Episode 9 Money for Nothing

How do you make money for nothing?

The answer could be hiding in the 20 million tonnes

of household waste we throw out every year.

Just before you throw it away, would it be possible to have a quick look at it?

That's why entrepreneur, Sarah Moore, wants to get

her hands on things before they hit the skip.

I am a passionate buyer, user and renovator of second-hand stuff.

And I've turned that passion into a money-making business.

I turn old into new, and I sell it for a profit.

Sarah's ready to sift through as many boots and binbags as she needs to...

That's vintage gold, isn't it?

It's really exciting.

..in her search for tip treasure.

I love it!

And with some of the country's elite designers and makers...

-What are we going to do with that?

-Oh, no!

..she can transform her finds into desirable...

Amazing!

..beautiful...

..valuable...

Kerching!

..and, hopefully, saleable items.

That's £80 profit!

If Sarah is successful, then she can hand the profits back

to the very people who had no idea

there was cash to be made from their trash.

Oh, fantastic. That's unbelievable!

Today, Sarah's at Merchants Way Recycling Centre in Walsall,

about ten miles outside Birmingham.

And there's a whole lot of dumping going on.

Although much of what we throw away each year could have a new-found purpose.

It's so busy here today

and I know that there are fabulous things coming in.

All I've got to do is find them BEFORE they get dumped.

Sarah's search has been given the thumbs up by the local council,

so don't think this is an invitation to start raiding skips in your local tip!

That's not rubble, what's that?

It's an old tripod. Belonged to my dad a very long time ago.

See, amazing what you find amongst the rubble.

Sarah's not going to quit until she's got her hands on three items

which, once repurposed, can be sold at a profit,

meaning a potential pocket full of cash for their original owner.

They are, they're being thrown out.

But some people are more happy to see their things gone for good.

My other half is on holiday and he doesn't know I'm getting rid of all this!

He comes back tomorrow.

Luckily, Sarah's found Don,

whose other half is more than happy to get rid of their old furniture.

-Her indoors doesn't want it.

-Really?

It's got threadbare, and it's worn, isn't it?

And the cat's been at it, it's all been scratched to death.

This is how it is.

No-one wants old furniture, you just have to chuck it out.

Well, I'll tell you who might want it...

-Me!

-Oh, you can have it if you like.

Cos it's got a certain something about it that is now

quite popular with people, because of its retro styling,

because of those little wooden armrests.

You say that to my wife!

Well, it doesn't fit into everybody's home.

But this is the kind of thing that I'm up here looking for,

hoping to give a new lease of life to.

There's a great big bucket full of broken glass here

when the window broke in the storm the other week.

Do you want that, as well?

She'll be fine with the chair, thanks, Don.

Stick your glass...

in the rubble skip, because glass is made of sand, you know.

This looks so brown and so old-fashioned now.

It's going to look amazing.

You hear that, Don? "Amazing".

You can cover them, if you really want to.

But people don't tend to do that these days.

New stuff is so cheap, relatively.

They'll just go and buy another one.

Sarah has her first fabulous find.

So, what are her plans for this big, brown beast?

It's brown, it's a bit dirty, and, at first glance, you probably

think that this is in exactly the right place here.

But, actually, I think this has huge potential.

This is teetering on the brink of being a very trendy style,

and I think with a new cover, some exciting fabric on it,

it's going to look a million dollars.

And Don's old scratching post is destined for Anthony Devine

and his Ministry of Upholstery, no less.

Mancunian Anthony is a passionate upholsterer,

who loves to combine the experimental with traditional techniques.

And he's supplied furniture for the likes of Harvey Nicks and the QE2, no less.

I like to explore other things than what a traditional

upholsterer would do, so I would use digital fabrics,

I like to mix screen printing and printing your own fabrics.

Erm, yeah, I like to explore opportunities.

Which is good news, because Sarah has your next big opportunity lined up.

HE STAPLES

Your next big, brown opportunity.

Sarah's seeking out her second item, and she has a spring in her step.

I love yew.

What's that?

I love yew. It's a yew tree!

Here, I'll do the jokes, thanks!

And to put an even bigger smile on Sarah's face

is Bob and his boot full of metal.

