Episode 14 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?

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,

and I've turned that passion into a moneymaking 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, 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.

-HE LAUGHS

-Wow!

Stockport, near Manchester.

And at the Bredbury recycling centre, around 2,000 tonnes of stuff is

unceremoniously chucked, dumped

and ditched into tips every month.

On the lookout for potential treasures is Sarah Moore.

I'm really open-minded about what might come in today.

I'd love to find something that's an antique or something,

but any metal, anything we can cut up, anything we can weld together.

So much potential.

Sarah has special permission to scout these skips,

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

Sarah is on a mission.

She's got to save three items from the crusher that she can

transform into something beautiful to sell on.

How about you? Got anything exciting in there?

Any profit she makes will go straight back to whoever dumped

it in the first place, so they will get some money for nothing.

Sarah is in line for her first find of the day.

She's spotted some ancient history in Robert's boot.

Just wondering what you're chucking out today.

-Are you dropping off the old barrow?

-It is over 100 years old.

And I have saved it. I don't know why I saved it, but I did.

I can tell why you saved it.

There's something so appealing about that, isn't there? It is history...

-To us oddballs, yeah.

-Yeah.

I'm in your camp, I have to say.

I think it came out of an old mill. They call them a sack truck.

They used to have them on the railways. But this is a really heavy-duty one,

-so that's going to be something industrial, isn't it?

-It's made of cast-iron, many years ago.

Is there any chance you'd let me take it away

and do something with it?

Well, I would have to charge you a smile at least.

-I'll definitely give you a smile for that.

-And sold for a smile.

-Bye, now.

-Thank you ever so much.

-Wait a minute. What about that smile?

Lovely.

It feels really cool. I'm just talking about your sack barrow.

HE LAUGHS

It has seen better days.

It has got cast-iron wheels on the bottom and this one has worn

away on one side, it has broken, but I think it's got great appeal.

Sarah sees great potential, but what would Robert do?

If she puts a plant in it, then it can be turned towards the sun in different seasons.

But anything like that, anything old, people go potty for.

Too true, Robert, too true. But Sarah has got other moneymaking ideas.

This would make a fantastic coffee table.

I'm just wondering whether we just support a huge sheet of glass on it.

-It's great, lovely.

-A coffee table -

that's more like it!

So Sarah has her first item, but she'll need some help.

It's a little gold mine, that car.

And when it comes to heavy metal,

Sarah knows the perfect person to take this on.

Artist blacksmith Bex Simon bangs...

grinds...

welds and smelts metal into bespoke beauties.

Her unique pieces are normally specially commissioned,

so Sarah's project could be an adventure.

Working with found objects is quite different from what

we normally do because we work with our clients

and we produce designs and work with them, so this is kind of,

like, really freeing up the mind and seeing, you know,

what object we've got and how we can make it work into something

really cool, modern and, yeah, desirable, so it is going to be fun.

Bex has no idea what is coming her way.

Let's hope her imagination is ignited by the wobbly old sack barrow.

So, that's one item swiped and two more to find.

I'm just looking to see what's around.

Trying to work out if I could make something out of some golf clubs

-because somebody has just thrown a whole load away.

-Hands off, Sarah.

If it's in the skip, it is out of bounds,

so get yourself back to those car boots.

Ooh!

-Quite an interesting bag in there.

-Hello. What's all this, then?

Best mates Sean and Kevin have arrived with a bootful of booty.

-What's the furniture you're dropping off?

-Chest of drawers.

-Oh, really?

You've got a lucky penny down there, you better hang on to that.

That will bring you a lot of luck. May I just have...?

Does that just slide out?

-Solid wood.

-Yes, it's obviously been around for a bit.

Solid wood, it's got nice dovetailed joints,

so it's definitely got some integrity to it.

I mean, I think anything old will eventually only go up in value

because it gets scarcer and scarcer,

and somebody in the end is going to say, "I just want to have that." Yeah.

