Episode 13 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, can I have a quick chat to you about it?

Yeah, 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

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 bin bags as 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. I love doing deals with you!

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

to the people who had no idea there was cash to be made from their trash.

-HE LAUGHS

-Wow!

Today, we're at Witley Recycling Centre near Guildford.

Although much of the waste and unwanted items we chuck out

ends up in landfill, some of that tat could be transformed.

Every car has so much potential.

You just don't know what diamonds are lurking in the boots,

waiting for their chance to shine again.

All I've got to do is find them before it's too late.

Sarah has permission to delve into this dump,

so please don't go raiding your nearest recycling centre.

She's searching for three items which, once re-imagined

and sold, could raise a profit and a smile for their original owners.

I'm after a chest of drawers,

or a big, old chunky, industrial drill base,

or, you know, something...

None of the things I have.

Sarah doesn't want to be painted into a corner,

so just as well something has caught her eye.

David is discarding seven drab-looking chairs.

-I like your chairs, would it be all right to come and have a quick chat about them?

-Yes, sure.

-Are they yours?

-No. They're from our tennis club.

I've just been playing tennis and...

You got roped into dropping them off, did you?

Well, I said we live near here, so I could drop them off.

-And how many have you got?

-Seven.

-Seven?

They would be something I'd really like to have a go at making...

-Yep.

-..refreshed and, you know, giving a new lease of life.

-Would that be all right, to take them from you?

-Yes, of course.

-There we go.

-I'd love to keep in touch with you, or perhaps,

you know, the tennis club, to say what I've done to them.

-Would that be OK?

-Yes, that's fine.

-Brilliant. Thank you ever so much.

Sounds like Sarah's enthusiasm has rubbed off on David.

I'm glad somebody's going to use them.

I don't know, maybe put new backs on them, new seats on them,

polish them up or something.

The thing I love best about these is there's seven of them.

Because although each one may not have a lot of value,

if I times it by seven, I'm definitely

going to make some money out of them. I've got a few plans.

I'm hoping I can make them look better than they do at the moment.

It's game, set and match for the tennis club's old chairs,

which make up Sarah's first item.

And, with renowned furniture-restorer Jay Blades

poised to pick up this project, it could be love-all.

Jay is a master craftsman, breathing new life into forgotten

and forlorn furniture and repurposing salvaged items.

I've always had a passion for the kind of heritage

that the British designers have produced over the years.

Traditionalists would love to keep it as it is,

but to be reintroduced into the market,

I like to just add a bit of colour and add something a bit quirky.

Let's hope that the tennis club's old chairs

are a quirky enough proposition for Jay.

Sarah's on the lookout for a second item that can be rescued,

repurposed and sold for a profit.

Are you having a clearout?

-You've got a pig theme going on, have you?

-Yeah, there is a bit.

And Sarah's not the only one who's caught the recycling bug.

Matthew and daughter Lucy are tipping out their tired two-seater,

but Lucy's reluctant to say ta-ta.

I couldn't help spotting your sofa

and just thinking it looks really nice.

Yeah. We've had it for a long time.

I don't personally want to get rid of it,

but the family's decision was to...

-To get rid of it?

-Yeah.

-We've had a new kitchen

and we've bought a new sofa for our kitchen-dining area.

-OK.

-And we were having a new sofa, and it had to...

-Out with the old.

-..had to go out with the old.

I'm pleased it's ended up here because I've got plans

for the material and things that are coming off sofas.

Probably not keeping them as a sofa, but to make stuff out of it.

So if there was any chance that I could take it away

-and make good use of it...

-Absolutely.

I'll look after it and make something lovely out of it.

If it's OK to keep in touch, I'll show you what I've done.

-You have made my daughter's day.

-Excellent! Thank you so much.

I think I might have to ask you to help me carry it now.

Ooh, it's quite heavy!

Aw, Lucy didn't want to be parted from this comfy pal...

Brilliant. Thank you so much for helping.

..but Dad had decided it was fit for the dump.

Seems like Sarah's solved the problem. Sweet!

I think it wasn't that well loved, which is why it had to go,

so we brought it along here today hoping that someone would

be able to take it off our hands and they have. And that's brilliant.

