Episode 11 Money for Nothing

-Can I have a little rummage around in your rubbish?

-Yeah.

How do you make money for nothing?

I love that!

The answer could be hiding in the 30 million tonnes

of household waste we throw out every year.

So heavy. They don't make them like this any more. Look at that.

That's why entrepreneur Sarah Moore

wants to get her hands on things before they hit the skip.

I'm a passionate maker, buyer and user of old stuff.

And I've turned that passion into a moneymaking business.

I make new stuff out of old stuff and I sell it for a profit.

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

Say something nice about it.

My juices are flowing in this one.

They are going to be wow.

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

Isn't that stunning?!

..valuable...

Oh, wow!

..and hopefully saleable items.

That is bonkers.

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.

-We got £350.

-Whoa!

The Witley Recycling Centre in Surrey is the final destination

for thousands of items that have become unwanted and unloved.

It's also where Sarah's beginning her search.

It's coming in here all day long, and I am like a magpie.

If I see something in there,

I want to have it and I want to take it away

and do something with it.

Sarah's been given special permission

from all the recycling centres she visits,

and is looking for four items to transform.

I'll give you a little warning if I see anything good.

SHE HONKS HORN

Right, Sarah, let's get started.

First to catch her eye is something in Jeanette's boot.

You having a big clear-out, then?

-I've been having a big clear-out for over a month.

-Really?

-What are you throwing away? What are you clearing out?

-My husband's...

My late husband's lean-to, where he used to do his work.

So I've had all sorts of things.

-So is that just an old petrol can?

-Yeah.

I'm not likely to use it, so it can go. That's the line I'm taking.

-I really like this.

-You're welcome to it.

-Really?

It's got a lovely look to it.

I know it's old and battered,

but there's something about that old typography

and all those bits on there.

I think we've had it since about 1965,

cos that's when we first got a car.

Oh, really? Oh, that's fantastic.

-Yeah, so...

-And yours truly returned to work.

JEANETTE LAUGHS

-Would it be all right to take that away?

-Oh, yes, I'm only throwing it.

Thank you so much for letting us take it away and talking to us.

-You're welcome.

-Thank you.

What do you reckon that rusty can will look like

when Sarah's done with it, Jeanette?

I've no idea.

I have seen people make animals out of little bits of metal,

and that's all I can think of, to be truthful.

So this is a really lovely old petrol can.

It's got beautiful typography on it,

screaming out from the era when it was made,

probably '50s, '60s.

It's not in great condition,

but it's chunky and I've worked with these kind of things before -

if you get it right, these can look absolutely beautiful.

And she's got just the person in mind to take it to.

If you like lamps made from all sorts of crazy stuff,

Guy Trench is your man.

Retired North Sea diver Guy works tirelessly

with his band of happy helpers to make one-of-a-kind furnishings

from, well, anything, really.

I love what I do.

I mean, every day I get up,

I just walk across the yard, get into my workshops

and have a look around.

And I'll suddenly see something in the corner and I think,

"Oh, wouldn't that be great just to do that today?"

And how about every single day you go to work

you're doing something different?

I mean, it's just marvellous!

Will Guy's passion for all things old

be enough to get excited about the rusty petrol can?

Hiya!

-Oh, hi, Sarah. Lovely to see you again.

-And you. And you.

Oh, every time I come in here, I see something completely different.

-It's a good look, isn't it?

-It's a good look.

I am a bit embarrassed to add that to it then.

Ah!

I just couldn't see it go into the metal skip and get thrown away

because there is something about the typography and the bits on it

that I thought had enough appeal to maybe go into an interior.

It is a sort of '60s, '70s petrol can.

I think my dad had one of these in his old Ford Capri.

You open it up here and you pull your petrol through here.

-It's quite a clever design.

-It is a clever design. It's...

-Keith, are you about here?

-Yeah.

-Come have a look at this.

Yeah, come and say enthusiastic things

about my quite ugly petrol can.

OK, so I was thinking, I have had a little play with it.

What do you reckon? Not something you usually convert, is it?

No. The lettering is nice. The colour is not that great, is it?

I was wondering about an old headlight

or something to come off it

so that it ties it back in to the fact that it's come out of a garage,

or it's car-related.

Luckily, Guy has some old headlights lying around.

What you want...

What you are saying is that

if we just had this sort of silvery bit here,

and we put that on the front there...

That might work. And I was sort of wondering what it would be like

if you had something coming out of the top of it, more like a...

Something like that. But...

-It almost looks like a sort of road thing, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

You put that on a railway. A railway light.

It looks like petrol pump or, you know, whatever.

I mean, realistically, because this isn't brilliant,

-I would be reluctant to spend much more than 150...

-Right, OK.

Well, whatever we do, it will be a total one-off.

So whoever you're selling it to,

it's the only one in the world that looks like this.

It's a challenge, but if you're prepared to take it up...

-Yep, we'll give it a go.

-Give me a shout when it's up and running.

Thank you.

This time she's left me with a real challenge.

We're going to do our best at giving it a good go.

It's the real mark of a maker to take on a challenging item

and turn it into something fantastic.

I think Guy is the man for the job.

With a capped budget of £150

and with Guy still to work out how to make it,

will this petrol can prove to be too challenging?

One item found and three still to find.

Back at Witley, Sarah might be onto something.

It's the plastic version, isn't it? Yeah.

I've got a really clear idea about what I need.

If it looks too new, it's just not good enough.

If you can't cut it up, if it hasn't got that real strength,

if it's flat-packed, there's just no point in taking it away.

So I feel a bit rude, but sometimes it's yes, sometimes it's no.

Well, how about these pine drawers

being unloaded by Corinne and Graham?

-Chucking it out?

