Episode 13 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 money-making 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.

-I've got £350.

-No!

Welcome to Walsall Recycling Centre...

..a nonstop hive of activity.

With the nation becoming more and more aware of the benefits

of regenerating unwanted possessions,

one woman is on a mission to turn your trash into hard cash.

I love turning a profit where others see trash.

Making old stuff that's drab into desirable and fab

is just so satisfying.

But before you make a beeline for your local tip, take note -

Sarah's been given special permission to seek out three items

that she can rejuvenate, repurpose and sell on for a profit.

And Brian, with his broken-up sofa, has caught her eye.

-Nice sofa.

-It was a nice sofa.

What's happened to it?

We broke it up because it's not very good now, so we just got rid of it.

Have you got the bits or not?

Little bits in there but they're broken...

-Come on, let's see. I like the back of it.

-..cos I've jumped on it.

-Have you?

-Yes!

-You boys have all the fun, don't you?

-I know.

Let's have a look.

-All the rest of it's broken.

-Have you got the arm bit?

-Have you got the other bit?

-They're in there somewhere.

-Are those its legs?

-Those are the legs.

I'm loving it more by the minute.

So, that goes on there.

Come on, Sarah.

You must be well used to the game of furniture jigsaw by now.

Oh, yeah, that bit goes there. Great.

All the cushions are in the back of my car.

Brilliant. So, that's 1970, that sofa?

Check out the expert eye. I'm impressed.

-It's written all over it. It's got a date on it.

-Oh, right.

Expert, you see.

That's cheating.

Now I've got all those bits that you've smashed up,

do you think I could take them away, put them back together

and see if I can make it back into a lovely sofa again?

Well, I don't know because part of it's broken. You could try.

-I shall definitely be able to get that fixed.

-Fine. That's great.

The question is, what will become of Brian's old sofa?

I don't know, to be honest. I don't know.

It'll be good to find out.

I know what you're thinking. "She's bonkers."

-Correct.

-But this is going to be brilliant.

I know it's in pieces,

but it is going to look fantastic when it's finished.

Trust me. Watch.

Oh, we will, Sarah. We will.

But who's Sarah picked to help her transform this item?

Say hello to Josh and Oli,

designer/makers, business partners and best pals.

These lads use natural and recycled materials

to create bespoke handcrafted and high-end furnishings.

We've been friends for years. I don't know how long but ages now.

We teamed up and then it's quite a nice combination of skills

-that we have.

-Yeah, I think we've got a lot of ideas between us,

a lot of fresh thinking

and it just works together quite nicely as a team.

The fact that we haven't fallen out completely

and we've been working together this long kind of shows it's working.

Yeah.

Here's two young lads full of positivity and optimism.

Hopefully, Sarah and this old sofa won't put an end to all that.

One down, two to go.

Two speakers.

They look a bit modern for me.

Come on, Sarah. You're not that old.

There's nothing like a trailer full of potential to get Sarah excited...

..which is exactly what Derek has to offer.

Cos we're moving house but because we sold so quickly,

we haven't got a house to go to.

Sometimes, you've just got to take the money, haven't you?

-We're moving out a week today.

-Really?

-We're moving into

our caravan for four months cos we're going to Spain.

-Oh.

-Getting away from the winter.

But before Derek jets away to Spain,

there's clearing out to be done and Sarah dives right in.

It feels to me like you might have something good in here.

No. Golf putter. No.

-That way, you can look beautiful with it.

-Thank you.

Oh, you charmer, Derek.

I think there might be something in here.

I've just got to make sure it doesn't go in there

before I've spotted it. I love a little rummage.

Really, Sarah? You'd never guess.

That's teetering on the retro, isn't it?

-It's all very retro, this is.

-How long have you had that?

Yeah, about 30 years.

I might have to take that one.

-Would you mind if I took that?

-No.

If you sell it for 50 quid,

you've got to give a donation to charity.

I'll tell you what, if I sell it for 50 quid, I'm coming back to you

and I'll show you what I've done and you can choose a charity.

Item found - a little stool that's been around a long time

and will now hopefully be around a lot longer.

It's something we bought in the '60s and then got relegated to the garage

and I used to use it to rest things on,

spray things on, as you do.

I think I've only saved this cos I wanted to sit down,

but the appeal comes with these tapering legs.

There's something about them that makes it look a bit finer

than the usual bar stool and I'm hoping,

even though there's only one, it might be quite commercial.