I hope it's leather because there's a lot of material I can use on this.

And I've got to have a good think about what to do with it.

But I'm hoping...

Well, there's a lot of handbags to be made, isn't there?

This sad sofa is destined for the studio

of designer-dressmaker Chinelo Bally.

Chinelo shot to fame on The Great British Sewing Bee

and now creates stunning couture for a host of discerning clients.

Huge congratulations for making it into the final.

I've always loved fashion.

I think it comes from my background, actually,

because my mum is very, very stylish.

The women in my family are very stylish.

And one of the things that encouraged me the most

to start making for other people was because

when I wore my garments, people would always stop me, saying,

"I really like this! Where did you get it from?"

And they'd find out I'd made it myself.

I really do look for the beauty in anything.

And hopefully, you'll see the beauty

in a beaten-up leather settee, Chinelo.

It's back to the dump, as the search for an item of her own gets underway,

and Sarah can spot some sparkle from a mile away.

I might put it in the reuse for you.

-That's going to bring a bit of joy to somebody, isn't it?

-Yes.

Sarah needs to get her own project up and running

and she spots a man with a van.

It's Philip, who she's saved stuff for before,

and he's on a mission to clear out a house.

-Smashing!

-They're pretty cool, aren't they?

-And, voila!

Phillip is getting rid of some striking-looking metalwork.

Brilliant! They look like they could have a new lease of life.

-I remember my brother buying these at Peter Jones in 1968...

-Right.

-..and they were £2,500...

-Wow!

..and we actually just couldn't believe

that he would spend that much money.

Anyway, they ended up in the garage.

The upmarket Peter Jones store has been a landmark in Chelsea

-since 1877.

-I've got all the glass.

None of the glass is cracked or anything.

I heard you saying earlier it's your birthday.

I think it might be my birthday. That's fantastic. Let me take them.

-Are they heavy?

-Can you manage?

-No, probably not.

-Come with me. Sorry.

-Where do you want them put?

Over here would be great, so nobody else chucks them away.

That would be fantastic.

-Have you any thoughts about what we could make out of them?

-Shelves.

-Shelves!

-That's what they are.

Fair enough. If these cost £2,500 in the '60s,

-they could still carry some real value.

-They were highly fashionable.

If she's got the patience and cleans them up and gets the chrome

fixed, they're going to look as lovely as they did 40 years ago.

How cool are these?

I love the fact that they were really expensive

when they were new because it means that they'll have great integrity.

They'll have some real quality.

I've got high hopes for remaking these into something fabulous.

Sarah wants to repurpose these sassy '60s shelving units

and, ideally, provide a profit for Philip.

They make a fine upstanding item three.

Sarah's crafty pals now each have their items.

Jay will rethink the tennis club's industrial chairs,

Chinelo will turn Matthew and Lucy's two-seater into some tailored

togs and, thanks to Philip, Sarah has a project all to her shelf.

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.

The former market town of Wolverhampton became

a powerhouse of engineering during the industrial revolution.

It was where the first set of automatic traffic lights

were introduced.

And furniture restorer Jay Blades is revving up and ready to go.

Sarah will be along in a little while.

Don't know what it's going to be.

Hopefully, it will be something from the mid-century modern,

so pre-1970s would be nice, made of wood, an English manufacturer would

be even better, but who knows what people are throwing away these days.

So, not to be too specific then, Jay(!) Hopefully,

he won't be too put out that Sarah's chairs are made of metal.

-Hello! OK.

-They're not wood. I'm a bit worried.

-Wow!

Good news or bad news?

-Um...

-I've got another five outside.

-You've got another five?

-Yeah.

-Shall we go and get them?

-Yeah.

-OK.

There's no going back now, Jay.

That's right, Sarah's brought you seven rusty seats.

First things first, is you know I like working with wood...

and this is metal. I've got a bit of wood, thank you.

-It's not in great condition!

-No!

But it's not too bad. Um...

The only thing I'm concerned about is just the frame,

the amount of rust that's on there.

Oh, look. There's a label.

-Yeah.

-Anita Ltd, Excellent. ER. They're royal!

-There you go.

They've got the Queen's name on them.

This little symbol confirms that the manufacturer of these chairs

once supplied the royal family.