-Yeah.

-Had enough?

The drawers don't work particularly well, they're quite sticky, so...

-That is so annoying, isn't it?

-I know.

It looks like a nice, solid bit of furniture, though.

-Is it quite heavy?

-Yeah.

-It's fairly heavy, yeah.

Do you want a hand getting it out?

Got the muscle.

I can pop it down here.

Brilliant. It looks really solid. But as you say...

-Oh, my word, they don't work, do they?

-No!

-They don't work at all, do they?

-No!

They are supposed to, though, aren't they?

Yes, absolutely, it's just that it's...

It's budging a little bit.

-It's seen better days for you, basically.

-Yes.

-Definitely, yeah.

Past its best for us.

OK. Well, I think it'd be great to have a go at it.

I don't know if it's something that we would keep as it is

or if we would perhaps send it somewhere to somebody

who might cut it up and do something else with it.

-Can I take it away and see if I can do something to it?

-Oh, yeah.

I'm here all day, if you want to stay and help.

What do Corinne and Graham think should happen to their old drawers?

I think she might chop it up completely.

Because with those sticky drawers, I just can't see a way around them,

so I think she might repurpose the wood somehow.

This type of furniture,

people have been slapping paint on it for the last ten, 15 years,

and pretty much nobody has a piece of old gold pine left.

But I think it's really good to see it in this condition

because it's a blank canvas for us,

and I can make anything I like out of this.

Indeed.

And there's two men I know

who would relish a challenge like this one.

Furniture restorers Tom and Johnny

just love to breathe new life back into old furniture.

These young hotshots have only been working together for a year,

but have already made a name for themselves with their expert wood

and metal restoration techniques and imaginative designs.

What I like about what we do is working with friends.

That's always a good point.

But just having something to start from and having an end result.

The actual craft and figuring out the problem

and solving the problem is what's enjoyable about it as well.

It's done like a puzzle.

You know, it comes in not in very great condition

and then you get to see the person's reaction when you get it back.

That's what I enjoy the most.

Well, fellas, Sarah's latest find is certainly going to test your skills.

-Hello.

-Hi, Sarah.

-How are you doing?

-Yeah, I'm good.

-You all right?

-How are you doing, you all right?

-Yeah, cool.

I've got something really heavy.

-I definitely need a hand bringing it in.

-Cool. Let's see.

Yeah? Come and...

Come and see what little tip treasure I've got this time.

Tip treasure? I think that remains to be seen.

-Cool.

-All right.

Cool. I'll take cool.

-Any chance you can give me a hand out with it?

-Yeah.

-Sure.

Are the boys happy or just relieved?

It's sometimes difficult to tell.

It looks slightly better up there. What do you think?

-Yeah.

-Yeah!

I mean it has got solid drawers, but the drawers don't open.

This is one of the problems, and why it was being dropped off.

-Um, yeah, things like that.

-THEY LAUGH

This one opens. And it's dovetailed. It's really solid.

I think it's just had all these sort of trims and mouldings stuck onto it

-to give that mock country look.

-I saw that, yeah.

I think it's kind of over to you

on what you think you're capable of doing with it,

or if you've got some ideas for it,

-cos it needs help at the moment.

-I think we're going to start...

-Getting rid of the trim.

-Yeah, removing this. We'll take these off.

Uh...

-Cheaply put together, then.

-At least, you know, there's nothing...

That can be sanded back, so we can have just the, you know,

the nice flat front rubbed and these kind of trims

which kind of don't really do much.

So is this the thing that's just making it look really dated?

-Isn't it?

-Yeah. Like, all round the bottom here, that's just nailed on.

So that should come off quite easily.

I now have the picture of it on its legs, looking really sleek,

a nice square, chunky-looking, plainer-looking wooden top to it.

Sounds great. How long is that going to take you

and what kind of budget am I going to be coming back to find?

Um... I think it is going to be around sort of 280, all-in.

OK, 280, and that would include some new legs for it, would it?

Yeah, we think we can do it within that budget.

-I'm going to take your 280 quid and say thanks so much.

-No problem.

-Pleasure.

-And take care.

-Cheers. Bye.

-Bye!

-All right.

-Yeah.

-Let's get started then.

I'm actually really pleased how that went

because I wasn't engaged with that piece of furniture

and now I think it is going to look fantastic.

Those boys have given me a good budget as well,

so I stand to make maybe even a chunky profit too.

I think we're going to have a lot of fun with this one.

Yeah, it's got a lot of potential.

There's a lot we need to remove before we can start adding,

-but it's going to be cool, I think, isn't it?

-Yeah, definitely.

Yeah, I'm excited about this one.

Sarah has left Tom and Johnny a budget of £280 -

but will they be able to overcome the problem of those stuck drawers?

Nestled in the Essex countryside

are Guy Trench and his skilled companion Keith.

They've got the challenge of turning an old rusty petrol can

into motor-themed lighting.

Sarah's dropped this can off.

And what this is going to look like, I think,

is that we'll set this up.

We'll probably put something in here to hold this like that.

And then we'll put just an electric light bulb there.

I think that could look quite cool.

It's quite plain, it's simple, it says petrol can,

it says sort of, with the bulb lit up -

an old fancy fashioned bulb with the elements going sort of down -

it is sort of looking like fire coming out of it.

And, yeah, I think it could look OK.

I don't know until we've had a go at it yet, so...

We'll have look at this.

Certainly sounds like there's a clear plan now,

as Guy gets to work with the wire brush

to remove the worst of the rust and the flaky paint.

So... We're getting sort of a little bit of colour back into here.

We're not losing...not making this dark enough here,

so I think a bit of Jacobean black polish might do the trick.