Thanks to Bob, Sarah has her second item to renovate.

Just before you throw everything away,

-tell me what you're doing here today, and where this has all come from?

-A rotting garage.

I love the look of the metal.

I know it's rusty and it's old,

but there's something about this sort of stuff.

-Is this some sort of old drill fitting or something?

-Yeah, exactly.

The drill goes in there. It's a drill press.

-But it's not working any more?

-No.

Do you know something, that doesn't matter to me. I love the fact that it's got some writing on it,

and it's really chunky.

This is really exciting for me.

It's at least 40 years old.

-That's why I like it so much, cos they don't make them like this any more, do they?

-Nope.

That's really cool. If I could take that away, I'd be so chuffed.

If I make something out of the drill thing, would it be OK to come

-and show you what I've done?

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

-Thank you so much for that.

-OK.

I absolutely love this.

So, what does Bob think of Sarah's scavenging?

I have no idea what you could use it for.

It's a difficult shape to work with. It's large, it's heavy.

Er, you could prop a door open with it, but that's all I can think of!

I'm so excited to have found this. I absolutely love it.

This beautiful retro styling, the lettering,

all the colour of the paint that's left on here.

It's a really interesting piece.

And it'll look great as an interior design lighting feature.

Bye!

Thanks to Bob the builder, Sarah has her second item to renovate.

But she'll need help.

Luckily, she has just the right man for the job.

Say hello to The Rag And Bone Man, AKA Paul Firbank.

Launched during the London Design Festival in 2011,

The Rag And Bone Man brand is best known for creating

high-end interiors from salvaged heavy machinery.

Normally we're working with, say, aircraft components,

or vintage motorcycle components.

Things that are really well made.

I think people don't often throw metal away because, you know,

it's worth some money and you can take it to a scrapyard.

So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see what somebody has taken down to the tip.

Hopefully, it's not a shopping trolley!

Paul will be happy to hear it's not a shopping trolley,

but I can't imagine he'll be much happier once he sees the rusty drill press.

So, with two items safely stowed away for Anthony and Paul,

Sarah now has to find something she can sink her own teeth into.

Too much going on, I don't know where to start!

Look at them, they're queueing up round the block.

Every time I look in the back I have to see, is there something I like?

Well, Sarah might like the look of what Les has in his boot.

Just being nosy!

I'm just wondering if those wood blocks would make chopping boards, what do you think?

I think they would.

Better watch out for the guard dog, though.

Who's your friend? Hello!

-That's Gracie.

-What's the wood from?

This is wood I use for my wood burner.

-But I make things out of them, see.

-Really, what do you make out of them?

Well, anything.

How many have you got? Come on, let's see.

Probably about eight of them.

-And you're sure you've got more, that you don't mind sparing them?

-No, no.

-I'm such a scavenger.

-Here you are.

Are you a wood worker, or have you got the right tools?

-No, I just make little things.

-What have you made?

-Well, I make a lot of signs for the Caravan Club.

-OK.

I feel really embarrassed taking them, but if I do manage to make something...

Look, look, I wouldn't give you them if I needed them.

Well, you're very sweet.

I think Gracie approves.

Sarah reckons these timber cut-offs could make adorable little chopping boards.

Do you think she can do it, Les?

I haven't a clue. I don't know her skills. Clearly, she's got some.

She sees something in them to have a look.

It was that, caravan or the fire.

So, if she creates something,

which it is creating, good luck to her.

There are eight or so chunks of these fat little bits of flooring joist.

And I think I've got a plan for them.

You know when you cut up the lemon that goes in your gin and tonic,

and it tastes of garlic cos you've used the wrong board?

Well, these are going to be beautiful bespoke lemon boards.

For your drinks cabinet.

Sarah's three-piece treasure hunt is complete.

Anthony will dream up something dazzling for Don's armchair.

Paul will devise a new use for Bob's drill.

And Sarah will be slicing up lemons in no time with Les's blocks.

It's been a really good day here today.

The people of Walsall have been brilliant

and, in between the binbags and the garden waste,

I found three really excellent things.

And I know I can turn them into hard cash.

Sarah's first stop is cool, happening Manchester.