Anything with a brand name, anything like that, always gives it that

little bit of provenance that makes it a little bit more

interesting and probably worth a bit more, doesn't it?

Yes, most definitely.

The ideas I've got, I would do three in one cover of fabric,

so these will be kind of matching,

and then do another three in another fabric,

completely different to this one,

and then one odd one as a wow factor,

having in mind that the wow factor one is going to be the bee's knees.

-Well, that sounds very intriguing, but...

-Price.

-Price.

-Yeah.

To do the work on these, rub them down...

You're probably looking at about £75 to £80 per chair.

You don't need to go to the gym this week. You've got your...

-I've got my hands full here.

-You've got your hands full here.

Yeah, most definitely.

-So, we do have a deal.

-We're dealing, Jay.

-We're dealing.

-We're dealing.

-I'm happy. I'm happy.

Furnished steel frames, brand spanking new upholstery and at least

one unique standout seat,

these seats could end up as the pride of the West Midlands.

Really important to see that those chairs have got

tags on the bottom with the maker's mark cos that adds value.

And with Jay's ideas for making them into a real cool set, I think

there's potential to make at least a couple of hundred pounds there.

These are not the normal thing that I normally work on,

but I always like a challenge.

But these are really, really interesting.

I do like them, to tell you the honest truth,

but it's a lot of work. Hell of a lot of work.

These tennis club cast offs will command a sizeable budget to

take from tired and tarnished to shiny and sought after.

At £80 each, Sarah's going to have to make in excess of £560 to

stand any chance of making a profit.

From Wolverhampton to Canning Town in London's East End.

Amongst the legacy of its industrial past

and its gleaming regeneration lies a fashion hotspot...

although it might not look it from the outside.

Sarah sees her sad sofa as an ideal project for Chinelo Bally.

Chinelo is an uncompromising designer dressmaker, but she's

certainly not an upholsterer and she has no idea what Sarah's bringing.

What will she make of that tragic two seater?

Well, Sarah's been to the dump, so it could be anything really.

It could be... She could bring me a lampshade and say,

"Turn this into something amazing." I just don't know what it could be.

It's really dusty.

-Didn't we have this sofa?

-Who? You?

-I think we had his sofa, yeah.

-Oh, wow!

-Looks pretty bad.

-It's been in a barn and it's got bird poo on it.

-Oh, OK.

So, it needs cleaning up.

-Do you think that smells like real leather?

-Smells like a barn.

That's where it's been. Don't tell anybody.

I've seen you do all your lovely freehand cutting.

I didn't know whether it was bodice or armour-type stuff,

but I just thought... I know you'll have great ideas.

There's a garment in this, definitely. Um...

I'm thinking lace as well. Can we put more to it?

-Yeah, that's absolutely fine.

-Do you know?

I'm thinking maybe a dress or a jumpsuit.

Something very sexy...feminine... But playing with the leather.

I'm really looking forward to this one.

And is there any problem with the thickness of the leather?

No, I actually felt it. It's not that thick.

It's not that bad, actually.

Shall we rip in to the leather and then have a look at it?

-I thought you'd never say it.

-Let's get stabbing.

Looks like the sofa's got someone excited.

Instead of actually cutting, I'm going to just rip into the seam.

Get ripping, girls!

-It smells like leather, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it does.

It sounds fantastic. I can see this amazing couture garment,

but how much is that going to be to actually make?

-Well, for my charges, you'll be looking at about £300.

-OK.

So, we'll try and keep it within sort of that price range.

The lace and the leather, I would never put it together.

I can't wait to show it to you, to be honest.

Looks like Chinelo loves that leather.

Phew!

I'm so excited that it's a black leather sofa. It's black.

I love black. It's leather. Leather's amazing. And it's a sofa.

What kind of transformation is that?

I'm just really, really excited about it.

At a cost of £300, this is certainly no off the peg job,

so will Sarah go from rags to riches and pull in a profit?

From the hustle and bustle of the East End,

we head south to Sussex and the barn where Sarah's getting her very

own rejuvenation project under way.

Sarah rescued some '60s shelving units which had seen better days.

She's more used to working with fabrics and frills,

so will this project test her mettle?