We just want to dull it down a bit so it doesn't look quite

so in-your-face.

That's a job for Keith, I think.

It's like magic.

Now it's coming up to be quite a nice colour. It's now coming alive.

You know, we're losing the brown rusty,

we're now getting sort of darker colours coming into it.

Yeah, look at it coming up now, beautiful. Lovely.

My guess is it is what it is, and we're going to leave it like this,

this colour here, and then do the electrics on it and go from there.

In order to ensure the safety of the light,

Guy does not tackle electrics himself,

but calls upon the qualified help of Steve the electrician.

Steve is quite a good thinker on these ideas,

and so we have quite a bit of discussion beforehand

on sort of the best route.

I may have an idea, he may even change it around

to something which is more practical.

It's nice to have somebody to have feedback and chat to

-and get it absolutely looking 100 right.

-Yeah.

-I think that's the thing, there is no right or wrong, is there?

-No.

It's just sometimes you look at things a different way

and, you know, what with the modern materials,

we can do different things with lighting, as well,

so there's lots of possibilities these days.

Steve's also attaching a granite plinth to the bottom of the can

for both aesthetics and stability.

But you never know, when you find these things

you just keep on playing with them and cleaning them up a bit more

and suddenly they start coming to life and then all of a sudden, bang,

"Hey, that looks really good." You know, erm...

I think, you know, this is taking shape

and my least favourite thing now is becoming...

I think it's going to look OK.

It's going to look quite cool.

In Thornton Heath, near Croydon,

Tom and Johnny are getting started on the chest of drawers.

-First, though, let's get these drawers out and numbered up.

-Yeah.

-Make sure we can get them out first, I think is the key.

-Yeah.

-They're pretty stuck in there.

-Yeah. Yeah.

It's well and truly stuck.

We need to get this out.

I'm not quite sure how we're going to do that.

The wood's swelled.

When it gets lots of moisture in the air,

it kind of soaks it up like a sponge and expands. That's why it jams.

To free the drawers, Tom and Johnny are using brute strength.

However, too much force could cause irreparable damage.

This was always going to be the first big challenge in this one,

getting these out without sort of damaging it too much.

For a better grip, Tom has devised a plan to use the screw holes

of the old handles to attach a long piece of wood.

This provides the boys with something substantial to pull on.

Just give it... If we sort of do... Yeah, there you go.

-Leverage.

-One way of doing it.

I was wondering if it was ever going to come out, to be honest.

Two more to go - but these ones are a little bit easier to access.

Finally!

It's almost like an anticlimax,

cos all it is is getting a drawer out.

With the drawers removed,

the old-fashioned pine moulding is taken off.

And to prevent the drawers from sticking in the future,

the sides and edges of each drawer are being planed

in an attempt to make them fit and slide perfectly.

It seems better than it was, but it's catching here, still.

So I'm just trying to figure out if it's tight on the sides

or if it's the top or bottom edge. It could be both.

It looks very tight there,

so I might just take a little bit off that top edge.

Trying to get these drawers to run smoothly

is basically a trial and error thing.

You've just got to take a bit off here, take a bit off there,

figure out where it's tightening up

and just keep taking little bits off, a little bit at a time.

So it can take a while, sometimes.

There's something about a drawer sliding in,

it's quite a weird sensation when it fits.

Even though it should do in the first place but, yeah, it's good.

With the drawer sliding effortlessly,

it's time to remove all the old varnish.

The guys are using a paint stripper,

which is why they're wearing protective gloves and masks.

So you need to put quite a bit of this on

and sort of keep the surface quite wet.

Sometimes, the polish, it'll react very quickly

and you can take it off again pretty much instantly

and other times you need to keep it on there for up to 20 minutes,

half an hour, sometimes.

Chemical paint removers are the best way to remove old paint coverings

if you want to prevent damage to the wood underneath.

However, they should be treated with extreme caution

as they can cause a variety of health problems

if not used correctly.

With the varnish gone, the whole thing is given a final sanding

before the addition of a very modern twist.

It's going to really change the overall look

of the piece of furniture having these legs on it.

It's going to make it look a lot more modern.

The original style of the piece was kind of Victorian furniture

but we've removed all of that styling,

so now it's just going to be a lot more clean lines

and kind of more of a 20th century look.

-Right, it's ready to stand up, I think.

-Cool, let's have a look.

That's added a bit of weight.

Cool.

-I think that's going to look good, isn't it?

-Yeah, that's awesome.

It's going to be really cool. Definitely a lot better than it was.

Sarah has returned to Essex,

where Guy has been working on the rusty old petrol can,

which had reached the end of the road.

Sarah brought this along to me and I have to say

I didn't like it at all. It's one of my least favourite to do.

But it's much, much better than I thought it was going to turn out.

So, yeah, I think it ticks the box again.

I'm back here to see what Guy's managed to do

with that old blue petrol can

cos when I dropped it off he really wasn't sure about it,

so I'm going to go and find out.

When Sarah salvaged the rusty old fuel can,

it's motoring days were over.

Now Guy has managed to turn it into stylish designer lighting.

By polishing the surface, highlighting the patina and wear

and with the addition of the old-fashioned looking bulb,

he's managed to create...

a petrol can with a bulb on top.

-Oh, wow, Guy!

-SHE LAUGHS

Hiya!

Go on, then. What do you think of it?

You know, it was a '60s, '70s plain boring can and...

but now, oh, wow -

we've made it look like it's firing fire out of it, you know?

We've polished it up, we've given it a good gleam,

which has dulled down the colours here a lot

but given it a really rich colour

and with that rust coming through there,

I think it just makes it look really cool.

I love it. I think it's quirky, I think it's entertaining. It's funny.

When you look at it, you want to smile, don't you,

-cos it's really unusual.