It's alive with established and emerging designers and artists.

Sarah's taking Don's brown, lumpen chair to furniture maker, Anthony Devine.

Anthony creates bespoke, handmade, upholstered pieces

that are a world away from what Sarah's bringing him.

Sarah's coming today!

It's never just a simple footstool, or just a simple dining chair.

There's always, kind of, something, er, big and ambitious.

Anthony?

-Oh, hello!

-Hiya!

-Are you well? Do you want a hand?

-I'd love a hand.

Look, how cool's this?

Very nice. No, it is. It's actually really nice.

CHAIR SQUEAKS

-Right.

-Talk me through it, then.

It's not really being done any favours with the brown Dralon.

-But I thought it was actually really... Oh, don't break it already!

-Sorry, sorry!

Steady on, Anthony.

I thought that it could be absolutely bang on trend

-and looking really cool.

-Yes.

-And so, I brought it to you.

-Yes.

Well, this is the kind of thing that's fetching big money at the moment. It's nice.

I didn't know whether we should cover it in blocks of fabric, rather than a patterned fabric.

So, you could really see the structure of the chair and the way it was designed.

But I know you're dealing with this stuff all the time,

so I'm all ears to hear what you've got to say.

-We're using some great fabrics from Guatemala, of all places.

-Really?

All hand-woven, and I think it would look amazing on this, on this chair.

Hand-woven Guatemalan fabrics?

That's exactly what I had in mind(!)

Uncanny!

-Oh, wow.

-This is a metre by 50. And it takes over a month to produce.

Do you know something, that's going to be so out of my budget, you wouldn't believe.

Well, I was thinking we can put this part here...

Then these...

And then this...

Possibly that way, or the other way around.

This is a bit controversial, OK?

I'm slightly worried that if we put all this on here,

and I was hoping to keep the wood exposed,

we might end up where we don't actually see the shape of the chair.

The patterns certainly are eye-catching.

But is there such a thing as too eye-catching?

Why don't you move them all about the place, Anthony?

Maybe that will change her mind.

I think...

That that will work.

I'm not sure she's 100% convinced.

It's a big-money gamble with such pricey fabric.

What am I looking at to get this whole thing done, including the fabric?

We're going to be around...

You know...

Spit it out!

Dare I say the £800 mark?

800 quid?

-It's a big commitment for me to spend 800 quid on something I found at the tip.

-I know.

But you talked me round and I think that we're going to see something just amazing.

-Are you staying to help me, then?

-Not a chance.

-Nice to see you, always a pleasure.

-Thank you. Every time!

Don't go slacking!

I think we got there in the end, didn't we?

I'm hoping that that combination of fabrics

and that shape of that chair really come together.

But whatever happens, I'm spending £800.

It's got to look fantastic, and I hope to make a little bit of profit.

I dread the times that she turns up,

but she always leaves me with more work.

I like this one. Lots of potential.

So, for a whopping £800 to produce,

Sarah's going to have to sell it for a small fortune.

Next up, Sarah is off to Margate in Kent,

which is rapidly becoming a hot spot for all things upcycled and vintage.

As a result, there is a thriving community of artisan craftspeople

living and working here and Sarah knows just the right one

to transform her rusty drill press into something saleable.

It's Paul.

-Hello?

-Hello.

-Hiya, how are you?

-Not too bad. What have you got here?

A little something... It's really heavy, it's really heavy.

-Let me have that bit. How are things?

-Yeah, good.

Paul should be feeling good.

He specialises in transforming old, rusty machines

and you don't get rustier than that.

I can't believe somebody has actually thrown this away.

-It looks so cool with the "Cha-ching!" kind of handle.

-Yeah.

I'm sure we can get that to move.

Really? Because I had a few ideas.

The first time I saw it,

I thought it's kind of ice cream, coffee machine.

There's something about it

that has that kind of American diner sort of feeling.

It'll probably take us a little while to kind of strip it down

and actually get it all moving again.

It'd be quite cool to turn it

into some kind of wine bottle opener or something like that.

This will obviously come up and down if I can get the mechanism free

and get it moving. You could do something like that.

-It'd be great to sell it into a commercial setting.

-OK.