So, who will be tasked with transforming potential into profit?

Jay Blades has a passion for classic British craftsmanship...

..and adding a little va-va-voom to vintage furniture.

I take a risk every day with design.

A lot of people...

I've taken a lot of flak for the work that I've done

to some furniture.

People have said, "You shouldn't paint that."

Jay loves reworking furniture from a bygone age

to bring it bang up-to-date,

pushing the boundaries of contemporary furniture design.

I love a challenge.

Even when I'm making mistakes, I enjoy making the mistakes

cos it teaches me about a process that I never knew.

A mistake for me is always about learning.

You like a challenge, do you, Jay?

Well, Sarah's got one coming your way.

It's all me, me, me with Sarah, but for good reason.

It's now time to find a project for herself.

I would say if it's made out of chipboard,

I can't do much with it.

And it doesn't take long for Barry to present Sarah

with a toy from the good old days.

What's in your bag, then? Throwing anything good out?

-Well...

-Ooh!

-..an old railway station.

-That does look cool.

-Very old.

-Can I have a look at it?

-Yes, you can.

So, this was yours, was it?

Well, funny enough, I was working in a toy shop...

Right.

-..in the late '50s...

-Right.

..and all through these years, I've kept them.

-My children have played with them.

-Yeah.

The grandchildren have played with them.

It was a well-loved toy, but for the past few years,

it's been gathering dust in Barry's attic.

So, age-wise, it looks kind of Art Deco or...

It is old.

So, it's...it's the Trix Manyways station set.

"Made in England. Number 22."

Beautiful cast aluminium. It's lovely.

So, I definitely don't think that this can go into the metal...

-The metal.

-No. I would really like to do some research on it

and find out if it's collectable,

if it's the kind of thing that people are still buying.

Yeah, it's lovely. Look at that bit.

That must be the middle of the roof somewhere or something, mustn't it?

-Yes.

-It's got such lovely styling, somebody will want to buy this.

Somebody will have all the other bits. I love it.

For Barry, the idea of Sarah breathing new life

into a toy so close to his heart

is one which he's clearly happy about.

The whole family's played with them.

They've enjoyed them, we've fixed them up together.

So nice.

How cool is this?

I really don't know what I've found here.

It looks like the kind of thing that might have been made

in mass production early in the sort of '30s,

but I love the styling on it.

I'm loving the aluminium

and the fact that it has such great colour on it.

I'll have to have a really good think about this

cos this could go in all sorts of different directions.

Quite cool, though, isn't it?

Very cool, Sarah.

It's been a good day at the dump

and Sarah has three very different items.

Josh and Oli will be dealing with the broken-up sofa,

Jay will transform the slinky stool,

and Sarah will get creative with the toy railway station set.

Transforming today's eclectic selection of items

is going to be just the challenge we love,

but there's going to have to be some radical transformation

if we're going to really bring the money home.

This is Chichester in West Sussex.

A vibrant town with a thriving music, film and art scene.

While it may be forward thinking,

it's hard not to be impressed by the town's illustrious history.

Its medieval architecture is striking.

This dynamic link between the past and present

inspires designers Josh and Oli

to create contemporary bespoke furniture

with traditional materials.

And if that happens to involve a blowtorch,

they're a couple of happy chappies.

I wonder what they'll make of the '70s sofa

Sarah's wheeling their way.

We love what Sarah does cos we're into restoring old items

and keeping things going,

so, yeah, always interested to see what she's going to bring us.

-We're kind of on the same page in that respect, aren't we?

-Yeah.

We're looking forward to seeing what she's going to bring us today.

-Hello? Hiya.

-Hello.

-Come and see my flat-pack.

-OK. Wow.

It's not supposed to be flat-pack.

-Cool.

-Yeah?

-What is it? A sofa?

1970s, beautiful styling, lovely lines.

-Of course.

-Shall we get it in?

-Yeah.

Hmm, I think it's fair to say first impressions were underwhelming.

It might be easier to get rid of the cushions

cos I think, whatever we do,

they're not going to be part of the plan, are they?

-It has been smashed up.

-Yeah.

But I thought it has got '70s style oozing out of every broken pore.

I think, yeah, '70s are back in, but for me, like,

the kind of lacquered mahogany look

isn't really that fresh at the moment.

So, maybe we do something with the frame.

Like, we love to scorch things,

-so why not try that?