-Yeah.

I love the base you've put it on and it really adds to it, doesn't it?

I love using these bases, which I always put on my lights.

It's granite, it's textured, so it sort of looks like antique.

We're using, again, the old silk wire here.

Again, it's a little touch, a little detail

going to a decent clicker switch

so you don't have to put your hands up here to turn the light on.

And it's obviously got a PAT certificate,

so it's all tested ready for one of your clients.

The budget for this transformation was £150.

How have we got on?

Spot-on. No problem at all with that. We can do it for that price.

Oh, that's great. You've created something really simple, elegant,

really cool from an old can.

Well done, Guy.

I think Sarah was very pleased with it.

It wasn't my favourite thing.

I didn't know, really, what to do with it

and just a little bit of thinking, a bit of playing with it

and it really has turned out extremely well.

Well, I am so pleased that Guy got behind this

because look what he's created.

It's just so quirky.

When Sarah spotted Jeanette in Witley,

she was having a ruthless clear out.

I'm not likely to use it, so it can go. That's the line I'm taking.

The rusty old petrol can was enough to fuel Jeanette's imagination.

I have seen people make animals out of little bits of metal

and that's all I can think of, to be truthful.

Guy transformed it into a trendy new light

and it was snapped up by a shop by the seaside -

Eastbourne, to be exact,

and the Little Chelsea Antiques Emporium run by Steve.

Two, three...

Yay!

Sarah has returned to Witley to catch up with Jeanette

and to show her what became of her old rusty can.

-Hi, Jeanette. Lovely to see you again.

-Nice to see you.

-How are you?

-I'm fine.

I've finished my work on my conservatory,

which was what the clear-out was all about, so I'm well pleased.

Excellent.

And is it right to say that petrol can was from your first car in 1965?

That's right.

Yeah, so it did... It did have a real retro look to it, didn't it?

Oh, it did, yes.

-So do you want to see what we did with it?

-Yes.

-What do you think?

-I'm astonished!

I wouldn't give it houseroom but lovely.

THEY LAUGH

Did you hear that? Wouldn't give it houseroom.

Well, other people like it - an antique shop in Eastbourne.

They took one look at it and they bought it

and I've got a little bit of profit for your petrol can.

-I have got £25 here to give to you.

-Oh, good heavens. Thank you.

I'm astonished!

-Well, I'm really pleased.

-That's a big surprise.

Oh, excellent. We like surprises.

I hope that you can find something to do with the £25.

Oh, I'm sure I shall.

I shall probably buy something for the conservatory

that's newly constructed but... And I shall probably buy a lamp...

-That would be funny, wouldn't it?

-..but not one like that.

Well, I hope you don't mind too much

-what we did with your old petrol can.

-Oh, no, no.

I'm pleased to see somebody's made use of what was my rubbish.

Well, I hope you find a lamp that suits you and thank you so much

for letting us have your old petrol can. Lovely to see you again.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

Clearly Jeanette's not a fan of rusty lighting.

The cost of creating the motor-themed lamp was £150.

Sarah managed to sell it for 175,

which left £25 profit to hand over to Jeanette.

Well, I think Jeanette was pleasantly surprised

that we were able to re-use her rubbish.

And although it might not have been up her street,

I think there's plenty of mileage left in that old tank.

That's our first item producing a profit.

Sarah's travelled to Altrincham near Manchester

to try and find another money-maker -

and she's in the groove.

Down at the tip.

Let's get down...to business.

And it's not long before Sarah homes in on Paul.

-Hiya.

-Hello.

That looks like some interesting stuff in there.

Yeah, it's just the contents of a garage

that's built up over the years.

OK, can I have a closer look?

Can I have a little rummage around in your rubbish?

Yeah, you're welcome. Yeah.

Luckily for Sarah, Paul's having a clear-out,

as he's soon going to be moving home...

An old toolbox.

So she's on the hunt for a gem in his junk.

Lovely, I love that.

Who'd have thought an old toolbox would catch her eye?

-I really like that.

-Right, OK.

It's got, I think they call it "pateena" these days.

Most people call it rust and wear on it.

But there may be something I could do with it.

Well, I call it patina, but it's all the same thing.

Oh, look. She's spied a filing cabinet, too.

I really like that. It's decorative as well as being industrial.

They've got a certain look to them. Don't know what that look is.

Rubbish chic or something.

The next new trend, maybe.

But what does Paul think Sarah will make with them?

I'm not too sure, but I have seen some of her stuff before,

and I'd be interested to see what she does with it.

There's a real sense of history with this lovely old case,

and I am loving the utility chic of this filing cabinet.

I'm going to take them to somebody

who makes magic out of metal like this and money for me.

Artist blacksmith Bex Simon is an expert in manipulating

metal into high-end furniture and bespoke metalwork commissions.

When I went to art college

and I was looking around to see what degree I wanted to do,

I went into the forge and I saw people working with fire

and the anvils and hammering metal.

Oh, that was it. I just knew that that was what I needed to do.

Together with husband Dave, this formidable team has the skill

and imagination to create something special from...any old iron.

There's nothing more exciting to come into work, light a fire,

heat up your metal. It's very magical.

I hope Bex still feels that way

when she gets a load of the rusty toolbox and filing cabinet.

As soon as I saw this, I totally thought Bex and Dave.

I think they're going to love this.

-What do you do with a filing cabinet?

-File stuff.

-You file stuff.

-Paint it.

-Paint it.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Crush it!

-SHE LAUGHS

Steady on there, Bex.

No!

-What's the matter?

-It's a filing cabinet.

-Yeah?

It's beautiful!

-How can you not love my cubby little filing cabinet?

-Oh, my goodness me.

