Episode 12 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.

Before you throw that away,

-is there any chance I could have a quick chat you about it?

-Yes, sure.

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.

I've turned that passion into a moneymaking business.

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

Sarah is ready to sift through as many boots

and bin bags she needs to...

That is the most fabulous thing I've seen here. This is so exciting.

..in her search for tip treasure.

I love rifling through the rubbish.

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

-Hello, hello.

-What have you got today?

I want to do what's right for this piece of rubbish.

She can transform her finds into desirable...

-Look at that!

-..beautiful...

Speechless.

..valuable...

You're joking.

..and hopefully saleable items.

You always talk my kind of money, Jay. I love doing deals with you.

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.

Wow!

Today we are at the Witley Community Recycling Centre in Surrey

which is the final resting place for items

which are no longer loved or regarded as useful.

Well, to most people, anyway.

Yesterday we missed some really good things,

cos we went home before the tip closed.

So, today, I'm here till the bitter end and so are you.

Sarah's challenge today is to search out three items which she

believes could be reworked and turned from trash into cash.

And she's just spied Colin with an item which would have most

other people stumped.

I know it sounds really strange, but that looks fantastic,

so was that your gatepost, or...?

It was an old gatepost, yeah.

It was from a house we moved a couple of years ago and, er..

So you took it with you?

No, no, no, no. Actually, it was an old gatepost.

They put new gateposts in, this was just left at the side,

and, er, I've actually used half of it already.

-OK.

-As a lamp.

-What?

Do you know something?

I was just thinking that I'm looking for something

to use as a base of a lamp.

That is... Mine might be a side light,

but I think that would make a really cool...

just that little bit there, might be just great for me to use,

if you don't mind me having it?

You're... you're more than welcome to have this lump of wood.

-I'd love it, that's brilliant.

-Excellent.

-Thank you so much.

-Good luck with that.

-Thank you.

It was surplus to requirements,

I just brought it to the local dump to get rid of it.

There you are, somebody else wants to use it, fantastic.

You can't put a price tag on that kind of age, and that grain,

and that look it's got.

I think that this pattern here, on the base will just make the most

fantastic bottom to a light.

And, luckily for Sarah, she has just the couple in mind

who will be able to help her handle that potential light's bottom.

Hidden away in an east London garden shed,

creative couple Abigail Booth and Max Bainbridge run a successful

business making handmade homeware from reclaimed natural materials.

We're so flooded with manufactured throwaway consumer items,

it's like, actually, we decided we wanted

to make things that lasted.

Being out in, kind of, woodlands and forest, sourcing stuff,

there's a real physicality that you have to enjoy.

Colin's old stump will clearly be in safe hands with Max and Abigail.

Back in Witley at the tip, the plundering continues with

Sarah on the lookout for her next item to salvage.

It could be anything. That's what's so exciting.

It's almost palpable.

Other lawnmowers.

Talking of gardens, what type of socks does a gardener wear?

Garden hose, of course!

Oh, gawd.

With two more items left to find, Sarah has spotted the white

van of Dominic and Bernard.

I love the look of your sofa.

Well, the sofa was going to be dumped,

it is unbelievably uncomfortable.

If it isn't comfortable, than that is a bit of a problem, isn't it?

Brilliant, shall we just pop it down over this way?

Actually, we should put the cushions as they should be,

not as we've thrown them.

Hand it over to an expert. Here you go.

These are lovely, these are feather cushions, they've got

-a really good weight to them, haven't they?

-That's one way of putting it.

I think that it is something that looks like it was a really

quality, heavy-duty piece of furniture when it was first made.

And I'm looking for things that maybe I can give a new lease of life to.

-Would it be something you would let me have a go at?

-Absolutely.

-I mean, if you could add value to that, that's fine.

-That's great.

Can't wait to get my hands on it and do something with it. That's fantastic.

I absolutely love this.

It is charming, it is sweet, it is little,

it will refurbish beautifully and it will be commercial.

This will fit into any house. It's not some

enormous piece that can't fit anywhere. So this is a real find.

Oh, look, it wheels really easily, too.

If only we were all so easily pleased.

My wife must have had it for...

20 to 30 years.