-I watched a programme and there was a wall unit.

-Yeah.

-To me, it just looked nothing.

-Yeah.

-But the value of it turned out to be just over £1,000.

-Really?

Well, you've just got to hope you've got one on your wall, haven't you?

That is actually something we might be able to re-use,

perhaps make into something else.

Would that be OK to take it away and see what we can do with it?

Yes, of course it is. As long as it goes to a good home, I'm happy.

Very pleased with that, that's lovely.

Sarah knows exactly how to make money out of this

and Sean has got ideas of his own.

I would sand it down, re-stain it,

put some new handles on,

tidy it up and sell it at auction or something.

Brown furniture has got such a bad reputation

and, when you look at this, you can probably imagine why,

but I think that we have some potential here.

Second item saved and Sarah knows someone who can help

the drawers make more than just a pretty penny.

Exciting young designer Zoe Murphy has taken the reconditioned

furniture world by storm.

Zoe is a screen printing and textile design queen.

Her bright, '50s-inspired designs add a burst of colour to old furniture.

She even sells bespoke pieces to the Liberty of London,

and her work sells at a premium.

I work predominantly by putting images onto old pieces of furniture.

Everything I make is, a lot of the time, about fun.

I'm based in Margate.

I really kind of revel in all the faded glory and glamour of the place,

so I really believe things should always be given a second chance,

and I try to see the good in stuff like that.

Well, let's hope she can see the good in those old drawers.

It's going to take more than a few flowery stencils to make them

into something saleable,

but I'm sure Zoe has what it takes. Touch wood.

Now Sarah has got to search for her third

and final item that will put her own talents to good use,

and she's found the perfect bit of kit for a nosy parker.

I'm loving this.

This has given me a whole new dimension to the recycling centre.

I don't have to run up and down any more, this is brilliant.

Might do some bird-watching as well.

Well, Sarah, you're not far off a magpie yourself

and if there's one thing magpies like, it's metal.

Nicola and Steven's kitchen ceiling is in the back of their van -

strange place to keep it -

-but Sarah has spotted something shiny in there.

-Hiya.

-What are you doing there? What are you chucking out?

-Copper pipe

-and the ceiling from the kitchen.

-Have you had a bit of a shocker?

-Mm-hm.

-Who left the bath on, then?

-It's the shower.

-Oh, really.

I'm loving the copper pipe. Any chance I can have a look at it?

-It is all yours.

-Really?

-All yours.

-I think...

Brilliant.

This is just what I need. I love the fact that it is all worn out.

So you're getting a whole new bathroom

-and whole new kitchen ceiling?

-All at the same time.

-Fitted kitchen.

-Now we've got to do the bathroom.

-At the same time.

If there is any value in what I make out of it, that'll be coming

to you, so maybe it can help pay for a new sink or something like that.

-That's fab. Thank you ever so much for that. Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Brilliant, I've been looking for those all day.

-Copper load of that.

Uh! Oh, dear.

Now, I'm really pleased with this. Look at those.

A whole load of copper pipes. They've got heaps of potential

and I think I can make a load of money out of them.

I'm not going to tell you how, though. This is my little secret.

I reckon she'll make a trombone, or some dangly earrings.

Yeah, might get some for the missus.

Sarah is going to turn Nicola

and Steven's domestic disaster into a lucky break,

but how?

-I have no idea.

-THEY LAUGH

No idea.

We'll get on with our brand-new kitchen

-and a brand-new bathroom now.

-Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

Well, it all sounds like a bit of a pipe dream to me.

Sarah's three-piece scavenger hunt is complete.

Bex will give Robert's sack barrow an uplift,

Zoe will wake up the tired chest of drawers Sean and Kevin brought in

and Sarah is going to turn those scrappy old

coppers into a golden opportunity for Nicola and Steven -

if only we knew how.

I've found some absolute little gems here today.