-Shall we take it in and have a look?

-Yes, sorry.

They don't like my filing cabinet. I'm really offended.

Anything but a filing cabinet.

-I found this at a tip, you know.

-Amazing.

And if Bex has anything to do with it, it's going straight back there.

I'm thinking classic 1950s styling here. It's got beautiful handles.

The drawer's go in and out. Look.

SHE WHISTLES

I think I've broken it.

Demand a refund.

Oh, no, that's right, it was being thrown away.

I can't imagine why.

If we're going to work on this...

Yeah, what do you think?

..I really don't want it to look anything like a filing cabinet

at all cos I really, really don't like them.

I'd never have guessed(!)

So what we can do is take out all the drawers separately

and then go next door and just squash them in a press...

to make them completely flat.

We'll take the handles off, and so each one becomes like a shelf,

so it's like an open shelving thing.

So the only reference back to it

would be like these handles.

She really doesn't like filing cabinets. I thought this was lovely.

I don't know where I'm going wrong here.

Maybe Bex will feel the love for the old toolbox.

Not looking great - but bags of potential.

I'm in the bathroom, and I'm getting ready in the morning,

and a lovely bathroom cabinet on the wall, mirror...

DOOR CREAKS

-It's got a lovely, like, cross...

-It's beautiful.

-..there.

It's stylish, it's got lovely, original paintwork.

I think this is the gem and that is the... You don't have to do both.

-You could just do one.

-Could be OK.

-Just needs a hammer.

-Ease the hinges a bit.

Yeah, hammer some of these, like, dents out kind of things.

OK, so basically you're not feeling the love for these.

You want to crush this and hammer this.

Why don't I just leave you with some budget,

a little leap of faith and I'll come back,

and there'll be something saleable that is in profit?

Yeah. If it's not going anywhere, we'll stop...

-We'll ditch it.

-..and say we've lost a few hours on that. It's a no-goer.

I think go for it, but if it reaches over 300 quid level in budget,

then give me a call because I need to sign that off

to make sure that I think we're going to be in profit.

So on that basis, are you happy to go for it?

-Yeah, let's do it.

-Fantastic.

Well, I think it's pretty safe to say that Bex

is not keen on filing cabinets.

They're just so ugly. They really are.

I hope that between them,

Dave and Bex manage to make something out of those two items.

Otherwise, I'm just going to come back to a little pancake

of a filing cabinet and not a lot of profit.

-Wish us luck.

-SHE LAUGHS

With a starting budget of £300,

will Bex and Dave salvage anything from Sarah's finds?

Sarah's returned to South London

to find out how Tom and Johnny got on with the pine drawers.

We're hoping when Sarah comes along

that she's going to like what we've done with the piece,

the colours. I hope she likes the paint.

I think that's the most drastic change.

I think it's worked quite accurately to what we proposed

we were going to do but it's always a bit hairy, I suppose, isn't it,

when you don't know what...

When someone hasn't seen something like that.

When Sarah dropped off the pine drawers

they were old-fashioned and out of favour.

Tom and Johnny have transformed them almost beyond recognition.

They've squared all the edges, creating clean lines.

The dumpling feet have been replaced

by stylish industrial-looking pin legs

and the handles have been updated.

Finally, the top has been stripped, sanded, bleached and re-waxed

and the carcass has been painted a stylish teal colour.

-Hello?

-Hi.

-Hey, are you all right?

-Yeah, really well. How you doing?

-Yeah, good.

-Nice to see you.

How you doing?

-No way is that it?

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

-Looks quite different!

-Guys, that's amazing!

How...

It looks fresh and modern and really cool, doesn't it?

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

-Can I see if the drawers open?

Yeah.

Oh, they work beautifully, don't they?

That is a really fresh look.

I love the little hairpin legs to make it look fresh.

-Brought it up higher as well.

-Yeah. And nice choice of handles.

-And that is the original pine top?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Did it have...

I can't remember what it had. Was it...

It had the mouldings on the side,

-which were that fake Victorian, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

So we took that right off and took it back

and then had to quite heavily sand the top, as well,

cos it was quite pitted and scratched

and had water stains all over it.

I left you I think with about 280 quid, bar fixings.

How did you come out on budget?

Pretty good. I think we ran over by about £10.

Yeah, I think it was about 290 all in, yeah.

I'm so pleased with what you managed to achieve. Thank you so much.

-Cheers.

-Take care.

-Bye.

Well done, boys. I think Sarah really liked it.

Those lads have done so well, haven't they?

That now looks like a beautiful crisp piece of furniture

that you want to have in your home. Bingo!

-It went really well, yeah.

-Yeah.

She seemed really surprised, which was good. A really good surprise.

Yeah, she seemed really happy.

I think she genuinely thought it looked really good.

Either that or she's a very good actor.

THEY LAUGH

When Sarah first met Corinne and Graham,

she discovered their old pine drawers

had more than just cosmetic problems.

The drawers don't work particularly well,

-they're quite sticky, so...

-That is so annoying, isn't it?

I know.

Thankfully that didn't put Sarah off.

-They don't work at all, do they?

-No!

They are supposed to though, aren't they? It's not just...

Yes, absolutely.

Once transformed, Sarah advertised the drawers online - and they sold.

She's now travelled near to Guildford

to visit Corinne and Graham - but will she be handing over any profit?

-Hi, there!

-Hiya.

-Hello. How are you doing?

-Yeah, good thanks. You?

-Oh, hello.

-Oh, hello, Sarah.

-Nice to see you again.

-Nice to see you.

I said when I saw you at the tip that I would be back in touch

if I'd managed to do anything with your chest of drawers.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-It turned out that we took your chest of drawers

to these fantastic furniture restorers.