And I don't think it was new then, but I'm very pleased somebody

thinks they can make something better of it.

I might be some time.

There's no time for lounging around when we have to find

a solution for that sofa.

Luckily, Sarah knows a man who can help.

Upholsterer and furniture maker Anthony Devine runs

one of the UK's leading upholstery schools in Manchester.

He does, though, have a slightly unconventional approach.

I'm not traditionally kind of trained as a designer,

so I don't draw anything out,

I don't particularly plan anything out, I just kind of lunge at it.

Lunging or not, his skill is the art of being experimental

within the ethos of design.

Whilst staying in the realms of traditional upholstery technique.

I like to explore other things than what a traditional

upholsterer would do, so I would use digital fabrics.

I like to mix, like, kind of screen printing

and printing your own fabrics. Yes,

I like to explore opportunities.

That's great news, as although Anthony doesn't know it yet,

Sarah is about to provide him with his next big opportunity.

In the shape of the old, floral, saggy sofa.

With two items already safely banked,

the search continues for the third and final item of the day.

So there's no time for any of that monkeying around.

It's one thing clearing up and keeping the dump shipshape,

but Sarah has spotted an oceangoing vessel in the boot

of Richard's Cavalier.

-Make my day, tell me that you are throwing out the canoe.

-It's yours.

-No way.

-What you're supposed to say, "Is that a kayak in your Cavalier,

-"or are you just pleased to see me?"

-SARAH LAUGHS

I'll make the jokes around here, thank you.

-So...

-Is that a kayak, and is it free to take?

-It is, yes.

We are looking for things we might be able to make into other things,

and perhaps recycle or restore. But I think that this just looks

so fantastic, I've got to be able to make it into something.

-It is natural, isn't it?

-Yes, it really is.

-I'm so pleased because I

thought, "What do I do with it? I can't..."

I'm having great difficulty getting it in there,

I had to take a seat out to do it.

And I had actually thought of sawing off the end.

-I'm so pleased you didn't.

-I tried everything, and I thought, "How

"can you deliver a canoe with it cut up like a cucumber?"

It is fabulous. Let's have a closer look at it.

Was it yours, and have you canoed and kayaked all over the place in it?

No, there's no great history of daring-do with this.

Fantastic. Fantastic. It's just brilliant,

we haven't had anything like this that we can work on,

so if we could take it away and maybe I could come back

and show you what I've done with it, would that be all right?

Yes. Seriously, you're going to try do something with it?

-Other than being a canoe?

-Yes, definitely. And then you're asking me what I'm going to do.

I haven't got a clue. Right now, I haven't got a clue.

I haven't known that to stop you before, Sarah.

-Is it a one-woman canoe?

-It couldn't be better. Yeah, it's all right.

Brilliant. Thank you so much.

We've just been up and down the river, playing about.

But it's got to go because we are going to somewhere else

and we can't keep it, and it hasn't even got

a river where we are going, so there's not a lot of point.

I can't wait to design something around this.

I'm thinking sofa, I'm thinking drinks, I'm thinking just

amazing, this is going to look fantastic, it's going to be great.

I'm going to make a fortune out of this.

Do you ever get the feeling of being up a creek without a paddle?

Well, the good news is, on this occasion, we do have a kayak.

So, Max and Abigail will lick the lump of wood into some

sort of shape, Anthony will alter the floral sofa,

and Sarah will grab the gunnels and tackle the kayak herself.

I've found some little gems today.

They might look like diamonds in the rough at the moment,

but by the time I've finished with them,

they're going to be shiny bright and worth an absolute fortune.

Walthamstow, in east London, is home to a unique

and quirky garden shed, which is where creative couple Max

and Abigail specialise in producing luxury handmade homeware.

They are blissfully unaware of what Sarah is bringing along today.

Knowing Sarah, it could be anything.

-You could end up with some palettes...

-It could be anything.

But they have had experience of Sarah's dump finds before.

What Sarah thinks is a kind of feasible idea could be

-somewhat of a challenge.

-Yes.

There are some things that I begin to wonder why I've rescued,

and this is definitely one of them.

I don't know why I didn't put it in the skip.