So, it probably doesn't look like it now,

but these were once a really high end set of shelving.

They're quite daunting cos they're metal.

As someone who often uses fabric,

it's slightly away from what I'm used to dealing with.

But...I've had a few ideas, but it sort of depends on how they come up.

And she starts with a finish.

Sarah is using a metal polish to try and remove rust

spots from the vintage chrome and restore some of its original lustre.

I'm hoping to bring them

back to a stage where you could have them in your sitting room.

That's really pretty.

Lovely and shiny.

Out of this, I must be able to make one really cool ottoman,

like fat foot stool, with a big upholstered top to it.

Sarah's set her sights on an ottoman style coffee table.

These usually incorporate an upholstered top,

which can double as a foot stool.

Comfy, yet functional.

If I get some really good quality foam,

maybe something quite thick like that, some velvet over it,

I might even try to do some batoning on it, to make it look really pukka.

The shelves will become the coffee table frame, but she doesn't

need all of that metal, so it's time to cut it down to size.

Using a hacksaw to cut thin tubular metal like this is perfectly

fine, but it's slow going and takes a lot of effort.

Did I mention it was slow going?

This is really hard work. I'm sure I could upgrade this as well.

A nice power tool, I could just cut through there.

Well, you've started, Sarah, so you might as well finish.

Glad that's over.

That bit there, hopefully, is going to slot into that bit there.

And with a cut and shut frame just about ready, Sarah can turn her

attention to the planned upholstered top, which will have a plywood base.

And she wouldn't be our Sarah

if she didn't already have some material standing by.

This is a big old length.

I think it's old mattress ticking, so it's really robust and firm.

It'll certainly do the job.

But it's just whether it's high end enough.

I have a feeling that this, when it's all together, would look good.

Back in Wolverhampton, Sarah left furniture restorer Jay with

seven sorry seats.

Jay's first job is to eradicate that rust.

These retro chairs were the property of a tennis club,

so have probably been used both indoors and out.

And now, those frames need a new finish.

I don't really need to get rid of all of the rust that's on there,

just make sure that it's fully kind of rubbed down.

As long as these are going inside,

there's not going to be a problem with these re-rusting again.

Jay's decided on a paint finish.

By lightly sanding the metalwork, he's giving the surface a key,

which means the new paint will adhere to the frames properly.

I'm going to go for my kind of signature colour, which is

black, which will then in turn make the seat that I put on there

and the back really stand out because it gives it a really

brilliant platform.

So normally what happens is before I'm going to paint,

I'd get in the mood by playing a little bit of music.

You might not like it, but it gets me going.

So, now Jay has his tunes on, it's time to get some paint on.

Whenever I paint a chair, I always work towards myself.

If it's got struts, then you go one, two, three, four, five, six,

seven, eight.

Apply the paint really, really thinly and, as you can see,

you can probably see strokes and you can see the silver coming through.

That's absolutely perfect.

I'm not looking to cover this completely in a full on black.

This will more than likely take at least, I'd say, about four,

maybe six coats of paint, is what this is going to take.

I'm going in a kind of angle like that.

The last stroke is always coming up.

White shirt and black paint. You're a braver man than me, Jay.

I like to wear something a bit nice when I'm painting,

so I take my time and I don't actually get paint on to me.

Very confident. I've just got a stain here -

I think that was from the breakfast I had this morning.

That's baked beans on there.

But I'm very confident I should be able to go to that wedding

that I'm going to later on. I'm only joking.

Jay has decided on coloured velvet seat covers,

which will stand out in sharp contrast to his black frames.

The reason why I chose velvet is cos this is quite a hard frame,

so it's a steel frame.

What we're doing is we're hoping to make these more accommodating to

someone's home. You've got to have something that feels luxurious.

They are going to look amazing.

They're going to be worth every penny -

after I've put all of the work into them -

cos they're going to take a lot of work.

That all sounds splendid, Jay,

but don't you have another six seats to sand?

Better get a wiggle on.

Back in London's Canning Town,

the task of taking a beaten up leather sofa

and creating a one-off designer dress is under way in Chinelo's studio.

She's got a famous client in mind for this design.

We have worked together on quite a few garments actually

and I think she trusts me now.

So, yeah, I've got her in mind as I'm making this.