-SHE LAUGHS

-Just go over it with a blowtorch and...

-Burn, baby, burn!

Yeah, let's just burn this thing and forget about it.

No, if we scorched this entire frame,

so what you see here will be a really nice kind of matt black

with a lot of texture going on.

And then the ideal is to put some, like, really contrasting

maybe maple or sycamore slats on it,

and just turn it into, like, a really clean, crisp, stylish,

'70s-looking seat.

How much is it going to cost to turn this into cool, crisp,

high-end, luxury living?

-Lots.

-Lots!

-HE LAUGHS

Well, it's going to be a fiddly one, isn't it?

There's a lot of things that we've seen already

that could cause us trouble.

I'm reckoning about 700.

-Yeah, I think so.

-How does that sound?

You're going to burn it and charge me 700 quid?

-Pretty much, yeah.

-Well, if you think you can pull it off.

-If I can come back here...

-It'll look good in the end.

I'm going to make a profit?

-Best of luck.

-Thank you.

I'm getting a scorched sofa and a 700-quid bill.

Let's hope that's the right decision.

-I think we're quite excited about this one.

-Yeah.

Although there's a lot of work to be done,

I think it could look cool at the end.

Yeah, after we've put our touch on it,

I think it'll be a nice, sleek-looking seat.

Do a bit of scorching, put a bit of fresh wood on there,

bish, bash, bosh...done.

Josh and Oli have a whopping £700 to spend on this sofa.

Let's hope that budget won't go up in smoke.

Welcome to Wolverhampton.

The local council have a grand vision for its future -

to encourage people to come from far and wide to study, work and shop

in a booming independent retail sector.

This encouraged Jay to relocate his business from outside London

and set up shop in the city.

Here's hoping he likes the surprise Sarah has in store for him.

I'm hoping it's something timber-wise. Real timber.

No. Sorry about that, Jay.

But knowing Sarah, she loves to set me a challenge...

..and tries to trip me up every now and again

by bringing me something that I've never worked on before

and just say, like, "Have a go at that, Jay.

"I thought you would like that."

Hello, how are we doing?

I am good, I'm good. How are you?

I'm very, very good. Very, very good.

Wow. What have you got me?

Erm, well, something slightly out of the ordinary.

Wow.

-OK.

-I know it's not wood.

-Shall I tell you what I'd do with it?

-OK, yeah.

-Wow.

-If this was mine, I think I would probably try

and make the legs into, like, amazing, long, gold, beautiful legs

and then I'd cover the top and the back in a powder puff

of Mongolian sheepskin covered in kind of pink tinge.

-Wow.

-But I thought I'd bring it to you and hear what you'd do with it

-cos I don't think you're the powder puff type, are you?

-No, I'm not.

I like your ideas, though. I do.

And I'm holding pink as well, but I do like your idea.

-It is nice, but not...

-He doesn't.

-He's being polite. He hates it.

-No, I do like her idea,

but I wouldn't do pink fluffy stuff, even though I have a pink duster.

I'm not going to do the pink. I'm going to do something different.

I'm going to do something interesting. I am going to re-cover

these bits and make that a real focal point.

Yeah, we're going to make this one look really, really special.

It's going to look the business.

OK. Does the business cost the fortune?

-HE LAUGHS

-If I was using pink fluffy stuff,

it would cost a fortune, but I could probably...

I would say I could do this one for about...

It's just a simple re-covering, polishing up...

I'll do this as a cheap one, to tell the truth,

-so that would be about £30, I'll do that one for.

-OK.

-Well, use your 30 quid wisely...

-I will do.

-..and I'll leave it with you.

-OK.

-Take care.

-Take care.

Well, I'm a teeny, tiny bit disappointed

that Jay didn't take on my idea of powder puffs and gold legs,

but I've got high hopes for my singleton stool.

Sarah's smiling,

but Jay's looking somewhat perplexed.

She loves to set a challenge and here it is.

I think the style of the stool and the shape and the form

is really, really nice,

so hopefully I should be able to do something with the fabric.

It's a really simple idea. Just re-cover.

With a budget of £30, will Jay be able to rise to the challenge

and meet Sarah's high hopes?

Sarah's back home in Sussex after dropping off the sofa and the stool.

-Come on!

-Once Bramble's been for walkies,

Sarah can get started on her item.

She picked out the Art Deco-style train station set.

It's definitely cool.