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

but I'm going to turn them into things that totally sparkle

and make money out of them along the way.

Sarah's first stop

is deep in the heart of the picturesque Surrey countryside...

..where, in amongst the tranquillity of country living...

WHIR OF POWER TOOLS

..there are sparks...

..hammers...

..and fire.

Lots and lots of fire.

Whoa!

Sarah's brought the old sack barrow

to see what Bex can make of it.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Sarah is going to bring today.

Probably something really strange.

So, yeah, I'm looking forward to having a look.

I don't know what it is going to be.

I guess that is part of the challenge, so...

Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing what it is.

Did you hear me coming?

Bex works side-by-side with husband Dave,

who'll be helping out on this one.

I'm sort of wondering if the old sack barrow might be a coffee table.

Yeah, I was wondering what we were going to turn it into.

So, yeah, we could do a coffee table.

Perhaps it's something we're finding some way of getting some glass over,

so we can really see the industrial sack barrow-thing left underneath.

And you still want to be able to move it around using the wheels?

Yeah, I think that would be really cool.

If we could find a way of not making the glass slip off -

that would be great!

Any thoughts about how to finish it?

I'm thinking, maybe, keep the old rusty metal...

Maybe add some colour into the wood.

One option for treating the wood is to have a scorched finish.

-BANG!

-Whoa!

It doesn't just give a distinctive burnt look,

it also creates a charcoal barrier

that is rot and fire resistant.

It darkens it all down a lot, though, that's the thing.

Or, another option, if you really want to look the biz -

paint it gold.

Yeah, so maybe it's just rub back, gold paint on, wax up?

I would just mix it up, keep going for it until you get

somewhere that you really like,

try it on the samples, and then just make a plan and go for it.

Whatever finish they do go for, it can't be too expensive

because Sarah wants to stoke up a profit on this one.

Realistically, I'm looking at £400 to sell it for?

If we've got 50 quid's worth of materials,

maybe I'm trying to give 150 quid back to the guy at the dump,

that would leave 200 quid to transform it.

-It's going to be a morning's work, isn't it? For the two of us.

-Yeah.

Going really fast.

-If we keep it really simple...

-No cups of tea.

No phone fiddling!

No. No social media.

-Oh, no!

-Hell for leather, OK?

Well, if Dave can stop fiddling with his phone,

they should be onto a winner.

So, with this piece, we're not after a massive transformation.

We're going to use all of those shapes

and all of that heritage that I get from the sack barrow

and just turn it into something lovely to go into somebody's home.

You never know, we might even make some money from it, too.

Bex and Dave are charging £200 for the work...

..but they're all forgetting to budget in the glass tabletop.

I bet that won't be cheap

and it could even eat into the profit margin.

The seaside town of Margate

has had an upcycle of its own

since the opening of the Turner Contemporary

put it back on the art lover's map.

Its rich history is now fused with the contemporary art scene,

buoyed along by a vibrant community of designers and artists.

At the epicentre of this artistic boom town

is designer-maker Zoe Murphy,

who is expecting a visit from Sarah.

She usually brings me storage items,

so I'm really wanting to think up some patterns and prints and colours

to go with anything that might come through the door.

But if they are on their way to the tip,

it's not always because they're in the best nick.

But, erm, as I don't know what it's going to be,

it is quite exciting.

Hiya! How are you doing?

Oh, look, do you want to hand?

Aw, bless. It's like the worn out chest of drawers is in for rehab.

Time for some serious TLC.

It's definitely seen better days.

We're lucky to save it cos it was really close

-to being chucked away.

-Yeah.

We're missing one of the stops there,

that suspends the drawer

at the right place.

And it's quite smelly, as well, isn't it?

I don't bring you quality!

It feels to me, really, quite bedroom-y...

and it would be more interesting

and probably more valuable, I was thinking, if we could position it

as something people have in their living room or kitchen.

Maybe something to do with drinks or...