I'm trying to keep it something that I know she'll like

and she'll appreciate.

A readymade client, Sarah will be chuffed.

That's the bodice, so this is the part I'm making at the moment.

And that will be the skirt, so when you put them together,

they become the dress.

Chinelo starts by selecting the best cuts of leather.

I like this because it's quite smooth, so this will give nice body.

The way I see this, it's a piece of fabric for me.

I'm not going to look at anything as an obstacle.

I'm just going to see it as a piece of fabric and run with it like that.

She unpicks the existing stitches

and prepares the fabric for her famous free cutting technique.

Chinelo is relying solely on her client's measurements,

as well as her imagination.

You need to do a lot of ironing where freehand cutting is involved,

and I can't do that with leather,

so I want to make a template with some polycotton first.

So I'll do that freehand, then use that template

to cut out the leather pieces.

Using polycotton templates

allows Chinelo to cut out the first sections,

which will form the bodice of the dress.

I'm just going to cut around the template pieces

with some reserve around it, so those will be the seams.

This is actually the bodice of the garment.

So this is the side-back,

this is the centre-back,

that is the centre-front

and that is the side-front.

So they all sort of fit together as a puzzle.

Nowadays, people just go into the shop

and get a commercial pattern,

but I do swear by my freehand method...

..cos I just enjoy the freedom of it.

With the individual elements cut out,

Chinelo now sews them together,

stitching what are known as darts to help the bodice

follow her famous client's curves.

This is what I mean by darting -

giving the garment shape.

We had a flat piece and just by creating those darts,

we've now got some shape in that piece.

That's where the bust will sit inside of it.

It's not long before the bodice starts to take shape.

Who'd have thought this started out life as a sofa?

Back in Sussex...

Let's put it down on the floor, next to Bramble.

..Sarah's daughter lends a hand with the finishing touches

to our ottoman-style coffee table.

So my plan for the top of the ottoman

was to cover it in this pink fabric

and then bead it with some really lovely buttons

all the way across it,

but it was looking a bit like an old mattress.

Then I bought some fabric,

spent 50 quid on it,

but it is some really beautiful Indian fabric - Indian-style.

It's a lovely linen and, in order to make it really bright and funky,

I've made some tufts to go on it.

These are made from some old embroidery threads.

I have done nearly all of them,

but I've got one more to do in a corner.

This is definitely a two-person job,

so my little helper has been earning pocket money.

Right, Lobster, hang on to that for me.

What you need is a really long needle

that will go all the way through.

You have to push it in at 90 degrees to the board,

so that you know it will come out

in exactly the right position on the other side.

So I've got a tuft lying here...

It takes quite a bit of pushing through because the foam's really dense.

So, I've got my nice little two ends of fabric there.

Then the fun bit.

Choose a colour and put that

in the middle of those two pieces of thread.

Do a simple knot once...

and then twice,

which should stop it moving.

These are just granny knots. Really simple stuff.

And because I'm going to pull the tufts really tightly,

this is all going to get hidden right in the middle of...there.

Choose a button. Thread...a couple of bits through.

Then turn it over so we can get some real pressure on it.

Thanks, Lobster. Down...

So, once again, a couple more knots...

like that,

and then just fluff up the tuft.

Tufts and tassels feel like they're really "now"

and they're all over the place.

And these bright colour pops

really add some detail to what would be quite a plain

and ordinary coffee table, so I'm really pleased with it.

Sarah started out with a sorry set of '60s shelves

and has created a brand-new designer coffee table

with upholstered linen top

and a made-to-measure chrome frame

fit for the swankiest of pads.

-Comfortable?

-Yeah.

-Oh, it is comfortable.

-That's all right, isn't it?

-Mm-hm.

So if you have that on the end of the sofa, watching TV,

you can put your feet up,

or if you want to put down magazines and stuff on it, that's fine.

Thanks for your help. Couldn't have done it without you.

How much do I pay you?

-Because it all comes out of my budget.

-About...

..£1,000.

Now, I know it looks like it's expensive,

but I can't afford that much.

-Shall we call it a tenner?

-20.

-20?!

Could this turn out to be Sarah's trickiest negotiation to date?

£14.50.

12.