But I'm hoping Max and Abigail will be able to manage to make

something out of it.

I've no idea what Max and Abigail are going to do with that lump of old wood.

You could say "I'm stumped". Obviously.

-Hiya.

-How are you?

-Good.

-A little something for you to work some magic on.

-Fantastic.

-Magic is the...

-Magic will be needed.

Yeah, it is not the finest piece of wood I've ever seen.

-Let's be optimistic.

-I'm not sure that optimism is enough here.

-Yeah. What should we call it, striking?

-Yes.

SARAH LAUGHS

Striking is a good word.

-Good... Wow.

-It was a gatepost, obviously,

and the guy who dropped it off had cut this bit off and reclaimed

the other bits, he could use it.

-So this really is the waste of the waste.

-So he took the good bit.

-SHE LAUGHS

So he took the best bit of a kind of bad lot.

Let's look at underneath because there is some supposedly solid...

That is pretty solid. This bit here.

Is it something that is worth taking on, or do I take this back

to the tip and just say, "We've tried, but actually this is not workable?

-No, I think we will definitely give it a go.

-I was going to say, don't give it back before we've tried.

A couple of examples we've got of where we've worked things in the past, where

it is kind of taking... Just taking

a kind of a lump that is really quite badly rotten.

-Like this.

-What kind of money should we be talking about,

to just have a go at turning that into something?

I think, for the sake of just giving it a go, I think 50 quid,

just to cover the cost of labour and that kind of stuff. And we will...

We'll just have a bit of a play and see what we can do.

I would just be amazed if you can transform that into anything, so I

don't think you have to feel worried about taking that on and making...

-I would just love to see something made out of it.

-OK.

We will see this as a bit... Just a bit of an experiment,

-and give it a bit of a go.

-Great.

Well, let me give you these lovely things back

-and I'll leave you with that little beauty.

-Excellent.

-Bye-bye.

-Thanks.

'Well, I think it is pretty amazing that Max'

and Abigail could even begin to think about taking on a project like that.

And I know that if they can't do anything with it, then,

-really, nobody can.

-Not what we were expecting, if I'm honest.

As we were saying to Sarah, just to kind of have a play, give it a go.

And, um, see what we can get, really.

So, Sarah has left Abigail

and Max with a budget of just £50 to play with.

If their magic doesn't produce the goods for this old gatepost,

it will be once more destined for the dump.

Sarah is coming today. I'm just waiting to see.

Normally you just don't know what you're getting when she turns up.

Who knows what she's going to bring? But every time she surprises me.

Looks really cool when you find it at a tip,

but, by the time you bring it here, it is just looking a bit embarrassing.

'A chair would be nice and simple.'

But things are never quite that simple, so, yes, hopefully a chair.

Just a nice...nice-looking mid-century modern kind of chair.

Right.

-Hiya.

-Hello, are you all right?

-How are you?

-I'm very good, thank you.

-I'm actually a bit embarrassed about what I've brought here for you.

-Come and have a look.

-Oh, my God.

-Ta-da!

-Oh, my God.

-It's not that bad.

-It's not that bad.

I have seen a lot worse. Should we get it inside?

Do that, yes, and then we can have a proper look at it.

I think it is on wheels, but we could lift it.

Do you want me to go backwards, being a gent and all?

Oh, that is very nice. Don't look at my bum.

-Right.

-See, nice and substantial.

-Well made.

-The frame's not bad. The frame's not bad, I'll give you that.

How far is that going to go? So...

the people who dropped it off said they lived in a little cottage,

so they had always needed quite petite pieces.

But their major complaint about it was the fact that

whenever they sat in it, it was actually just really uncomfortable.

It looks really soft. I mean, the seats are very soft.

The cushions are virtually gone. We will lose these straightaway.

Out of fashion, don't like the frills.

We need to improve on the seat depth,

so I think we lose these, as well.

And then we either retain the seat cushions - but we definitely

need to bring them forward so it increases that back to front - or

we basically just have a fixed seat, so imagine it looking more like that.

See how it is turning more modern?

All them out there. And then put a bit of shape into the back of it.

Maybe raise it up, get rid of these skirts at the bottom.

And see how it is starting to lose all its weight?