They're guys who work in South London called Tom and Johnny.

They had one look at it

and decided to give it a really lovely fresh makeover.

-Wow.

-So I've got some pictures to show you how it ended up.

-Excellent.

-Are you ready for this?

-Yeah.

-Oh, wow! Look at that!

-Oh, my goodness!

No! That's not the same one!

That's excellent, isn't it?

That's fantastic. I can't believe it!

Should have kept it.

-You should have kept it.

-You wouldn't have been able to do that.

-Wow.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah, I really do.

-Very much so, yeah.

Hadn't really got my head round what you would do with it

-or how it would end up looking.

-So, yeah, somebody absolutely loved it

and was really pleased that it hadn't gone to anybody else.

-And I've got a little bit of profit to hand over.

-Oh, gosh.

-After we paid the boys, I've got £35 here...

-Wow.

..to hand over for your chest of drawers. Who gets that?

-Shall I take that? Lovely.

-Graham will take that.

-Thank you so much.

-That's very kind of you.

-Oh, it's a pleasure.

£35. What is going to happen to that?

-Something for the garden, I would think.

-Excellent.

Lovely to see you. Thank you so much for your time today

and that cold day at the tip.

-Definitely.

-Thanks ever so much. Bye-bye.

-See you, bye.

-Bye.

Tom and Johnny charged a total of £290

to transform the sticky drawers.

They sold for £325,

which allowed Sarah to hand over £35 to Corinne and Graham.

Well, Tom and Johnny put bags of style into that old chest of drawers

and I think that Corinne and Graham appreciated all their hard work,

so I'm pleased they liked what we did with it.

With another item making a profit,

it's back to the dump.

This time, Sarah's looking for an item to work on herself.

-What are you chucking out?

-Cardboard.

Oh, that's no good.

She's being unusually choosy.

-Are you coming back with any furniture later, then?

-No.

No time for small talk.

No furniture?

If it's furniture you're after, Sarah,

take a look in Adrian's boot.

It's got a lovely pair of legs on it, hasn't it?

More than a pair.

-Two pairs.

-Two pairs of legs.

I see you've got a sweet little piano stool

and something of a dressing table.

It's been up in the loft for a long time.

And it's really just clearing it out.

We have grandchildren and they like to play up there.

This makes a little bit of room for them.

You're throwing stuff out of a certain era here

that is appealing to people today. Lots of people like...

It's a vintage look, I have to say.

-OK.

-Vintage is now over 25 years old, so...

What should I be doing with it, then, do you think?

Bringing it here and letting me have a look at it.

Ray Miller, Liverpool.

So it's not far from home, is it?

They say brown furniture's making a massive comeback.

Oh.

And it's no surprise.

Furniture from this era is often beautifully made

with bags of character

and it will last much longer than the average pine flat pack nonsense.

Sarah's sure that she can turn space saving

into real savings for Adrian.

I hope that she can use them and maybe sell them.

That's fine by me.

It would be nice for them to have a good home.

These are a sweet little pair of vintage items.

The table, nice legs on it.

It's got a little pie crust edge to it.

And this stool was probably in front of a dressing table in the 1950s.

Together, these are the kind of things that I'm seeing £5 each

in a charity shop. Not great in this state -

but these have potential to make profit.

And, keen to maximise that potential...

..Sarah's travelled back home to Sussex.

Sarah wastes no time in collecting some raw materials

for her project - and it's from another dump.

You stay there. Back in a min.

As a huge fan of all things discarded,

Sarah knows exactly where to find her nearest one -

in her own garden.

I'm looking for buried treasure.

If you live in the middle of the country,

100 years ago, nobody collected your rubbish,

so you had to put it somewhere.

Many old and rural properties have a historic rubbish heap

similar to this one hidden away.

And you'll just find little pits with bottles

and old batteries and broken up old enamel, all over the place.

Sarah's been attacking hers for years.

It's probably her favourite place.

She's already got quite a collection

of Edwardian and Victorian bottles and jars -

but she's just a few short.

These are the inspiration for my next item.

Wait and see.

Gloves might have been a good idea, Sarah.

She's clearly got a plan for those -

and she's set aside that old white chair

so that she can concentrate on the table.

This sweet little table I found at the tip,

in its own right, it probably isn't worth very much.

So I'm going to use my dug-up treasure

to turn our table into a posy table.

The Victorians had a habit of covering any available surface

with interesting objects.

In the spring and summer months,

stately homes would proudly display floral blooms as posies

from their walled gardens.

We're going to bring the posy table right back in fashion.

Everybody is going to want one of these.

I certainly do.

Oh, yes, me too, for my stately, er, block of flats.

But, as usual, Sarah's taking things one step further.

She's marking the position of the jars she's dug up,

and she's going to embed them in the table.

All I've got to do now is make some little holes in the top of the table

for them to go in.

I'm going to use this!

That terrifying-looking drill

is fitted with a hole cutter

that you can get in any decent DIY store.

That's scary.

Make sure you're a seasoned driller before attempting this.

Oh, that's perfect.

That will definitely do.

They look really cool.

Next, Sarah tidies up the holes

and lightly sands the surface for painting.

So I'm painting it a lovely blue-black colour,

so that when the posies are in it, they really stand out.

What do you think, Bramble? Bram, what do you think?

Well, Bramble's not impressed, and I'm not surprised -

this isn't the most elegant of paint jobs.

I'm not seeking perfection here.

I want a really rough, rustic look.

A really bad paint job will obviously just add to its charms.

She's doing two coats.

That dusty blue on the top and black on the legs.

But Bramble's had enough.

It's like watching paint dry.

It literally is!