-Yes, yeah.

-Something a bit more exciting.

We could add other components to the top

to make it much more of a drinks cabinet that's a bit more suggestive

of, kind of, like, maybe 1950s, sort of, American-style stuff.

Maybe some palm trees and some flamingos, and things like that.

I'm thinking pink legs coming off the bottom.

You can do whatever you like to it, but that fun cocktail-hour moment...

I think it'd be fantastic.

Oh, I love palm trees and I've got the pink legs.

Throw in some cocktails and I'm in heaven!

But how much is Zoe's redesign going to cost?

I know that you have really good prices on your furniture

because they are great pieces.

What can you do with this little thing?

Erm... I think probably around £600 in cost, from our studio,

to do this for you.

I'm so pleased you're going to take it on and

I look forward to a celebratory cocktail from this

-when you're all done.

-Yes, I think so.

That has made my day.

What a fantastic idea.

I am a massive cocktail fan

and I can't wait to see those designs.

Right, Zoe, Sarah's gone.

Come on, what do you really think?

Well, the condition of this one is really bad.

Erm... But sometimes that's quite exciting.

I like having to go really far in restoration of a piece.

Yeah, this one's going to be quite a bit of work,

but I'm looking forward

to making a beautiful swan out of a very ugly duckling.

So, it's all go for the cocktail look,

but will it be more Cosmopolitan than Rusty Nail?

Zoe's talents and time will cost around £600,

so this self-effacing little chest will really need

to be all-singing, all-dancing for Sarah to make a profit here.

The designers are firmly on board.

Now Sarah needs to get her own hands dirty.

At her barn in rural Sussex,

Sarah's children Libby and Edward are doing some upcycling of their own.

But what about those copper pipes?

I had this vision of making some designer lighting.

But, now they come to be sitting on the desk,

I'm feeling that they are going to have to go through quite a process

to be something that you'd really want to have in the sitting room,

or in your bedroom, or on your desk.

How hard could it be?

I'm sure you'll be done in time for tea.

I've got this block that was outside in the stable yard when we moved in.

I'm not sure what it's for, but it's really hefty

and I've been using it as a doorstop.

I'm hoping that would make a really good base for a chunky light.

Something else for free - I like it.

But Sarah has had to buy some shiny plumbing bits

and handy lighting fittings.

If I take off the bulb,

I'll be able to feed it through my light

and I'll have some sort of ready-made lighting

that is already safe and tested

that I won't have to go and get an electrician to wire up for me.

That's the plan.

I like plan.

And this...I am pretty sure is oak,

and I know that that is a really tough wood.

And she's right - it's heavy going.

I know oak's a hard wood, but this is ridiculous.

Sarah needs some ancestral help.

These are my grandfather's carving tools

and I've just read on the front - it says, "Special carving tools."

So sweet.

Now what?

Erm...

A bit of metalwork, I think.

So, these pipe-cutters are really simple things

and, hopefully, I just click it on,

move it around and it should cut pipe, so...

METAL CLICKS

Here I go.

Musically gifted as well...

BLOWS LOW NOTE

..but Libby doesn't look impressed.

The new plumbing parts ensure the old imperial one-inch pipes

fit into the metric-sized hole

that Sarah has just drilled,

and they add some bright, shiny detail to boot.

Right, back to that wood block.

POWER TOOL WHIRS

It really is a labour of love

turning an old lump of wood

into a piece of lighting...

with the help of some bits from the tip.

Once that flex is thread through, she'll be home and dry. Easy.

I'm just trying to feed the end of the wire through.

For goodness' sake!

It's really not your day, is it?

Gently pull that bit...

Gently does it.

Almost there, now.

By the time I get this finished, I will need light

because it'll be so late.

OK, I was wrong,

it might not be done in time for tea.

But, despite appearances,

Sarah's almost finished.

At the forge, Bex is forging ahead, funnily enough,

with the sack barrow-cum-coffee table.