You are talking a really good game here,

but it sounds like it might be really expensive.

-What kind of money are we talking about?

-Do it for 800.

-All in for 800?

-900.

Can we leave it at eight and see if you can squeeze it in?

-If it runs over budget...

-Right, we will go 800.

Because it is you, Sarah.

That sofa is now in a really safe pair of hands with Anthony.

I love his ideas for it, it's going to look really high-end,

really luxury. And hopefully have a price tag to match.

It is going to grow as we get involved in it.

Some things may change, we may change things back.

But hopefully it won't look too dissimilar to this,

but...different when she returns.

So, Anthony has radical plans, but with a price tag of £800,

Sarah is going to have to achieve a premium price

if she's to make a profit on this saggy sofa.

From a saggy seat to a potentially soggy seat.

Back home, Sarah has grand plans for Richard's old kayak.

As it turns out, I don't think there's anybody else

other than me who could actually work on this.

But I think it's going to be amazing

and possibly one of my favourite projects.

When you see a kayak, you don't automatically think, wow,

that's going to make an ideal desk!

But that's the plan Sarah has for this little beauty.

I just thought it was a really obvious thing to do,

to turn it into a desk.

I was wondering about polishing it all up

and making it look like a really smart version

but I think I've got to keep these signs of wear and tear

because they're all part of its history, aren't they?

On a very serious note, this kayak is made from fibreglass, which,

when cut, can produce particles which are dangerous to health.

We could make a dog bed.

Would you like a canoe dog bed?

Bramble takes no time at all

to think of an answer to that question.

Fibreglass should only be cut by a professional wearing

the correct personal protective equipment.

I think what we're saying is, don't do this at home.

Cut fibreglass, that is, not change a kayak into a desk.

Sarah has managed to find a local company

who are specialists in bespoke

design metal and glass fibre fabrication.

Colin is awaiting her arrival, kayak and all.

I haven't bothered cleaning it because I was thinking,

if I can't do anything with it,

then I'll not waste my time cleaning it.

So I'm thinking, desk.

-Right.

-Do you see that immediately?

Well, I assume you'll just cut a section out and lay it in flat?

Yes, it will literally be hopefully just a cut along here

and then around here.

And along here.

Just those little cuts and then maybe some sort of support in here.

I don't know what you'd call that kind of thing.

-Let's call it a bulkhead, then!

-OK, bulkhead, another term.

So if there's one up there and maybe one there?

If to support the legs up to the bulkheads

-we put the ply through there.

-I'm loving the we!

That will give the support right the way across,

it won't bow or anything under the weight.

So that should be absolutely fine.

So, with a plan in mind, Sarah is having the kayak cut

with all the necessary safety precautions in place.

As we never had a paddle, let's hope this drastic alteration

doesn't leave us up a creek, as we no longer have a kayak either.

Fantastic!

-You've made my day.

-I've made something!

Don't be rude about my kayak!

Never one to miss an opportunity, Sarah pushes on,

creating the strengthening bulkheads.

So how much do you think it's going to be for all of that

with the materials, what are we looking at?

Because there's obviously more than where we started from earlier.

I know, but I think demonstrating to people what you can do

with something as opposed to throwing it away

is an amazing thing, so I'll say £50.

I can't just give you £50.

-75?

-OK.

Honesty, you have been amazing.

Back with Max, Abigail and the rotting gatepost.

So that's all really kind of gone.

That's all breaking away there, so we'll just have a look.

We'll break this down a bit more

and see what else we can get, but all of that is really gone.

Now, I'm no expert on dead wood,

but when I see a large bloke hitting a small piece of wood

with a big hammer and very little happens,

that would indicate that it's rather more solid than first meets the eye.

But of course, if at first you don't succeed,

try, try again with a chainsaw.

We'll probably get something quite decent,

-quite a decent size out of that, I think.

-Very unexpected.

Yeah, it's great. OK, let's see what we can do.

I don't like to say, I told you so.

After removing the old rotten surround

at the heart of this old oak,

there does appear to be enough wood to work with after all.

-That would be fine.

-Could you get quite a decent size?

Obviously it's going to be round so it only needs to be square, really.