£14.

Come on, then.

Back at the dump,

Philip's shelves were surplus to requirements -

although he did think they should be kept as they are.

They were highly fashionable.

If she's got the patience and cleans them up,

they're going to look as lovely as they did 40 years ago.

But Sarah's salvaged what she needed

and created a custom-made ottoman coffee table

complete with upholstered top.

Sarah sold these former shelves to a dealer,

who specialises in retro furniture.

Groovy!

Sarah returned to Chichester

to give Philip some good news and hand over some loot.

Long time no see.

-How are you, Philip?

-Hi. Good, thank you.

Lovely to see you again.

First thing I'd like to talk to you about

is the frames that you dropped off.

There was something really approachable

that I could work on, so I cut them up...

and turned them on their side

and turned them into an ottoman,

so here is that said ottoman.

Oh, good grief!

Is that a "good" grief or a...?!

No, no, that's fantastic.

Not sure you're supposed to be laughing at this point.

I'm not, I'm just impressed you've worked so hard.

Well, that's very nice of you to say,

but it was quite a simple thing.

So, how long did it take?

Probably about three hours?

This is not as impressive.

A week?

-Ah! That's so much better!

-THEY LAUGH

Yes, so that's how it ended up.

And I'm very pleased to say that somebody else really loved it

and paid £200 for it,

so I've got £100 profit here to give to you.

Thank you very much, indeed. That is...

Considering I was about to throw it away, that is a lovely surprise.

I don't know if - off the top of your head -

you know what you might do with £100,

-but it's all yours to do...

-I might spend it.

On what? Go on. Anything in particular?

I haven't got a clue at the moment,

but it will be something towards

the birthday present that I actually didn't get that day.

-Fantastic.

-I will let you know in time.

I will let you know by the end of my next birthday, should I make it.

Well, I'll see you at the tip, no doubt.

Lovely to see you again, Philip, and thank you so much for letting me

take your shelves away and make them into something.

It was so nice to take your money. Thank you very much.

-It was a pleasure! Bye-bye.

-Bye.

Sarah's imaginative transformation of what was once a shelving unit

has cost £100 to complete.

Managing a sale of £200 has left Philip with £100

for a belated birthday gift.

Very clever and ingenious.

No, I'm...I'm very pleasantly surprised.

Er, and I can't believe she did it so quickly.

Sarah's back in wonderful Wolverhampton

to check up on the industrial chairs

that she left with furniture rejuvenator Jay.

Jay is making some last-minute tweaks to one of those seats.

I think it's gone brilliantly according to plan.

They look...erm...

For me, the chairs just look to-die-for.

I think she should love them

same way I love them,

but you never know.

She might not like it.

When I left here, Jay had just been given seven chairs

that could best be described as, say, "utility chic"!

But actually were just depressing grey.

I'm hoping that with his bags of ideas,

and all of that style that he has,

he's managed to drag them up into something really stylish.

And with £80 budget each, he'd better have nailed it!

Jay took on a seven sad stackable chairs...

..and has transformed them into seven signature seats,

with rust-free frames in black

and rich-coloured velvet seat covers,

including this standout, eye-catching wild card.

No way! No way!

You're kidding me.

No, I'm not.

But what do you think?

I think, all together, they look lovely.

I want to see them all lined up. I want to see them round a table.

The frames have come up really well, haven't they?

-I mean, they look brand-new, don't they?

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Is that your special one?

-That's the special one.

That is most definitely the special one.

It's a statement piece, isn't it?

I think you've definitely made some statements here.

I think it works quite well if you've got three

going up one side of the table and another three going up the other side,

-and then...top one.

-Me at the end.

-Yeah, there you go.

-Mine. Mine.

-Your place at the end.

Just so many colours in there, it's unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Yeah, really impressive.

Because these were utility at best, weren't they? They were ugly.

Yeah. What we've done here is just made sure that

we put a velvet fabric on there so the steel is not so hard

because not many people have steel furniture in their house.

Well, I think you've done a cracking job! Tell me. Tell me.

I left you with a load of budget for these.

-Am I under or am I over?

-Erm...you're...

With the rubbing down, you're slightly over.

-I think, if I remember rightly, we said £80 per chair.