And, in the end, for that all-important finish to the wood,

they've decided to, well...

keep it looking like wood.

But, exciting news just in -

Bex has a new metal idea.

Because it's a coffee table,

and it's a bit wibbly-wobbly,

we need to sort of strengthen it,

so I thought I'd make a bit of a, like,

a magazine rack at the bottom.

To save time and money, Bex lets the machines do the hard work.

You're meant to do this hot,

but because it's tube,

you can get away with it.

Every blacksmith's best friend is the forging hammer.

This beast will flatten the crossbeams of the magazine rack,

ready to rivet,

and then there's an important feature to add.

So, we're now going to stamp it with our maker's mark,

so whoever's using the coffee table

can always remember it was made by us.

And it'll be worth millions one day.

Ready?

Where's the mark?

It's this way round. Got to get it right.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Yeah, ready.

Watch those fingers!

There we go.

It looks like a million dollars!

While Bex shapes the beams that will support the glass tabletop...

I think it's going to look nice.

"I think"? I know! I know.

..she can outsource some less important work to Dave.

Dave, can you take off...?

Scrape off some of that...

..stuff?

Thanks.

It's definitely a labourer's job, I think, cleaning muck.

We each decide who does what

and then we have an argument about it.

Oh, I'm definitely the boss.

Of course. Naturally.

But, no, we do...

We complement each other cos we're sort of...

I'm like, "Rah!"

And he's the more grounded one.

With the dirty work done,

it's time for some teamwork.

This is where it all goes wrong.

The magazine rack beams are being riveted together,

but it's dangerous work.

Steel has to reach a temperature of 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit

before it can be hammered into place.

SHE SHOUTS

Ouch!

Look!

That might slow things down a bit.

-Why has it gone like that?

-I don't know.

She hits her hand all the time.

I wouldn't worry about it.

No, it's just a bit swollen for now.

HE LAUGHS

You're all heart, Dave.

It's all right, it didn't fall off.

SHE LAUGHS

It's not broken.

I just hit it quite hard.

Anyway, back to work! Come on, then.

-What a trouper!

-Oh, don't.

It's really embarrassing.

I'm going to hit it this time.

Hopefully, I'll hit the snap tool and not my hand.

With this sack barrow in safe hands -

well, in hand - everyone is fired up in Surrey.

But, with a glass tabletop still to buy,

the profit might be the one taking a hit.

In Margate, Zoe is getting to grips

with the small chest of drawers,

but it's showing signs of previous employment.

It's definitely had some time, probably in a shed,

as a painter and decorator's assistant.

It's currently just a sort of very thin ply,

which will lift off.

Erm... There we go.

Stage one - remove lid.

And, erm, so I'm probably going to fit a new one.

There's a lot of repair that needs to get done.

And on closer inspection,

Zoe is having a change of heart

about this chest's future prospects.

I talked to Sarah about turning it into some sort of...

cocktail bar or cabinet,

but I don't know how convinced I am with that idea.

I like the idea, maybe, of turning it into a dressing table instead.

So, the high-legged cocktail idea has morphed into

somewhere to get dressed up for cocktails instead.

Meh, I could live with that.

Zoe wants the finished dresser to evoke a glitzy '50s era,

with feathery birds, super bright colours

and ornately lined drawers.

It's just MY style, funnily enough.

But does Zoe's redesign have legs?

Yes, but not for long.

They're in really disgusting condition

and they've gotten damp at some point. That's OK, though.

It's a good incentive to get rid of the legs.

I've actually found some that I like the look of.

In a sense, I'm putting some high heels on the piece, so...

Yeah.

Going to say goodbye to the mouldy old legs.

Sorry, legs! Off you get.

Carpentry over, it's time for the arty bit.

So, I've always been really keen to make this piece

all about glitz, glamour

and I'm desperate to include some element of, sort of,

flouncy flamingos in it as well.