If it's going to be round, it only needs to be square!

I'll have to go and think about that one for a bit.

Max, meanwhile, cracks on, turning the now square -

soon to be round - stump on the lathe.

The core seems to be pretty solid, which is good as well as surprising,

because when Sarah brought it, it was not even touch and go,

I just thought we wouldn't get anything.

It's actually good that there's some solid wood that we can work with

and turn something out of.

Cool. It's quite amazing. If I say so myself!

No, I'm really pleased. That's great.

It's testament to how hard the oak is, isn't it?

Yes, that's all it's testament to, isn't it?

Just the hardness of the oak, yeah!

We'll let Sarah take all the credit, then,

for bringing all the magnificent materials that she brought us!

She knew all along it was going to be good!

In Manchester, Anthony is well underway with his plans

to modernise that old floral sofa.

I've put the first base coat on

and we're going to put some more spray on here

and then we will pull this apart.

I'm going to photograph it from above

and then have it digitally printed.

To be honest, people will probably think, what is going on?

But these are the ideas that tick away in my head.

You're scaring me a little bit there, Anthony!

Perhaps you should take up a hobby.

Spend a little time away from soft furnishings.

Do something different at the weekends, maybe!

I've stripped a fair few sofas in my time,

but never quite like this before.

It's just started exposing. Bits and pieces.

Right, I'm going to fill in the finer detail after that.

That's pretty much how we want it to look in terms of deconstruction.

So now the process is, what we're going to do is prepare it

so we can photograph it and have it digitally printed.

Taking photos of all the destructive detail

inflicted on the poor old sofa

will allow Anthony to create a brand-new reupholstered seat,

which looks as though it has been vandalised.

We've photographed these at very high resolution

and we're sending it to our printers and they'll put it through

a huge printer and print it all onto fabric for us.

Of course, before beginning to reupholster,

all that old covering has to be removed and fortunately,

while Anthony is at the printers, able assistant Lee

is let loose on the sofa, and not in a gentle way either.

Just converting it from being what was a kind of country cottage

style sofa into something a bit more modern and urban

and one of the ways we're going to do that is by dropping

the height of the back probably down to here somewhere.

Also going to slightly lower the arm

by probably removing this part here and all of this.

Also, while we're here, the first thing you do when you're covering

a sofa is rip out the seat and see what goodies you can find as well.

What do we have, a winning lottery ticket? From 2004.

We're still waiting on the big reveal where we open it

and we strip it and all the wads of cash fall out.

Which we would obviously return to the rightful owner!

Not so sure Lee thinks that's a great idea.

So, the physical transformation of the sorry sofa begins

by dismantling the frame and reshaping it

into a new contemporary figure.

Ta-da! Done.

Not much to this upholstery malarkey.

I reckon I could have done that.

Sorry, you're not finished.

Sarah is due in about 72 hours.

T-72 hours, so yeah,

we should be about ready for her to sit on it, I think.

She might need to bring her own cushion by the looks of things.

Back at home in West Sussex, Sarah feels as though

she's paddling upstream with her kayak transformation.

Next time somebody drops off a kayak at the tip, I'll probably think twice

about picking it up because turning it into a desk,

a little bit of a nightmare.

Sarah has bought online,

a set of four pre-bent hairpin legs which she is bolting through

the holes that she has drilled in the bottom of the boat.

Where I thought everything would just neatly bolt together,

I'm having to adjust it slightly every time,

mainly using a hammer.

Once the alterations were complete,

all that was left was to give it a lick of paint.

Just trying to get a real depth of colour to it

so it looks really well finished.

And a real good polish.

If you'd like to take on a really challenging project,

try turning a canoe into a console table.

It's really hard work, but definitely worth it.

When Sarah kept this kayak from being discarded at the dump,

it was a sorry-looking item and I know there were those of you

who thought she had bitten off more than she could chew.

Well, without hesitation, Sarah has sunk her teeth in

and created an eye-catching console table.

Admittedly, its proportions would not suit your average semi.

But it is sure to attract admiring glances

wherever it finds its new home.

To turn the old kayak into a console table, Sarah has spent

£125 on materials and a further £175 on Labour, which totals £300.