That Deco styling is so strong in these pieces.

All together now, finally. It's got bags of style.

Sarah had hoped she could sell the well-loved station set

as is to a collector,

but it's too scuffed and scratched, so she's had a bright idea.

Sarah's going to make five desk lights.

She's already had Perspex -

which will make up the light housing - made to order

and she'll combine them with pieces from the train set

and her LEDs to make lovely little lamps.

So, these are the bits back from the fabricators

and these are the windows, the roof and the side sections

and I'm hoping they all fit together with our train set

to make a lovely little desk light.

But it's not looking very impressive at the moment.

Each Perspex light box is made up of eight separate pieces,

which Sarah will have the oh, so fiddly job

of gluing together.

There's one set's worth there.

I've got some two-part glue...

..with quite a long working time,

so I don't have to hurry too much with it.

So, you just mix these equal quantities together,

give it a stir and then it makes this really strong bond

when it's all mixed up.

Let's hope the measurements Sarah supplied

to the Perspex cutter were right.

If not...disaster.

That's a great fit.

I never doubted her for a second.

That's beginning to look quite cool, isn't it?

Here comes the hard bit, though.

Hm, not quite sure how to do this.

She's now got to glue the roof and side sections together.

Those fix together, then that goes on there.

I get the feeling this is all a little bit more complicated

than Sarah imagined.

This requires precision, dexterity, patience.

I don't have any of those. It's a nightmare.

This is so fiddly.

Next time I go to make something,

can you remind me to go the simplest route?

It doesn't have to be surprising.

Just make a few pounds, that's all I'm after.

Come on now, Sarah. Stay positive.

This is easy. This is a walk in the park.

-This is a great thing to do.

-That's more like it.

Uh-oh!

Sarah has spent £70 on the Perspex and LEDs.

Let's hope it's money well spent

and she actually manages to finish all five lights.

Near Chichester in Sussex,

Josh and Oli are getting started on the sofa.

All right, shall we start with getting these old straps off, then?

Yeah, OK.

The lads made their reputation creating bespoke furniture.

Transforming the likes of this is a brave new world for them.

I've never done anything like this before.

Yeah, once we've worked out how the slats are going to go across

and probably once we've worked out

what we're going to do with the legs,

I think they're really the two most difficult parts.

The rest of it should be all right.

So, aside from the seat part and the legs part,

everything else is fine.

Hm, that's comforting.

The sofa frame was constructed

using the traditional mortise and tenon method -

a technique which has been used for thousands of years -

but the mortise holes and tenon tongues are badly damaged.

It's all feeling a little bit rickety

so we've just got to try and work out the best way

of getting it back to a state where you can sit on it again.

The only option is to repair the joints.

I was a bit cheeky about these boys earlier,

but their expertise is beyond reproach.

The traditional craftsmanship they use to mend the joints

is second to none.

It's nice when you get to the end of it and it's looking fresh again

and you've just got a nice match and a nice fill in there,

so then we can put the tenon back in and glue it just as it was.

It should be as strong as it was brand-new then.

When the repaired tenon is slotted back into the mended mortise,

it's a perfect fit.

The lads use strap clamps to hold the sofa in position

while the glue dries.

I don't think we're going to make a sofa any more.

It's just a big old bass guitar now, so scrap that idea.

Right then, lads, let's get a groove on.

THEY PLAY HIGH-TEMPO TUNE

Nice. Let's slow it down.

THEY PLAY A SLOW RHYTHM

And back up for the big finish.

THEY RESUME HIGH-TEMPO TUNE

Yeah, man!

But it's back to business

and there's some blowtorching to be done.

A charred finish is a difficult technique to master,

but if they get it right,

it will give the sofa a striking look.

It just gives a nice, like, texture to the wood.

It also preserves the wood as well.

It's like a natural way of doing that.

It just brings it back to a nice, even, matt black finish.

The lads are taking safety precautions against fumes

released from the old wood stain.

Although Josh could do with pulling up his trousers.

Fingers crossed this gives the sofa

the sleek and stylish look they're after.

If they get this wrong, it could warp the wood.

In Wolverhampton...

..Jay's trying to add character to this sad and sorry stool.

Birds in flight, trees...

He's been sent a package of fabric offcuts

from a designer friend

and he's hoping there might be that special something in here

to give the stool an impressive new look.

The plan is basically to look at fabrics.

Basically to look and see which ones work best together.