Zoe's creations feature intricate silk-screen designs,

but she's going to start off with some large blocks of colour.

I'm going to create some of the bigger shapes with a very bright pink.

I'm really happy with that.

Got a little bit there to fill in,

where there's been a chip.

Apart from that, I just need to do a lot more and put in some detail.

The prettifying is well under way

and the coy little chest is on course

for a much brighter future as some classy uptown junk.

At her barn in Sussex,

Sarah is finishing off the lights

made from Nicola and Steven's copper pipes.

SHE MUMBLES

I just think I might stick it in place there, like that.

Now, I am going to fill this whole cavity with very gluey glue...

..and hope it all gels together beautifully.

It was a bit of a challenge making a bespoke piece of lighting,

but, actually, I think these copper pipes

that were hidden away under the floorboards

now look like they should definitely be on show.

Before this old bent copper was beat up and done for.

Now, with Sarah's creative vision and a lot of hard graft,

the metal's been married up with a chunk of found oak wood

and repurposed as edgy industrial lighting.

It would look great in a New York-style penthouse apartment,

or even my two-bed bungalow.

Now, Sarah needs to get selling.

At the skip,

Nicola and Stephen's battered copper pipes were swiped by Sarah

after a kitchen catastrophe.

What are you chucking out?

The copper pipe and the ceiling from the kitchen.

Sarah had money-making plans,

but they couldn't guess what.

I have no idea.

THEY LAUGH

Sarah created some bespoke lighting...

..and it was snapped up by a trendy retro and vintage shop in London.

And she's back in Stockport

to let Nicola and Stephen know

that their old copper has made them some gold.

-Hiya.

-Hi.

-Nice to see you again. Sarah. Hiya.

-Hello.

-Hello. How are you?

-Are you all right?

Yeah, really well. How are you doing?

-Very well, thank you.

-Not bad.

-Not bad?

So, when I saw you at the tip,

you'd had a bit of a shocker with your plumbing, hadn't you?

-Yep.

-Yes, indeed.

-What had happened, exactly?

We were renovating the kitchen and, as we pulled the false ceiling down,

we saw a leak from the bathroom,

so we now know that we have to re-do the bathroom, on top of the kitchen.

And is that all sorted out now?

-No.

-The bathroom's not. Kitchen's done.

-Excellent.

-Bathroom's...

-Ongoing.

Well, it was a bit of luck, for us, that that happened.

Obviously, not for you!

But those little bits of copper

that you let us have, were really useful.

-We turned them into lighting.

-Lighting...?

Did you have any idea what we might make?

-No.

-No, no, no.

-Do you want to see a picture of what we did?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Wow!

-Oh!

-That's great!

-Strange.

-Do you approve?

-Yeah! That's great.

-It's lovely, yeah.

-Would that fit in with the new house, or not something you'd have?

Yeah, I would!

With all the materials and having it all checked over by the electrician,

it cost 80 quid to convert it into a light.

So, erm...

It has actually sold.

Oh.

-Are you surprised?

-I thought I was going to get it!

No, I'm sorry, sir, you don't get the light,

but what you do get is 55 quid's worth of profit.

That's mine. It's my pipe.

There's 55 quid there for your old pipes.

-Superb.

-That's amazing. Wow.

-NICOLA MURMURS

-I know who's in charge!

-Yes, that's it.

I can't believe that.

Sarah spent £80 on materials

and sold the finished lighting for £135,

making £55 of a profit for Nicola and Stephen.

With the money, I think we'll put it towards our bathroom renovations.

Maybe get some nice fittings or new towels or something.

Towels!

So the copper lights were a great success.

Back at the blacksmith's bunker,

Bex and Dave are putting the finishing touch to the sack barrow -

the all-important glass tabletop.

The toughened glass has been custom cut

and screws will hold it firmly in place.

Now all they can do is wait for Sarah.

It looks quite sweet.