All she is looking for now is somebody with a need

for a kayak console table who owns a rather long hall.

Back at the dump,

Sarah's keen eye spotted a kayak in the back of Richard's car.

There is no great history of daring-do with this.

Richard couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Seriously? You are going to try and do something with it other than it being a canoe?

Yes, definitely. Then you are going to ask me what I'm going to do and the answer is I haven't got a clue.

Luckily, inspiration came to Sarah and with a little help

from friends, she was able to turn it into a kayak console table.

Sarah was lucky enough to sell the kayak console table

to specialist retro homeware shop The Old Cinema in London.

Sarah's returned to Haslemere to show Richard

what became of his kayak and to hand over any profit.

-Hello.

-Hi, Richard. Lovely to see you again.

Come on down. Let me show you the pictures of the kayak.

So there are lots of lovely designers who we have got

who are helping us make things into amazing stuff from the tip,

and one of them worked with fibreglass.

So I have embraced fibreglass

and I have turned your kayak into a kayak console.

Oh, that is terrific. That is ace.

In my mind's eye, when I was making it, I thought

it's going to end up in somewhere like a shop or somewhere where

you could have a till on it or perhaps in a very cool bar,

mixing music on it or something like that.

It's a real winner, isn't it?

It is a winner. Somebody loved it and they bought it.

It cost £300 to make it look like a gleaming,

fantastic console table and I sold it for £450.

-So I've got £150 to give to you.

-That is wonderful.

This is going to go towards the next kayak and your next success!

Do you need another kayak?

-Have you got room for another kayak in your life?!

-No. That's history.

But this tops it completely. Just wonderful. And what you've created.

That is fantastic. I am so pleased you let me have it.

It was a really good, fun project.

So, Richard, who knows how far our console canoes will go?

There is a great future.

So with the kayak costing £300 to convert, and Sarah managing

a sale of £450, that has left a profit for Richard of £150.

I love it when they love it, and that was another great example

of somebody who wanted their transformed trash back.

The final result is superb. The finish is terrific.

The idea was inspired. And whoever's got it, I'm really quite envious.

I think it is terrific. I think it is a slightly better table than a canoe, in fact.

Although we find ourselves back in the very urban setting of

Walthamstow, Sarah has returned very sheepishly to Max

and Abigail's to see what has become of the rotten old gate post.

Last time I was here, I dropped off a gatepost that literally crumbled

in Max and Abigail's hands before they had even started working on it.

So the chances of making a profit on this one, I think, are really slim.

She was pretty embarrassed at what she was leaving us with

and I don't think we were particularly filled with hope.

That old gate post was certainly nothing to look at back at the dump.

But with a huge amount of skill and craft, what was once deemed

beyond salvage has become a range of wondrous wooden bowls.

Consisting of two sets of pinch bowls,

an oak pot and three further shallow bowls, Max and Abigail have

worked their magic to create some truly beautiful wooden tableware.

This is my favourite bit.

Even though that gate post was really bad, I am still excited.

You are joking!

-Seriously?

-Yes.

-100%.

-That's the reaction we wanted, wasn't it?

-That's good.

That has gone down well.

Absolute genius. Honestly, I'm...

-Are these pieces that came out of it as well?

-Yes.

We thought it was quite nice to just kind of keep...

Keep a bit of the signs of age.

So here you can really see, actually... That's the edge.

There was a hell of a lot of solid.

It wasn't much of that before you actually hit solid wood.

To come back and find this is...

Yes, really cool.

I think I left you with a budget of £50.

Because you managed to do so much work, has that changed?

There was a slight amount of cursing of your name after you left!

But then I would say we spent probably about £100,

if that sounds OK with you?

I think what we have produced, we can hopefully make that back.

-And more.

-With some profit on top as well.

I am definitely going to check your gate posts on the way out,

because I can't believe that all came out of that thing!

That's amazing. Really cool.

-That's brilliant. Thank you so much for those.

-Thanks very much.

-You are welcome. Thank you.

-Genuine surprise.

So this completely exceeds my expectation

of what I was going to see here today.

From rotten old gate post to this.

The level of craftsmanship is amazing.