HE YAWNS

So what I'm going to do now is just take off all these crispy edges,

to make it look like I haven't just made it.

First, she paints it, then she rubs it off again.

It's hard work, this.

I could do with a bit of a lie-down myself.

What I'm trying to do is imagine how it would have been worn out

if somebody had been using it, like putting all the pots in these holes,

and where they picked it up on the edges.

For Sarah's final trick,

adding a layer of dark wax to complete that vintage feel.

So you can buy these waxes

in all sorts of different colours,

or you can even stir paint into clear wax

and make your own bespoke coloured finish.

Still bored, Bramble?

Bramble! Sausages!

BRAMBLE BARKS

I knew she could hear me.

Sarah's well on her way with her take on Victorian extravagance.

And, with just £5 spent on wax and paint,

it may even make a healthy profit.

But will she actually be able to sell such an unusual item?

At her workshop in Guildford, Surrey,

it's time for Bex to face her nemesis.

-Do you want to have a go at having a look at this?

-No.

SHE LAUGHS

I really don't like them.

If you can take it apart for me, get all the drawers out...

-Yeah, I can do that.

-Yeah, if you do that for me first days, then I'll...

-There you go.

-Oh, OK. Thanks(!)

Nice try.

Explain to me what you're trying to do.

-Squash it flat.

-Just the whole thing?

-Yeah.

So the plan is to make a shelving unit using

the drawers of the filing cabinet as the shelves.

Stomach muscles in.

Stomach muscles.

In the past, Bex has used her pneumatic press

to shape and straighten metal...

..but this is the first time she's squashed anything with it.

-Oh, what a nice shape!

-Yeah.

Ooh, oh, look at that, that's really nice.

Look at the way the corners have gone.

Nice one. It's like a tray.

-I can go and make some tea.

-THEY LAUGH

See? That wasn't so difficult after all.

All right, Mr Tea Boy?

Now, on to the toolbox.

A quick buff was the plan

to make it into a bathroom or kitchen cabinet.

But...

This is taking ages.

It's working, though.

Yeah, but it's, like... To do the whole thing...

-Well, you've nearly done the whole thing.

-Well, no, but I think...

Look, imagine being someone who is going to buy...

This was supposed to be a quick and easy job with real retail value.

It looks like a piece of junk.

Um, no, but a very artistically treated piece of junk.

Nice sales pitch, Dave.

Well, you know, just look at that. At the moment,

I'm not feeling the potential any more.

I mean, an idea that I did just have was those hinges.

You know how the old metal hinges, they're all scrolled

and beautiful, and they're like on a wooden door.

I know what you mean,

but I can see the budget just going completely out the window on that.

I know, but just doing this, I don't think the finish is good enough.

I think that's all right.

Really?

I think that'll be OK.

Well, at least someone is optimistic.

Personally, though, I think this one could be Bex's undoing.

I don't like this one.

In Sussex, Sarah's posy table needs a final flourish.

As pretty much nobody's heard of a posy table.

We really need to get these things in context

to take pictures to sell them.

Sarah arranges the flowers and places all the jars in their holes.

OK, that should do it.

But has she brought that humdrum brown table into bloom?

Sarah took an unwanted old white seat

and an average occasional table from the recycling centre.

She soon decided to concentrate her efforts on the table.

Now, Sarah's taken it back in time

and transformed it into a posy table

that wouldn't look out of place

in the reception of a 19th-century stately home.

Those Victorian jars she found in her garden tip

present her bouquets beautifully.

And their colours pop out against the dusty blue

of the warm-looking table.

And Sarah knows exactly who to target for a sale.

I'm really pleased how this has turned out.

The flowers in it look lovely and that's important

because if I'm going to sell this to a florist, it needs to really work.

Definitely worth embracing those power tools.

At the dump, Sarah spotted some of Adrian's furniture.

It's got a lovely pair of legs on it, hasn't it?

It was up in the loft for a long time

and it's really just clearing it out.

Which, sadly, had worn out its welcome.

You can accumulate only so much.

Sarah turned the table into a stunning floral display.

Blooming marvellous!

It looks great and was snapped up by Sara Hughes,

the owner of a vintage furniture store in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

What Sarah's done with it is really imaginative

and I just think it's really fun

and I've got customers who are florists who'll love it.

And now, Sarah's at Adrian's home to surprise him with the good news.

-Hello, there.

-Hello, there.

Lovely to see you, how are you?

-Hi, there. I'm Sarah.

-Pleased to see you.

-This is my wife, Sarah.

-Another Sarah. Lovely.

-Two Sarahs.

That keeps it very easy for me.

So it was your things, the stool and the little occasional table,

you were dropping off at the recycling centre.

Had they been family pieces, or...?

The stool, yes. The table, no.

I set the stool aside

and it was actually the table that I decided to work on,

because it had such an interesting shape to it.

I've actually got some pictures here to show you of how it turned out.

But before I do, have you ever heard of a posy table?

A posy table? Presumably for flowers.

What's a posy table?

Well, I can show in a moment, but a friend of mine told me about it

and it is this lovely table that gardeners in big estates

used to prepare little bouquets and buttonholes

-for the ladies and gentlemen of the house.

-Wow. Wow!

I've got some pictures to show you.

-Lovely.

-So here is your table.

Oh!

Can we have it back?

-Isn't that lovely?

-It is. Oh, yeah.

-Do you approve of its re-use?

-Oh, yes, absolutely.

-It's lovely.

-It's nice to have something that is now going to be used.

-A second life.

Yes, well, it's been snapped up by a shop

and I've managed to make you a little bit of profit on it.

Oh, excellent.

So here is...

£130...

Wow!

For your occasional table.

As we say round here, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Lovely! Well, yes, I think it's definitely better than that.