And it looks like it would look good on a bar

-or something along those lines.

-What about a...

a nutcracker or something like that, something really simple?

Love it, that's a really cool idea.

So, you kind of buy your pot of nuts from the bar or whatever

and it maybe says, "Welcome to the Crusher!"

And you can kind of pick what flavour you want and crush away.

We could try something like that.

Even if it was five, a little handful of them

you could "cha-ching" in there.

Sarah's got "cha-ching" on the brain today

and so she should -

to produce a nutcracker out of the drill will cost upwards of £300,

so she'll have to find a buyer

with plenty "cha-ching" to make it worthwhile.

I'll leave you to it. Got your work cut out,

look forward to some beer and some nuts very soon.

Every so often,

you come across somebody who just blows you away with the ideas

they come up with and their creativity

and Paul is just like that.

I am so excited about what he's got planned for that drill bit

and I just can't wait to see that nut crusher.

It's going to be amazing.

It certainly will be amazing.

Sarah is not getting it for peanuts.

With Paul's labour and materials estimated at £300,

let's hope it's just the nuts getting squeezed

and not the profit margin.

From marvellous Margate to stunning Sussex

and the barn where Sarah is about to start her own project.

She rescued a pile of anonymous-looking wooden blocks

and has a nifty new use in mind for them.

So, these I want to make into chubby little lemon-shaped chopping boards.

I'd like to cut them out into a really sweet little lemon shape

and these are going to be

for when you have that gin and tonic at the end of the day.

When you sit down and you take a sip and you can taste garlic on the lemon

because you've cut it on the wrong board,

these are just to go on your bar,

these are just for cutting up your lemons.

You're right, Sarah. I've never been keen on gin and garlic.

I'm just going to sketch out a rough sort of lemon shape.

That looks lovely and lemony to me, Sarah.

I made one of these for my grandparents when I was about ten.

They quite liked gin and tonic.

Your grandparents were fond of the gin? Should you be telling us this?

Sarah now carefully cuts out her lemon using a jigsaw for accuracy.

I'm going to sand off the whole outer layer of the wood

so that it's all clean

and then I'm going to use some olive oil just to seal it

and that should be fine,

cos wood is really quite good with food in general.

Things like pine and this soft wood, it's not the hardest grain,

but it should be fine for just chopping up a few lemons.

Right, I think we're good to go on that.

You could sand by hand, or, for speed, use an electric sander.

Sarah is using extra virgin olive oil to seal the pine. Sweet.

You have to hold it to really like this, because it feels amazing.

It's like suede or something, it's really smooth,

and I think it looks...

kind of lemony, doesn't it? I'm pleased with that.

Just another six more to go.

Sarah is not charging for her own time or her olive oil,

so there's been nothing spent, but a lot could be gained.

Back in Manchester...

..Anthony is stripping back the retro brown chair

and uncovering about 50 years' worth of dirt.

-Urgh!

-Thank you, Sarah.

I hope he washes his hands,

because Anthony is handling the very pricey Guatemalan fabric.

Many textiles from this region originate

from ancient Mayan culture, so it was an obvious choice, eh, Anthony?

It would be easy to just be able to put, like,

a nice wool or a nice felt on there, just kind of a really blocky colour.

Given this opportunity,

we wanted to just have a little play around with something new.

Anthony is upholstering one arm of the chair as a guide

to work out how to arrange the other fabrics and if I remember right,

Sarah wasn't totally convinced with his plan.

There was a lot to discuss on the day when Sarah came round.

I know she was quite interested in keeping it quite defined.

"More defined" - that should be easy.

If that goes in there, what do we think of these colours?

Does it affect your eyes too much?

Having this there takes away from that, I think.

Like you were saying, less is more sometimes.

Yeah, I think more is more on this one, though.

What I'm thinking now - this as a centre,

a thinner stripe of that down there...

Option number two...

Pretty soon, all of Anthony's upholstery students

want to give their two cents' worth.

It's just a bit...

busy.

It goes better vertically.

You mean like that?

That's your focal point, for me.

How many upholsterers does it take to choose a fabric?

HE EXHALES

Well said.

Why don't you leave the hard stuff till later

and get on rebuilding the insides?