And I might even make as much as £50 worth of profit.

We genuinely thought we weren't going to get much

-and it wasn't going to be that great, but...

-I think she's pleased.

Yes. I think she's really pleased.

So even with Max and Abigail upping the cost, this transformation

from a gammy old gate post to wooden pinch pots of perfection

cost just £100.

I think I can see these selling for a profit, at a pinch.

Back in Whitley, Sarah was not the only one to spot

the potential of the old rotten gatepost.

Colin had already had a bright idea.

-I've used half of it already.

-OK.

-As a lamp.

Surplus to requirements.

I just brought it to the local dump to get rid of it. There you are.

Somebody else wants to use it. Fantastic!

You can't make things look like that, so for me that is just perfect.

-Excellent.

-Thank you so much.

-Good luck with that.

-Thank you.

Having been transformed from gate post to tableware,

all that remained was for Sarah to find a sale,

and online homeware retail outlet Such & Such

stepped into the breach.

They snapped up the complete collection.

Looking forward to having them on the site.

-Seeing people's responses to them is always nice.

-Yes.

-There you go.

-Thank you very much. See you again. Goodbye.

Sarah has returned to Surrey to deliver the good news to Colin,

along with, hopefully, some cash.

-Hello.

-Hi, Colin. How are you?

-I haven't seen you since Whitley dump.

Yes, it is much nicer around here, isn't it?

It is much nicer than Whitley dump, for sure, yes.

Have I just seen the other half of your gate post?

-You may well have done.

-Is it out there with a light on it?

You may well have just seen the other half of my gate post.

I didn't need the part I took to the dump.

That's all I needed, so I threw it away.

You laughed at me at the tip.

You laughed at me taking your gate post away.

Only because I've already done something with it, you see.

It was only the small part I didn't need.

It turns out you weren't the only person to laugh at me because Max and

Abigail, who I took your old gate post to, they really laughed as well.

I'm not surprised.

So here, I have some pictures to show you of what they made.

That is absolutely incredible.

It had that big spiky bit left in it, didn't it?

So all these little bowls came out of that

and they turned some bowls from the larger chunkier bit as well.

I did not expect that. That is absolutely incredible.

-We have sold all of those bowls for £165.

-Golly.

-Which is good news, because your old stump...

-No!

£65.

-That is incredible.

-I'm really chuffed, actually.

-For an old post, I get £65?

-Yes.

-Golly.

That is incredible, isn't it? Absolutely incredible.

With costs of £100 and a sale price of £165, Colin has £65 profit.

So what will he do with this massive windfall?

I'm a great advocate of charity, and it will go to a good cause.

It will probably go to the Alzheimer's Society.

That is very generous of you.

If you want to spend any of it on you, it's money for nothing,

so you are allowed to do exactly what you like with it.

I might equally just treat myself to a small libation

in the local hostelry.

I think that sounds like a grand plan!

Sarah is returning to Anthony's workshop back in Manchester

to collect what was the forlorn floral sofa.

We only got the fabric less than 24 hours ago,

so we basically had to transform it overnight, so I haven't been to bed.

When I was last here,

Anthony had some radical plans for my chintzy old sofa.

He is a master of upholstery and I know he won't disappoint.

This one, erm, is...

Well, it's out of my comfort zone and definitely out of hers.

So we'll see how she likes it.

Anthony has taken that old floral sofa destined for the dump

and transformed it into a brand-new refurbished floral sofa

that looks like it's destined for the dump!

Underneath that unusual appearance,

this saggy old sofa has been stripped back to the bare bones,

massaged and moulded into a new modern shape and covered

in brand-new material created with cutting-edge printing techniques.

-Hello.

-Hello. How are we?

-Really well. How are you doing?

-Good to see you.

-And you. How has it gone?

Let's go.

-Oh, my word!

-There is a lot to take in.

Do you like it? It's the new shabby chic.

That is what we are calling it.

It looks like it might be dirty, doesn't it?

Just get that bit of fluff off!

I think it's really clever.

-Isn't it?

-I'm not sure if it has ever been done before.

To put back the old texture onto the new... Yes.

-Can you just get that bit of fluff off the end there?

-No, that's real.