Now, that's nice.

I like that.

That's not the only one he likes, though.

Whoa. Now, that looks cool.

Yes, it is. Ooh-la-la.

Already, it just looks really cool.

See, now, that looks...to me, that looks really, really gorgeous.

I would have the back a little bit darker.

If I can get a darker fabric, it might shine it out a bit better.

Decisions, decisions. Jay's spoiled for choice.

See, now, that - that works. I really like that.

So, it's almost as if you've got the birds above the tree

down at the bottom.

When selecting patterns, it's essential to achieve harmony.

This doesn't mean they have to match,

but they should have some aspects in common,

such as colour palette, scale or style.

Seems like Jay's made his choice.

Now, that DOES look nice.

There was a pink one I had on there before. There's two fabrics.

There's one which has got more pink and one that's more white

and it's a toss-up between those two.

So, I think I preferred the fabric I put on before.

Well, at least we've narrowed it down to two.

But I've got another... Oh, man.

Oh. Three.

I need to stop.

That is gorgeous as well. It's only a £30 job.

A really simple thing to do, but it has to look right.

It's given me a bit of a headache.

OK, Jay, let's put the fabric to one side for now

and concentrate on the legs.

Jay was thinking about leaving the scuffs and scrapes,

but has decided to bring back the shine using metal polish,

fine-wire wool and a whole load of elbow grease.

I must admit, it's really, really satisfying

to see something just change right in front of your eyes.

It's almost like magic.

It makes you feel like, "Wow, look what this stuff's doing."

Hmm, I'm still waiting for that magic, Jay.

Remember when this was supposed to be a quick and easy job?

Back in the Sussex countryside,

Sarah's putting the finishing touches to her desk lamps.

Well, that's five lights completed.

They're quite crisp and clean for me.

This toy train station set provided Sarah with a bright idea...

..which she has brought stunningly to life.

The addition of the toy figures, pinched from her daughter's toy box,

lend the platform scale and perspective and add to the fun.

The LED lights are battery-powered and remote-controlled,

so there's no electrical wiring.

I can see these being snapped up by a train enthusiast

who is still a kid at heart.

Well, they're a little bit play-worn and definitely quirky,

but I think somebody will give these a good home.

Three generations of Barry's family had played with the toy train set,

so he was happy Sarah saved it.

The whole family's played with them. They've enjoyed them.

We've fixed them up together.

So nice.

Then it was Sarah's turn to have a play.

Makeover complete, all five desk lights were snapped up

by Mark from Keswick Collectables -

an antique shop in the Lake District.

Oh, wow.

And now Sarah's on her way to Barry's home

to show him what became of the toy he was about to sling in the skip.

-Hi, Barry.

-Hello.

-How you doing?

-Nice to meet you.

-All right, thank you.

-Very nice to see you.

Is this the house where the train set was in the attic?

-Yes.

-Lovely. Well, it was a lovely piece,

-but it had been played with by quite a few children.

-Yes.

Was that your children or grandchildren or...?

Yes, grandchildren. All of them.

They've all played with it at some time.

Well, it was my job to take it on and it was a lovely thing

and I've made it into...

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

It has been turned into desk lights.

-Smashing, yeah.

-I've put it together on a little block

and turned it into five individual desk lights.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Cos it is such a worry.

You take somebody's stuff and you do something to it and...

-So, you approve, then?

-Yes.

Now it's not scrapped or buried, it's of use at last.

They were lovely to work on and actually somebody has bought them -

a collectables shop - so I've got a little bit of money

to give back to you for your old train set.

So, I've got £50 for you.

So, what might you do with £50?

Well, could I please give it to Children In Need?

-If you'd like to do that..

-Please.

-..that would be lovely.

-Yes.

Very nice. So, that's a lot of people it's done good.

Plus, the station itself - the old station - has put to good use.

-I'm happy.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Well, that's really generous of you.

There are five little lights that will go off into five new houses.

-Your station is going on another journey.

-Brilliant.

It was really good to see you again.

-Thank you ever so much.

-Thank you. Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

Well, that was really lovely to see Barry's reaction

to his old train set because he and his family

had obviously had so much fun using it

and I really enjoyed making it into something else.

And I think he was really enthusiastic

about the fact it's going on another journey.

Sarah paid £70 for materials.

They sold for 120, making a profit of £50,

which is now on its way to charity.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Josh and Oli have got on

with the '70s sofa, and I'm not the only one.