Anthony stitches and staples hessian material on the rest of the chair.

We're going to stitch this in.

It gives him a strong base to work from

and prevents the luxurious fabric catching on a spring unit.

Anthony attaches much-needed padding to the hard wooden frame

using an air-driven staple gun

and on top of that, a nice, fluffy cloud.

After the foam, we use this wadding

and, basically, what that does is help take the friction

and help the fabric glide over your fabric better.

Once all the material is on,

Anthony will apply a fire-retardant spray.

This will bring it up to code with current fire standards.

This is just a little bit of dark wax.

I'm just going to apply it over the front of the arm

just before we put the fabric on,

so we don't run the risk of getting wax on the fabric,

which would be a nightmare.

Upholstering a chair from scratch

is a very skilled and time-consuming process.

Anthony has not even decided on the fabric yet,

so it might be a long night.

Back in Margate,

Paul has been working on the new designer nutcracker.

But after dismantling the old drill press,

he's discovered a major problem.

To actually make the whole thing food-safe, I kind of realised

that where the carriage is sliding up and down, it needs to be oiled.

There will always be traces of steel and oil very close to food

and I think to actually make it food-safe

is maybe going to push the budget way over,

so I'm now actually thinking that we redesign it and turn it into a lamp.

I hope Sarah is all right with it, but that's kind of what we...

what I'm thinking at the moment.

Sarah did love that nutcracker idea,

but if you run the risk of getting oily nuts,

probably best not to bother.

So, what is your plan for the lamp?

What we'll actually end up with,

we're going to end up with this coming out

and then coming back on itself.

Something like that.

If we add the fire extinguisher, if that gets added here...

But then the whole thing is back over there, if I'm making sense.

Wait a minute - fire extinguisher?!

I've been cutting these for years

and that, as you can see, was a fire extinguisher,

but when you put a nice cut on it and that is polished,

and it becomes a lamp shade, it's actually quite hard to tell

that it was a fire extinguisher in the past, so yeah, it's nice.

It makes a great lamp shade.

If you say so.

Paul's biggest challenge with the new design is creating the angle

on the post for the light to sit on.

To do that, he's going to have to try and cut that solid iron bar.

Here goes.

Paul is using a circular saw.

It gets very sparky,

so if you are cutting your own drill press at home, remember - goggles.

Having successfully made a "V" cut in the bar,

it's now time to see if it will bend.

Fingers crossed there is enough for that,

so I should just be able to bend this back and...

It's quite a square cut, actually.

Go on, Paul, put some welly into it.

Good job, sir.

After Paul solders the joint together,

he can get on with the drilling...

..screwing...

chiselling...

and...

whatever that is.

And after all that,

what do you reckon, Paul? Is it going to work?

It is coming together.

It's all so well made - as a lamp, you'll pretty much be able

to throw that on the floor, it shouldn't break.

Compared to modern-day lamps, that's quite cool.

You'll easily get 100 years out of it,

give or take a light bulb or two.

With the design set,

all Paul needs to do is get the light fitting sorted,

polished up and pray that Sarah didn't have her heart set

on that nutcracker.

Back at the barn,

Sarah is sanding her last lemon-shaped chopping block.

Sarah took seven sorry lumps of pine,

and created seven sweet, citrus-shaped,

lovely lemon chopping boards.

With a silky-smooth finish, sealed with luscious olive oil.

I have really enjoyed making these and they are a simple project.

They are approachable - if you want to have a go at home,

you've got a piece of wood that you can sand on all sides

and just to sort of cut out a shape...

..it's a really fun thing to do and you get the added bonus that now

I have to go and test drive it to make sure it works,

so I'm off to find something that needs a lemon putting in it.

I'm not quite sure the sun is over the yard arm -

I'm going to have a Buck's Fizz instead.

You can have that at any time of the day, can't you?

Buck's Fizz and lemon - must be a Sussex thing.

Happy days!

Wow, is your glass big enough, Sarah?

I think I deserve that.

You certainly do, but don't neck the whole bottle.

You've got to sell the boards now.

Sarah's success is measured in sales

and she always seeks out the best opportunities to maximise profits,

hosting regularly her own furniture and clothing sales from home...