So, no, I feel quite pleased. Do you feel pleased?

It's... No, it's turned out good.

You can see it in someone's home.

It was quite a challenge, to be fair.

You know, but, yeah...

It's worked out quite nicely.

I've come to pick up the sack barrow/coffee table.

I left it and it was in a terrible state.

And Bex and I have had a brief chat about what she might be able to do

to get a frame and some glass on top of it,

but I have to say my expectations are very much...on the level.

This old sack barrow was destined for the tip...

..but now it's a tiptop designer table.

It's truly one-of-a-kind.

But what will Sarah think?

Hiya.

How are you? Oh, my word!

Oh! I absolutely love it.

It looks like mid-century.

It looks so cool.

I think what you've done to it is...

-..really good.

-It's worked out well.

Like, the metal sort of looks leathery, doesn't it?

Oh, seriously?!

-Oh, my goodness!

-I absolutely love it, really.

Oh, really? Oh, my gosh.

I'll give you a hug. I really smell cos I'm wearing yesterday's shirt.

You are a little genius, girl. That is fantastic.

Go on, get in there for a cuddle, Dave!

Maybe later.

Have you ever felt like that about any of the other pieces?

I don't think I've ever cried over a sack barrow before!

THEY LAUGH

It's a daily occurrence for me.

Now Sarah just needs to find a buyer who feels as passionately.

I absolutely LOVE this table.

It was a sack barrow, now it is a beautiful interior designer piece.

All their hard work has made it just stunning.

What an amazing reaction!

We're just going to have to achieve that every time, now.

The pressure is on!

Bex and Dave came in on budget,

but with the glass tabletop costing £125,

this low table needs a high price tag.

Back at the dump...

..Sarah got an offer she couldn't refuse...

Well, I'd have to charge you a smile. At least a smile.

I'll definitely give you a smile for that.

..and took on Robert's old sack barrow.

Robert appreciated its aged appeal...

Anything like that, anything old, people go potty for.

..but it was up to Sarah to come up with a plan.

This would make a fantastic coffee table.

And with the help of Bex and Dave,

that's exactly what it became.

Sarah showed the table to Martin at her barn.

Martin owns the vintage shop in London

that took the copper lighting,

so he's added the table to his collection of things

to sell on to retro fans.

Bex and Dave's work cost £200

and the glass tabletop took the total cost to £325.

It was sold for £475,

making a profit of £150 for Robert.

So, I've sold the table that was made out of the sack barrow

that Robert dropped off at the tip,

but he doesn't want the money,

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

With two out of three items sold for a profit,

it is looking good,

but Sarah wants to score a hat-trick.

In Margate, Zoe is putting the finishing touches

to the chest of drawers.

And the excitement's mounting on pick-up day

because Sarah hadn't seen it for, well, ages.

Sarah's coming...

..and I have no idea yet

quite what she's going to think.

We talked about glamour and glitz,

and lots of glitter...

I like to think this is a bit more grown-up,

but it's still all about flamingos.

Before, this bog-standard chest was brown, broken

and about to become burnable waste at the tip.

Now, with a huge amount of TLC,

Zoe's re-imagined it as a little glamourpuss of a dresser.

It sports slender legs and all the runners, stops

and dovetailing on the sumptuous, fabric-lined drawers

have been carefully restored.

1950s-style handles have been added

and an ornamental mirror crowns the top.

Zoe's distinctive screen prints add an extra layer of designer luxury,

placing it firmly at the high end of the market...

which is exactly where Sarah wants it!

-Hiya.

-Hi, how you doing?

-Good. How are you?

-Really good.

Oh, my word.

So you mentioned flamingos...

I had no idea it was going to be that exotic.

It's SO cool!

-I'm really glad you like it.

-This is amazing.

This is one piece that I've made for you that I've been a bit...

I thought, "It's really out-there and it's really specific to me."