No, not them.

Her.

I left the boys with a massive challenge -

a completely smashed-up sofa -

and I can't wait to see what they've done with it.

It was beat up and broken down, but with Josh and Oli's help,

Sarah hoped it could be brought back to life.

Wow! It's been born again, like a phoenix from the flames.

The scorched wood has been sanded down

to create the smooth, matt black finish.

This contrasts beautifully with the light American maple timber

used for the seat.

Craftsmanship on display here is second to none.

It's unique, bold and super stylish.

Hello?

-Hello.

-Oh, lads!

-Yeah, we're just having a little coffee break.

-Hello.

Wow!

How cool is that? Let's see it without the rug on it.

Work of art. Did you scorch it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, we've scorched the frame.

-It's genius.

I don't know what to say.

It was so badly broken and beaten up beforehand.

It's beautiful. Is it comfortable?

-Yeah.

-Try it out.

Oh, yeah.

It's lovely, isn't it? Oh, the finish you've got on this...

-It's nice and smooth, isn't it?

-Yeah. Great contrast.

It's...it's fantastic. Really good.

I mean, the actual frame itself is really nice

and there's loads of curves and it's really well put together.

So, I think once we actually had it reassembled and fixed up,

yeah, it's a really nice shape, isn't it?

And then I think sorting out the two colours

-I think just works really well.

-But this looks sleek and designer

and the contrast between the dark and the pale is just brilliant.

-It's such a lovely piece now.

-Cool.

Sarah is overjoyed.

The boys have done a bang-up job and it's bang on their £700 budget.

Are we calling it a sofa? Bench? What are you calling it?

-What have you been referring to it as?

-An indoor bench.

I see it in a nice conservatory or something.

It's not your sofa, but it's like a...

It's a place where you might sit and read a book or something.

I think we're getting all of the 1970s essence that was,

you know, part of its charm, but with a bang up-to-date makeover.

It's a very stylish thing now.

-It's a real credit to you.

-Thank you very much.

I'm impressed.

And more importantly, so is the boss.

I was a bit worried about it when it turned up,

but I think we managed to get something quite nice out of it.

Seeing it now, it's like a brand-new sofa, isn't it?

Indoor bench, Josh. It's an indoor bench.

Sarah spotted the sofa just as Brian was about to chuck it in the skip.

All the rest of it's broken.

He was flummoxed as to what Sarah would do with it.

I don't know, to be honest. I don't know.

It'd be good to find out.

Don't worry, Brian. You're about to.

Sarah has made her way to Brian's house

where hopefully he'll be as impressed as we are.

-Hi, Brian.

-Ooh, hello.

-Hello.

-All right?

-How are you doing?

-I'm fine, thank you.

I said that I'd be back in touch

if there was something I could do with your sofa.

Now, you had had a good time smashing it up, hadn't you?

I did, yes. I had to get it loaded on the trailer so, yeah,

-it was smashed up.

-Yeah, it made quite a few people laugh

that we had taken something that had been through that process.

Did you think we'd rebuild it? What did you think we were going to do?

Well, not the way it had been smashed up, no, I didn't.

Well, I've got some pictures to show you

and brace yourself cos where I took it,

I took it to some lovely young lads and they set fire to it.

-Oh, right.

-OK?

-Yes.

-But it ended up like this.

-Oh, wow!

-So, this is the bit they burnt.

They scorched the frame to make it black

and it's got a beautiful texture to it and a lovely finish.

-Oh, that's lovely.

-Do you think it's all right?

I do, yes.

-Have you ever seen anything like that before?

-No, not really, no.

But it's good. I like it, yeah.

-I'm pleased you like it.

-It's very nice, yes.

Well, it's still for sale, it's out there now

and I'm sure we're going to get a great buyer for it.

-Yeah.

-So, as soon as I have money, I'll give you a call

-and send it over to you.

-Great.

-I really liked seeing what the boys had done to it.

-Yeah.

And to see it in the flesh, it's a lovely thing,

so I really appreciate you letting us have it.

-That's lovely.

-Thank you ever so much.

-Thank you.

-Nice to catch up. Bye-bye.

-And you. Bye now.

Josh and Oli charged £700 for the makeover,

but at present, the seat remains unsold,

so for now, that remains a loss.

But I've no doubt Brian will be seeing a little profit

in his pocket sometime soon.