I've just sold the sofa!

..advertising and selling online...

Let's get that online.

..or meeting commercial buyers in person to sell direct.

Seeing this is really refreshing, and it's good,

and people are going to want more of it.

It's going to grow, this thing, I think, that you are doing.

With opportunities galore in the things that we throw out,

Sarah is always looking to make money for nothing.

Back at the dump...

Hmm, really interesting - you sure?

..Les's wooden blocks almost went up in smoke.

It was that, caravan or the fire.

So, if she creates something, which it is creating,

good luck to her.

Sarah transformed them

into a set of sensational, citrus fruit-shaped chopping boards.

In the hope of making a juicy profit,

Sarah visited her local watering holes

to sell her lemon-slicing boards.

-Do you fancy one?

-Yeah, definitely.

All you've got to do - have a good look at them,

because they feel really nice, and just make me an offer.

-Anything over a fiver and I'm probably going to say yes.

-Say 15?

-Amazing.

-Happy?

-Seriously?

-Yeah.

-Fantastic, that's amazing.

-Nice one.

SHE MOUTHS: 15 quid!

She is now back in Walsall to see Les to hand over the cash

and to show him what became of his wood blocks.

Hello?

-Hi, Les.

-Hello, dear.

Hi, it's Sarah from the tip.

-Nice to see you again.

-How are you?

-I'm fine, yes.

-Wow, you've got a lot going on here!

-An awful lot going on here, yes.

And more to do, as you can see.

I remember when you came to the tip,

-I took two different types of wood away from you.

-Yes.

One with some little blocks I think you were going to use

-that were left over flooring bits.

-Yes.

I had a look at those and I didn't think I could do anything with those.

-Not really.

-But those big chunks,

did you say you were going to use them

-for blocking up the caravan?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

They were really cool, so shall I show you what I did with them?

Go on, fire away.

-Did you have any ideas when I took them away?

-None at all.

OK, I made them into little chopping boards...

-Oh!

-..you can use for cutting up your lemon on.

-What do you reckon?

-I think they are fantastic.

I managed to get, I think, six out of the chunks of wood

that you dropped off, so I made them into six little boards.

Very substantial wood, you see, wasn't it?

-Yeah, and that was nice.

-Ideal for the job.

-Really chunky.

Lovely, it's great.

And then I thought, having made them, "I've got to take them somewhere

"to try and sell them," so I've been around all the local pubs -

they now have one of your chopping boards on their bar

to cut their lemons up on.

-Blimey.

-I just said to the guys there,

"Anything over a fiver, I'm going to be really happy with."

Different people in the pubs bid me and, actually, all together,

we managed to sell your boards for £60, so I brought that back for you.

-Oh, dear, no.

-No, no...

-No, no.

Don't, don't.

-Let me explain.

-Can I...? You can explain as much as you like.

I'm sure you know a charity you could give that to.

Well, do you know something?

This is money for nothing, because it was made out of nothing

and we've brought it back for you. We'd love you to take it.

If you'd like to give it to a charity,

-that's absolutely lovely.

-I certainly will be able to do that

-and I WILL do that.

-If you'd like to give it to charity, that's great.

Thank you so much.

-If you'd like to spend it and think about...

-I'm touched.

-Truly touched.

-That is so sweet.

Les, it was really lovely to see you again

-and nice to see all the bits you're getting on with here.

-Yes.

Take care and I hope to see you in Sussex in a pub very soon.

-Yes.

-Bye-bye.

All that was involved in the making of the lemon chopping boards

was some elbow grease.

Sarah managed to sell them for £60, making it all profit.

I think they're absolutely fantastic,

what she's done with them.

I've always wondered what on earth she could make out of them,

cos to me, they are scrap.

But what she has done is absolutely fantastic.

I think possibly there could be a chance

that I shall be having a go myself.

Back in Manchester,

Anthony is waiting on Sarah to pick up the renovated brown chair.

They didn't see eye-to-eye on the fabric,

so Anthony is dying to find out what Sarah thinks

of the finished product.

In the past, she's always had a really good reaction to my work,

so I would very much think it'll be exactly the same,

so yeah, quite looking forward to it.