-Yeah.

If I remember rightly. It came in at 85 per chair.

I think I'm in profit. I mean, even if I sell them for 700 quid...

-Yeah.

-..I'm 100 quid up for the tennis club.

So, I think it's nice to be able to give to give you back some

-real money for the hard work you put into...

-Yeah.

..sorting out all those frames and the lovely upholstery.

And my elbows are absolutely killing me

cos the rubbing down was just... It's unreal.

-You boys, you don't know what hard work is!

-That's true. That's true.

Right, I'm taking these away.

'James managed to make those chairs look absolutely fantastic.'

It's the attention to detail that matters with these things

and he's absolutely nailed it.

I was very chuffed with that, actually.

It's always daunting when Sarah comes in

because I've worked by myself

in the workshop, and it's kind of like, "Will they like it?

"Will the real world like it?"

Because then you get exposed to the real world via Sarah,

and then she comes in and she likes it.

Then, obviously, she has to sell it in the end, so...

Yeah, it's kind of cool.

Back at the dump...

There we go.

These industrial, utilitarian chairs

had been discarded by the local tennis club

and David had offered to dispose of them.

I'm glad somebody's going to use them.

I don't know - maybe put new backs on them, new seats on them,

polish them up or something.

Yeah, I'd be interested to see what happens. Yeah.

And after the Jay Blades treatment,

they look good enough for Centre Court!

Unfortunately, despite it being advantage Sarah,

these seven beauties have failed to score a new home.

Sarah has returned to Whitley

to serve up the results

and show David what has become of the old chairs.

-Hi, there.

-Good evening.

-Hi, David.

-Nice to see you again.

-Nice to see you.

-How are you?

-Very well. Very well. Not so good the weather, but...

-No.

Typical English summer, isn't it?

Erm, I've got a few pictures and things

to show you about your chairs.

-I'd love to see.

-They were completely...

-Oh, my goodness!

Look at that!

They look amazing, they really do. Completely different.

Would they look out of place in the tennis club now?

They'd look too good, I think!

THEY LAUGH

It does get like that.

At this point, I'd love to be saying

I've sold them for loads of money

and handing over wodges of cash for the tennis club,

-but they haven't sold yet.

-OK.

So I just thought I'd come along and update you on how they are.

And I think they have a good chance of selling

-and, when they do, I'll come back to you with the profit.

-All right.

-Thank you very much.

-Very nice to see you again.

-Good to see you.

-Well done.

-Thank you for letting me have your chairs.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

With Jay serving up an ace updating the seven old chairs,

his costs totalled £595.

Although hopeful a sale can be achieved,

currently they remain unsold,

which means there is no profit

at the moment to return to David and the tennis club.

I didn't think you'd get anything for them,

or be able to do anything with them,

so I'm very pleased you have been able to.

He's done a grand job on them, anyhow.

Back in London's East End,

Chinelo has just about completed her radical transformation

of that sorry sofa

and now awaits Sarah's arrival.

I don't know if I'm nervous about what she'll think.

I think she'll like it, but, obviously, you never know.

I just really want to see the look on her face.

I hope it's not one of disgust, but...

I just want to see what she thinks of it when she comes in.

I'm hoping I'm about to have a Cinderella moment.

That Chinelo, with her £300 budget and a wave of her magic wand,

is going to have turned that tired old sofa

into a beautiful designer gown.

Thanks to Chinelo's magic touch,

the curse of the couch has been lifted.

A truly enchanting transformation has taken place.

Elizabeth is modelling a handmade leather dress with fitted bodice,

leather skirt and luxury lace detailing.

Oh, my God!

Hi, there! Hello!

This is Elizabeth.

Wow! Chinelo, that's amazing!

-Do you like it?

-I... I'm...

speechless.

Well, what were you thinking before you came in?

I think... I suppose, because I've seen these dresses before,

I was thinking it'd be something like that, you know, more...

Just...less petite, shall we say, on the leather front?

But it is fantastic.

I love what you've done with it with the lace.

Genius. Genius. Let me...

Give us a turn.

I love the zip in the back.

It does look really cool.

I feel really underdressed.

I'm feeling really dowdy over here.

So, what does it feel like wearing something like that?