I was looking at that. There is a mark on the back as well.

Who do you reckon is going to snap this up? Where is this going?

I'm thinking probably design agencies, PR companies,

marketing, somebody who has got like a kind of funky office

and wants a reception area.

So we are looking for a funky office currently without a sofa

to snap up this chic and unique seat.

But in order to know how much to charge,

we have to know how much we spent.

I had to bring Lee in because I was running behind.

You put me under pressure all the time.

But I will take him out for a pint and we're still on budget.

I will buy the pork scratchings, OK? I like pork scratchings.

I didn't know you could get pork scratchings

quite so far south as Sussex!

I thought they became crackling as it passes Watford!

So with a deal struck,

all that remains is to get the sofa in the van.

Oh, and sell it, of course.

Well, Anthony has definitely delivered on the radical.

That sofa is a really clever design

and he's identified that niche market to help me sell it.

Obviously, it's not Sarah's normal kind of style.

It's different to what I'm used to,

although these things are always rattling around in my head.

Yes, I'm really pleased. Really pleased.

Despite an initial scare regarding the budget being blown,

Anthony has in fact been able to complete this project for the

agreed amount of £800 - and a packet of pork scratchings, of course.

Back at the dump in Whitley, Sarah spotted Bernard and Dominic

sneaking a sofa from the back of their van.

The sofa was going to be dumped. It is unbelievably uncomfortable.

-Would it be something you would let me have a go at?

-Absolutely.

I mean, if you can add value to that, that's fine.

I cant wait to get my hands on it and do something with it. That's fantastic.

Sarah was not the only one keen to get her hands

on Bernard and Dominic's old sofa.

Family-run business Smithers of Stamford,

who specialise in the sale of one-off vintage retro

and quirky items, were also quick to see the appeal

and snapped up Anthony's shabby chic sofa.

Sarah has returned to Whitley to catch up with Bernard and meet

Sue, the sofa's owner, to show what became of their once saggy seat.

-Hello again. Hi, there. Sarah.

-Good to see you again.

-This is my wife, Sue.

-Hi there, Sue. How do you do? Sarah.

-I'm fine. Nice to meet you.

Thank you very much for letting us come and show you a little bit of what we did with...

-Was it your daughter's...

-It's my daughter's sofa.

Well, it was actually my sofa.

-I lent it to my daughter because she needed some furniture.

-OK.

-I need you to brace yourselves, OK?

-Because of what you've done to it?

-Yes!

-Anything is better than throwing it away, isn't it?

It definitely hasn't been thrown away. Don't be too shocked.

Basically, it has been graffitied and torn apart

and then photographed and then reupholstered.

-Goodness me. It's amazing.

-It's not what you'd expect, is it?

No, it's not what you'd expect.

It actually takes £800 to get something to look like that.

-I was going to say.

-I can imagine.

While we were deliberating about whether we thought it was amazing or not, somebody made an offer on it.

No!

Yes, we had an offer that made us £180 worth of profit to give back to you.

Gosh! £180. For something that went to the dump. That's fantastic.

-It's amazing.

-I'm glad you met! It's fantastic. Thank you so much.

Is there anything you are saving up for, or that you need?

We are going on holiday soon. We'll spend it, or we'll go out for a meal, or, I don't know.

-We will buy something nice with it.

-Lovely. Well, it's all yours.

It won't be another sofa, that's for sure!

Anthony managed to transform Bernard and Sue's old floral sofa

for £800, and with the sale making £980, that was £180 profit

for Bernard and Sue, just for taking an old floral sofa to the tip.

So that was one of the more radical transformations,

but I think we got away with it.

What I wasn't expecting was for Sue and Bernard actually to really like it.

-Yes, I do.

-It's now a bit quirky, isn't it?

-It's very quirky.

-Very quirky.

-It's great. It's really good.

So Sarah has managed to make money from all three items saved from the dump.

The wooden tableware turned from an old oak stump.

The vandalised shabby chic sofa.

And, of course, the kayak console table.

That was a really mad mix of things.

Some old bits of wood, a sofa, and my favourite, the canoe.

I am really glad we took a chance on them

and they all made a little bit of money for nothing.