I left Anthony with the brown chair challenge -

really knackered, not attractive and definitely looking past its best.

I'm hoping that with his 2,000-year-old styled fabric

and all of his creativity, he's managed to make it look fantastic.

Before, this unremarkable brown chair was dreary, dull

and down in the dumps.

Now, it has been radically transformed.

Anthony has pulled out all the stops to give this chair

a striking personality and a quality finish.

Contrasting geometric designs on lush, hand-woven fabrics

ensures this chair doesn't just stand out from the crowd -

it demands to sit centre stage.

But what will Sarah think?

-Hi, you all right?

-I'm really well, how are you?

-Are we high-fiving?

-Oosh!

You're so intense!

-Ta-da!

-Never! Where's my brown chair gone?

-What have you done with it?

-This is the new-look brown chair.

Blue is the new brown.

-It's amazing, just the look of it.

-It almost killed me.

Are you telling me that there were problems along the way?

Not so much problems, but challenges.

We had a few kind of design changes along the way,

but we thought that would kind of give it more of a modern look to it.

Talk me through this,

cos that's quite a bold stripe down the back, isn't it?

Where the fabric originates from,

it's all about colour, and intense colour.

It's got to be the right customer -

will literally just fall in love with it.

There is no hard sell involved in this.

It's just walk up, "I love it, I'll have it."

And to feel it, it's like...

It's like patting a really nice dog, isn't it?

It's really... HE CHUCKLES

That's a good thing.

It looks great - is it comfortable?

-To be honest, I've not sat in it yet.

-Shall we have a go?

Well, it seems Anthony has turned Sarah round

with his Mayan masterpiece.

It's bolder than she expected, but it's not the end of the world.

It's really comfortable.

Really cool.

Go on, have a pew.

Put your feet up, Anthony. You deserve it.

After a late night in the workshop,

it's nice to be able to sit in something comfy.

All right, don't get too comfy.

Let's get down to business, and that £800 budget.

-It did take a long time, but we're still on budget.

-Really?

-Just.

-Just!

I think it looks absolutely lovely.

Really cool.

For £800, I would hope it looks cool,

but Sarah now has to find a buyer who agrees.

Back at the dump, Don's dilapidated armchair was destined to be ditched,

as Mrs Don deemed it a disaster area.

-Her indoors doesn't want it.

-Really?

And the cat has been at it, it's all been scratched to death.

But Sarah saw it could be something special

if left in the skilled hands of Anthony Devine.

Sarah sold the chair to Smithers of Stamford,

who specialise in vintage and retro pieces.

It's original and you can see that it is handmade, can't you?

Love all the different colours.

I don't think it will be on the website for long.

-No.

-And she's back in Walsall to show Don what became of his armchair

and hopefully hand over some cash.

-Hello, there.

-Hi, Don, how are you doing?

-I'm fine, thanks. How are you?

-Really well.

I've got a few things to talk about with your old chair.

-Oh, right.

-When you were throwing it out,

I think you said your wife didn't like it any more.

-Is that right?

-That's about it, yes.

I've got some pictures of it, how it ended up, and I just wondered

if you think she'd give it house room the way it ended up here.

What do you think?

Oh, my goodness me. Right.

Does it look like your chair?

Yes, I recognise it, but, yes, you've done a brilliant job.

If that came back here,

you'd want all the room decorating to match it.

-Oh, well, erm...

-Oh, wow, look at that.

-It went off to an amazing upholstery studio in Manchester.

-Right.

The guy there stripped back every single part of it,

it was just a frame and it was a really lovely wooden frame

and it's got some beautiful hand-woven fabric in it.

I was looking at that, yeah.

To do something like that is not cheap,

so I can understand why people throw things away.

-It cost £800...

-Did it really?

-..to restore it to its former glory,

-or to give it a new lease of life.

-Is the bill coming here?

-Not that bill.

-Ah, that's all right, then.

Actually, it cost £800, but I have managed to sell it.

-Brilliant.

-At a profit.

Part of the reason I'm here today is to give you £120,

because that's how much we raised from the profits from it,

so that's all for you.

-Is it really?

-Yeah!

-Oh, thank you very much.

-Lovely!

-I weren't expecting anything!

