colours, the report highlighted. “The ornate cornicing was hand-gilded, as it would have been originally, and a rug was commissioned to almost fill the room. Akshata was very involved and keen to see how things are made. She is also not afraid of getting stuck in and helping, either,” Challis said. He also described the previous decor as “all very tired."

Earlier, Sunak's predecessor, Boris Johnson, was subject to an investigation over the funding of the makeover of his flat in number 11 Downing Street while in office, which was reportedly paid for by a wealthy Tory donor, Lord Brownlow. Johnson later repaid the cost of the £112,000 project, which was carried out by designer Lulu Lytle.

Rishi Sunak was appointed as the UK Prime Minister in October. He became the first person of Indian origin to become the British Prime Minister.

The UK PM opted to live in a smaller flat above No 10 Downing Street, which is usually used as the home of the Chancellor of Exchequer. It was a break away from the trend as prime ministers of recent years chose the larger flat above No 11 Downing Street as their residence.

The No 11 flat is a bigger four-bedroom flat and is much larger than the Number 10 flat, which is why it became the choice of many of Sunak’s predecessors. The Number 10 flat, though, is much larger than it appears from the front. The BBC reported that there is a “warren of rooms and staircases spreading from the hall with the chequered floor immediately behind the front door”.

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