It feels amazing. And I kind of look sexy in it, so I kind of love it.

Yeah, well... She doesn't want to take it off actually.

-She wants it for herself.

-THEY LAUGH

Sarah's going to give you a price for the dress!

I think that we left saying that you had £300 for the budget.

We still kept it within cos the things we have added to it

we had lying around in the studio anyway.

So, it's fine, it's still within budget.

So, I know that you said you had somebody in mind...

Did you actually fit it to somebody?

Yeah, this is made for Laura Mvula, she's a client of mine.

And I called her up and said, "You know, this is the situation.

"Would you fancy something?"

And she said, you know, that she wouldn't mind.

So I think she would love this.

And have you discussed price with her?

I haven't discussed price.

-That's your job, Sarah.

-Oh, lovely(!)

Well, looking at it,

it looks...

It looks amazing, doesn't it?

Nobody's going to see that and think, "There's an old sofa!"

-I shall see you soon.

-See you soon.

That was lovely. Thank you ever so much. Bye.

-Bye.

-Bye.

Now that is the kind of surprise that I really like.

Chinelo had put her heart and soul into that dress

and I think it really showed.

She might have sold it as well, which is really helpful,

and she's definitely left me something

that I can make a profit out of.

I'm very happy with her reaction.

I'm really happy that she loved the dress

and it's made it all worth it.

That's good.

Phew!

Matthew and daughter Lucy brought their old leather two-seater sofa

to the dump, but Lucy had hoped someone would rescue it

and give it a new home.

I don't personally want to get rid of it, but...

the family's decision was to...

-To get rid of it.

-Yeah.

Chinelo reclaimed the leather

and worked a mini miracle.

Chinelo designed a dress with singer Laura Mvula in mind,

and so Sarah has a ready-made sale.

Sarah's back in Guildford to reveal

to Matthew and daughter Lucy

what became of their two-seater, leather sofa,

but how much profit was there at the end of the day?

-Hi, Matthew. Sarah.

-Hi, Sarah.

-Nice to see you again.

-Hi, Lucy.

-Hi.

-This is Lucy.

-How are you?

Thank you. Fine.

Really nice to catch up again.

I just thought I'd come and give you a quick update about what

we did with YOUR favourite sofa.

I remember from when you were dropping it off,

-I think you were reluctant for it to be thrown.

-Yeah.

I have a friend called Chinelo,

who is a fantastic seamstress,

and she does have a client who's called Laura Mvula,

-who is a singer. I don't know if you've heard of her.

-Yeah.

-Have you heard of her?

-Yeah!

-Great.

-I hadn't.

-No, I hadn't either!

She has commissioned something from Chinelo

to be made out of your sofa.

-Wow!

-I've got a picture of it to show you.

It's quite dramatic.

-Oh, my word!

-Wow! Amazing!

-What do you think?

-Well...

-That's amazing.

-It's staggering.

I can't believe that a sofa has become that.

Because it was commissioned, it meant that it was actually sold,

so there's some profit left.

And I wondered - I don't how you feel about this -

but I wondered... I've got £200 here for you,

and I wondered if it would be all right to give it to Lucy

to think about what she might spend it on?

-Well...!

-LUCY LAUGHS

-That's all yours.

-Oh...

-And it was a lovely thing to work with.

Think of us when you're using it.

I hope it does something helpful and useful.

That's amazing.

-Thank you so much.

-It was a pleasure!

For Chinelo to work her magic transforming

Matthew and daughter Lucy's sofa into a show-stopping dress cost £300.

But, with a commission already in place,

a sale of £500 was guaranteed,

leaving £200 with Lucy...

who, by the way, is studying A-level textile design

and intends to spend the cash on materials.

This is a complete surprise!

It's amazing that they managed to get a profit from it.

I never... Yeah, never thought that would happen!

Sarah has shown salvation to three items from the dump.

The rusty metal frames

designed into a stylish one-of-a-kind ottoman table.

The seven old tennis club chairs

re-energised from utility to dishy dining.

And the black leather sofa,

revamped into a sassy, show-stopping gown.

The natural hoarder in me would love to hang on

to everything that we find, but, actually,

it's a lot more satisfying seeing things totally transformed

and sending them off to a new home.