Anthony charged £800 for his labour and that handmade Guatemalan fabric.

Sarah sold the chair for £920,

making a tidy profit of £120 for Don.

Is there anything on your list that you need to spend £120 on?

Well, yes, I've just had to buy a new tyre for the Land Rover

and they are quite expensive now, cos they are special,

so it will go very nicely towards that

and thank you very much for that.

-Lovely to see you again.

-OK, thank you.

-Enjoy your Land Rover proceeds.

-All right.

-Take care.

-I'll do that.

Thanks very much indeed.

So, while Don counts his cash...

..Paul is making the finishing touches

to the drill-press-turned-lamp.

The only thing is, it's nothing like what Sarah asked him to make.

It is an absolutely cracking day here in Margate today

and I can't wait to see what Paul has done with our drill press.

It was quite a tall order.

I'm hoping he has made the nutcracker to end all nutcrackers.

When she dropped it off, the old drill press was in a sorry state.

But Sarah and Paul were convinced they could turn it

into a designer nutcracker.

However, Paul has totally transformed the rusty drill press

into a shiny and stylish contemporary lamp.

By modifying the stand,

adding a Ferrari gear shifter to the handle

and a repurposed fire extinguisher for the shade,

Paul has created an incredibly bold designer piece.

The question is,

will the unexpected lamp do Sarah's nut, or will it light up her life?

Hiya!

-Hello, there.

-How are you?

SHE GASPS Is that it?

-Yeah, it's hidden. How are you doing?

-I'm really well.

-How are things?

-Good.

How was it?

OK, Paul, it's time to come clean about the lamp.

Good luck, mate.

-Is that it?

-That's it, yep.

It's... It's not quite what you think it was going to be.

But it is what it is.

So, what happened? Was it difficult to make? What was there...?

Well, shall I just see? What is it? Let's see.

Let's just open it.

-Oh, my word!

-It isn't quite... As you can see, it's a...

It's a lamp.

-But...

-I absolutely love it.

-Oh, thank goodness.

-It wasn't quite what I was thinking.

I was quite excited about making a nutcracker,

cos I've never made anything quite like that before.

Forget the nutcracker. That is sweet. It is amazing.

-Does it move?

-It does move,

so there's a little lever on the side that fixes it in position.

Then you've got some height adjustability on that.

I think it looks amazing

and I can't wait to see it turned on and stuck on a desk.

-Can we try it?

-We can turn it on.

Oh, it's a beautiful filament bulb as well, isn't it?

I think you have...

just transformed it.

That was a rusty, seized...

..industrial but pretty hideous piece of kit when it arrived here

and what you've transformed it into is a designer piece of...

fantastic-ness.

I'm going to have to think really carefully about

where I go and sell it

and make sure I hit the right mark with that, because I think it is...

Somebody with a large desk, I think.

-Big desk and hopefully a big wallet.

-Yeah.

Cool.

Back at the dump,

Bob was hard pressed to think of a use for his old drill press.

I've no idea what you could use it for.

It's a difficult shape to work with.

Prop a door open with it, but that's all I can think of.

But it lit up the imagination of The Rag And Bone Man

and now its future looks bright.

Sarah gave Martin of The Old Cinema a first look at the lamp.

He's matched the cord, he's brought out the red,

he's got some dull and he's got some shiny and that's good.

It's just a nice mix of textures. I like it.

Martin bought it to add to his collection in his London shop.

The Rag And Bone Man charged £350 for the table lamp.

It was sold for £450, making a profit, obviously,

of 100 quid for Bob.

So, the good news is, I've sold that fantastic light

that The Rag And Bone Man made out of that old drill stand

and I've made £100 profit.

But Bob doesn't want the money,

so I'm going to give it to Children In Need.

Sarah saved three items from their demise at the dump.

The timber cut-offs are now pride of place in pubs across Sussex.

The old, brown, bedraggled chair

is now a stylish and striking armchair.

And the rusty drill press has been thrust into the limelight

as a top-notch table lamp.

So, we've given a whole new lease of life to some blocks of wood,

a drill stand and an old chair, and turned a profit, too.

Maybe next time, I'll see you at your tip

and make some money for you.