It's all about, kind of, erm, growing up in Margate,

going and visiting The Flamingo arcade.

It is beautiful.

The padding in the bottom of the drawers...

You just want to put the silkiest things in there,

you know, like, gloves or, you know, just...knickers. Just...

It says underwear!

This fabric, actually, is one of my most favourite

vintage, kind of, finds.

I knew it was going to be right for it.

It's... It's sensational, it really is.

Well, I'm really pleased you like it.

It was one of those ones where I thought, "Ooh, love or hate?

"Love or hate?"

Well, I love it.

No, I hate it. No, I love it,

especially because there's even more Zoe magic.

I just noticed the glitter in here.

Yes, there is a bit of glitter. I did promise you some glitter.

And I got this far and I thought,

"Oh, there's no glitter in it! She'll kill me!"

I might cry. I genuinely absolutely love it.

It's, like, the transformation is huge.

It smells nice as well!

Oh, Sarah, not again!

I'm tearing up myself, now.

Quick, let's talk hard cash before we both lose it.

Zoe came in on the £600 budget

and, with her name attached to it, it should make some money.

It is worth every penny.

It is...a remarkable piece of furniture.

It takes a little bit of a leap of faith

to leave somebody with £600 and a really distressed chest of drawers,

and expect to come back to something like that.

Zoe has made that fantastic.

I think she's happy with it. I think she wants one.

And, yeah, I'm just looking forward to hearing who has it,

and I hope they love it as much as I have loved making it.

At the dump, Sean and Kevin gave Sarah the chest of drawers.

As long as it goes to a good home, I'm happy with that.

Sean had ideas for it, if not the inclination.

I'd sand it down, put some new handles on, tidy it up

and probably sell it at auction or something.

But Sarah had Zoe in mind to help recreate it.

Maybe some palm trees and some flamingos and things like that.

It metamorphosed into a funky dressing table.

And it was sold to Janet from Margate's Lombard Street Gallery.

Janet has exhibited and sold Zoe's pieces before,

and knows they have real appeal.

It is fantastic.

Oh, and beautifully lined with...

..fabric to reflect the...the sort of flow of the flamingo design.

Wonderful.

Now Sarah's back in Stockport to meet up with Kevin.

He's on his own today because best mate Sean couldn't make it.

-Hiya.

-Hiya.

-Nice to see you again.

So what will Kevin make of the revamped drawers?

The little chest of drawers. Do you remember what we took from you?

-Yeah, yeah...

-That, kind of, two-drawer chest.

It had some great potential,

so we took it down to this amazing girl in Margate called Zoe.

-Do you want to see what she's done with it?

-Yeah.

Oh, that looks well nice.

-Does it look different?

-Yeah!

So, she has done a big transformation on it.

The whole of the chest of drawers stayed the same,

but she's replaced the legs and the handles to give it a new look.

Yeah, it looks nice, that.

Well, when we did up the table,

-we also managed to sell it.

-Right.

So, I've got 100 quid here for you guys.

It's all yours to spend on whatever you like,

-so that's coming back to you.

-Thank you.

A pleasure.

The chest of drawers originally belonged

to Kevin's girlfriend's late mother

and the money's going towards something to remember her by.

For what it's worth, it's been made into something absolutely beautiful.

And I hope she'd approve of what we have done to it

because it really is stunning now, so I hope she would've approved.

Yeah.

It's ready good to see you again and thanks ever so much. OK?

-See you.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

Zoe's work came in at £600...

..and it was sold for 700,

making a profit of £100.

Sarah saved three dumped items destined for eternal doom.

The copper pipes are fabulously illuminating, darling!

The wheely old sack barrow

is a spanking new designer table.

And the dowdy chest of drawers

is a dishy babe of a dresser.

Pats on the back all round, I'd say!

So that's three great transformations on three items

that have sold for a profit and have found new homes.

Next time you're at the tip,

I could be making money for nothing for you.