Bloomberg reports that former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain wishes that he'd gone to IKEA when he reburbished his office, two conference rooms and a reception area soon after he was appointed in December 2007. The refurb, which cost $1.2m, caused uproar when the details were made public.

Speaking to an audience at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School earlier this week, Thain said: 'We decorated it in the style that Merrill Lynch offices were, which was very, very, nice. That was a mistake, and I'm sorry that I did that. If I had to do it over again, I'd furnish it in Ikea'. Thain later reimbursed the firm for the cost of the renovations out of his own pocket.

And for those of you who want to know what kind of furniture was purchased, he's the list that was doing the rounds on the internet at the time:

Area rug - $87,784

19th Century Credenza - $68,179

2 guest chairs - $43,892 each

Commode on legs - $35,115

4 pair of curtains - $28,091

Mahogany pedestal table - $25,713

Pendant Light Furniture - $19,751

George IV chair - $18,468

Roman shade fabric - $10,967

Roman shades - $7,315

Coffee table - $5,852

6 wall sconces - $2,741

Parchment waste can - $1,405

To be fair to Thain, he did make an effort to rein in costs when he arrived at Merrill. He ditched the helicopter frequently used by predecessor Stan O'Neal, and saved $20,000 by switching fresh flowers for silks ones.

One item that did gain some traction at the time of the refurb disclosures, however, was the allegation that Thain's Merrill Lynch driver bagged $231,000 in compensation in 2008 - an $85,000 salary, a bonus of $18,000 and another $128,000 in overtime!

Finally, Thain couldn't resist having a pop at Bank of America over the Merrill Lynch bonus saga. He also told his audience: 'When I got fired in January and they said 'John Thain secretly accelerated these bonuses', they were lying. And that has now trapped them into a lot of trouble, because there is a document that says 'yes, in fact, they agreed to this'.

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