In Jay's workshop in Wolverhampton...

..he's getting prepped for Sarah's arrival.

I'm really hoping Jay's hard work has paid off

cos I need my bar stool to be joining the party

and not being left on the shelf.

It was drab, dreary and looked oh, so lonely,

but Jay had plans to make it take flight.

Jay's choice of fabric has allowed the stool to soar to new heights.

The nature-inspired design lifts the chair.

It's now light and airy rather than lifeless and leaden.

Jay put in some hard graft, rubbing the rust off the chrome legs

and applying metal polish.

The stool is now shining bright.

Before, it looked rather sad all on its own.

Now it's full of character and life.

Sarah had high hopes for this stool.

Has Jay met them?

-Have you been busy?

-I've been a little bit busy, just a wee bit.

-You've done well there. You've done well.

-I have done well.

-It looks punchy.

-It does look punchy

and I was going to leave the legs rusty, but then...

-Yeah, it just didn't work.

-No, no.

-It didn't work with the fabric.

I'm amazed how well that's come up.

Well, I'm not amazed, but I'm really pleased

-cos good old chrome comes up well, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

A lot of elbow grease but it does work.

It looks smart and shiny and cool and it's got a bird on it.

THEY LAUGH

And then we've got a little surprise on the back as well.

Let's have a look at the back.

-More birds.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah, it's really cool.

Jay's come up trumps again,

adding some quirky character to this stool.

I think it would look brilliant at a breakfast bar in the kitchen.

But has he kept to budget?

Budget-wise, a walk in the park or are we over?

Walk in the park. If I remember rightly,

-the budget for this was £30. Is that right?

-Yeah.

Yeah, so, a walk in the park, yeah. It's not over. It's £30.

It's just elbow grease that you've paid me for, to tell you the truth.

That's great. That is a good, solid makeover.

And for 30 quid, I couldn't be happier.

You're happy, yeah?

OK, that's good.

You've made something really quirky. Look at it!

I think the chair came out a lot better

than I anticipated it coming out, to tell the honest truth.

I'm really, really happy with the way it looks.

Well, this stool has had just the update it needs.

All I've got to do is get this bird a new home.

The sad and solitary stool was almost in the skip.

-That's teetering on the retro, isn't it?

-It's all very retro.

Derek had sold his home and was having a big clear out

in preparation for the big move.

We're moving house, but because we sold so quickly,

we haven't got a house to go to.

-Really?

-We're moving into our caravan for four months

cos we're going to Spain.

Spain, eh? It's all right for some.

And it was all right for the stool too.

Jay worked wonders with his nature-inspired design.

The stool was snapped up by one of Sarah's regular buyers Nick,

who runs an online shop specialising in retro and recycled furniture.

And now through the wonders of that there inter-web thing...

..Sarah's catching up with Derek in his caravan in sunny Spain.

-Hello!

-Morning, how are you?

We're fine, thank you very much.

Is the sun out over there? You look very healthy and relaxed.

The sun is gloriously warm at the moment.

We're being very healthy and relaxed and enjoy every minute.

Now, I took your bar stool and I've got some pictures

I'd like to try and send to you

to show you what actually happened to it.

So, I've just pinged them over to your e-mail address now.

-Right.

-I don't know if anything's appeared yet.

Here it comes. Oh, yes!

Oh, I like the hummingbird. Wow! That's good.

Oh, you have certainly made a difference there.

-So, do you approve?

-Absolutely. Yeah, I'm very impressed.

I'm really pleased to say that I actually managed to sell it as well,

so I've got a little bit of money.

-£30 here that's coming over to you.

-Oh, excellent!

Never expected that.

Once we were going to the tip, I thought that was it.

That's coming your way, so any idea what you might do with 30 quid?

Well, it'll take us out for several good meals here in Spain.

Thank you so much. You go and enjoy the lovely weather out there

and I'll make sure this wings its way to you.

Thank you very much.

Jay charged Sarah £30 for the makeover.

Sarah sold the stool for 60, giving Derek £30 profit

to enjoy on sun, sea and Spanish cuisine.

Sarah saved three unwanted items from the skip.

And now, rather than being chucked in the landfill,

they've been given a new lease of life.

Whilst it's nice to turn a profit, it's not all about the money.

I mean, I literally dumped rubbish onto the doorsteps of our artisans

and they picked up the challenge and transformed it into fantastic items.

Now, THAT is an achievement.