-That's wonderful.

-It is, terrific.

Have you got thoughts about what you might do with it?

-Well, yes, we have.

-Alzheimer's Society.

My mother died about ten years ago

and Dad looked after her for a number of years,

well supported by the Alzheimer's Society.

Well, I think that is absolutely lovely,

and I was really inspired by your old table,

and that's a great place for that to go.

-Splendid. Thank you very much.

-A total pleasure.

Lovely to have met you and to catch up with you, Adrian.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you. Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Thank you.

Sarah spent a modest £5 on the makeover.

She sold the posy table for a whopping £135,

earning Adrian and his wife Sarah

£130 of profit.

Well, if Adrian and Sarah's reaction is anything to go by,

there are going to be posy tables popping up everywhere.

I'm delighted that they like what I did with it,

and I'm so pleased that that money is going to such a worthy cause.

Over in Surrey...

..it's time for Bex to reveal to Sarah

what has become of the old filing cabinet and toolbox.

I was really quite pleased when I found the filing cabinet

at the tip, but Bex and Dave were not keen on it at all.

In fact, when I left them, they said they were going to crush it,

and I was going to pay them for the privilege.

Can't imagine what they've done with it.

Oh, it has been a challenge,

cos, obviously, a filing cabinet is quite...

Well, it's just quite big and bulky and...

-As blacksmiths, there's not a lot you can do...

-No.

..with that sort of material.

I think we've managed to come up with something

out of the two items

that works quite well in a...in a...

sort of wacky kind of way.

It's one for a niche buyer, I think, this one.

No, stop pigeonholing it.

Don't pigeonhole it.

So a shelving unit and a bathroom cabinet, then.

Nothing so conventional from Bex.

She fought her phobia of filing cabinets

and has seamlessly brought together the old toolbox

and filing cabinet to produce this contemporary lock-up.

A drawer of the cabinet was squashed to form a shelf

and the lid of the toolbox makes an eye-catching door.

And the quirks continue on the side with these...hinge detail things.

THEY LAUGH

What's so funny? I actually quite like it.

-LAUGHS:

-Everything I've ever thought about you.

Look at that!

Oh, my word!

What...? That is bonkers!

May I open it? How does it open?

-Open it up for me.

-You just open it up like that.

And then we flattened one of the drawers and just put it back in,

-but a flattened drawer.

-It is lovely.

They are... They are fantastic.

They look sort of alien, don't they?

Yeah, well, it's basically based on circuit boards,

cos it's, you know, filing and systems and stuff.

It is brilliant.

It's funny, it's useful... These hinges, really cool.

Bex and Dave took on those two tip finds and won.

What's more, they managed to do it within the agreed budget.

I was, I have to say, a teeny bit worried

about the crunch, crunch, sort of idea that you had before,

so it's actually quite a relief, as well.

SHE LAUGHS

Well, it's not often you get a good old laugh

out of an old filing cabinet.

They've done a fantastic job.

My turn now to make some money out of it.

Paul was moving home and clearing out his garage

when Sarah spotted the filing cabinet and toolbox

in the back of his van.

I really like that. It's decorative as well as being industrial.

Paul struggled to see its potential...

I'm not too sure, but I have seen some of her stuff before,

and I'd be interested to see what she does with it.

..and Bex certainly took some convincing.

But she finally unleashed its quirky charm.

It didn't take long for Sarah to entice Nick,

an online retailer, into buying the bespoke piece

to sell through his shop, Smithers of Stamford.

This is absolutely bonkers. I love it.

Sarah's on her way to Paul's new home

to tell him what became of his old filing cabinet and toolbox.

-Hello.

-Hi, Paul. How are you?

-Good.

So you've made the move?

Yeah, we're here. Eventually, yeah.

And so from what I remember, you were clearing out

-the garage in your old house, is that right?

-That's right, yes.

Yeah, so I loved the look of your sweet little filing cabinet,

-and we took away an old metal box case as well.

-Yeah.

I took them to Bex Simon, who is a fantastic blacksmith artist

who works with her partner, Dave. And between them,

they decided they were going to make one lovely piece of furniture.

-Would you like to see it?

-Oh, yeah, I'd love to.

OK, so brace yourself cos it doesn't look

-quite like you might remember it.

-Crikey!

-Wow! That's...that's...striking.

-Striking!

I was wondering what you'd make of it.

But that looks fantastic.

And it's been sold,

-so it's gone off to a retro vintage store.

-OK.

And I've got £40 here, which is the profit made

-from selling your filing cabinet.

-Yes, brilliant!

-Thanks very much.

-So you've just moved.

Is there anything you think you might be using that for?

We're looking at shrubs this weekend,

so I think the garden's going to get a little makeover in one corner.

Oh, fantastic. Well, if that helps to go towards that,

then I'm really pleased. But thank you so much for letting me have it.

It's bright and it's beautiful,

and it's going to go on to be in the heart of somebody else's home.

-It's lovely, really nice to catch up.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Yeah, lovely.

Well, Bex completely squashed Paul's filing cabinet,

but we managed to squeeze a little profit out of it too,

and I think Paul's happy with that.

Coming in on budget of £300 and selling for £340 means

Bex and Dave turned Paul's old metal into a £40 profit.

Not bad, considering she hated it at the start.

Sarah's saved four waste wonders from the skips.

Jeanette's rusty petrol can

has become motor-themed lighting.

Corinne and Graham's pine drawers

went through a thoroughly modern makeover.

Adrian's table took a trip back in time...

and the filing cabinet and toolbox became a new-look lock-up.

Well, handing over money for nothing is a great feeling,

and knowing that we've saved something

that can go and take pride of place in a new home,

and maybe be loved again -

well, that's even better.