Episode 14 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.

I've got £350.

No!

Today, we're at a recycling centre in Altrincham,

just south of Manchester.

Sarah is in her element.

For her, being down the dump is like a visit to a chic boutique.

When you come to a place like this,

you're on a mission to clear out, whereas I'm on a mission to clean up

because there are mountains of money to be made out of piles of rubbish.

The recycling centre has given Sarah special permission to do what

she does best - treasure hunt.

I think it's going to be a toptastic tip day today.

She must find three unwanted items to rejuvenate or repurpose

to sell on for a profit. What will she uncover?

Will it be trash or treasure?

I think it's fair to say that's trash.

We'll take it that way, yeah.

Can Jean-Luc add a little "je ne sais quoi" to proceedings?

Oh, hello.

-Hi.

-Hi. That's not going in there, is it? It looks brand-new.

-I'm afraid, yes.

-Really?

I tried to recycle to charity, but it will go

because it doesn't have the labels on.

Oh, I know. I hear that all the time.

Do you mind if I have a little closer look at it?

You can have a look at it.

-So, is it yours?

-It's my daughter's.

She needs some room in her house.

It's been used, but it's absolutely fine.

There's nothing wrong with it.

Would it be all right to pull it out and have a closer look,

just see what it's like?

Jean-Luc's talking about the UK Fire Safety Label.

All upholstered items should have one.

Charity shops can only accept sofas if the label's attached.

It's not a concern for Sarah, though,

as once she's finished, it will comply with all the regulations.

Come on, let's have a seat.

Are they going to bring us a cup of tea?

-Yeah, I think so. What do you reckon?

-That's not bad, that.

You see, I'm looking for things that I can maybe use again,

maybe reupholster. And if it's not comfortable,

there's probably no point.

-But this is...

-This is quite comfortable. OK.

Great, so glad you came.

-I might stay the rest of the day here.

-Two sugars, please.

THEY LAUGH

-If it's all right, I'll take it away.

-You can indeed.

Can I keep in touch. And if I manage to make something

-out of it, I will show you what I've done.

-That would be fantastic! OK.

-Let's save this for another day.

-OK.

Jean-Luc's trip to the tip has turned up trumps for Sarah.

If you do something with it, that'll be great.

That'll make my day.

Tres bien, Jean-Luc.

Who knows what Sarah has in store for this item.

It's "que sera sera" for this settee.

This sofa is a little bit newer than the stuff I normally take,

but it's compact, it's in really good condition,

it's comfortable and therefore it's saleable.

I think I have the potential to turn this into some cash.

Not without a little help, Sarah.

Meet Ray Clarke, upholsterer extraordinaire.

Ray made a name for himself in the world of fashion design

before discovering his love for vintage furniture.

His fresh, modern designs mix practicality, comfort and luxury.

I never intended to become, like, an upholsterer

at the beginning.

It wasn't the thing I set out to do.

I suppose you could say upholstery found me.

With my creative background in fashion design

and textile design, I was able to use those skills and redirect them.

And now this is all I do. I just give birth to chairs. I love them.

Yeah.

Give birth to chairs? Ooh, let's hope sorting this sofa

will be a bit less painful.

One item in the bag, two to go. Sarah is 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 tool box.

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

Lovely, I love that.

Who'd have thought an old tool box 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 tool box and filing cabinet.

Sarah's got goodies for Bex and Ray.

Now she is on the lookout for an item she can transform.

But if it's already hit the skip, then it's off-limits.

She has, however, spied a little gem she'd like to share with us

so has asked the recycle centre employee to fish it out.

I love these. OK, if you find one of these, don't throw it away.

It's got a hook on it, you put a little tealight in the bottom

and it props up, and you have the most beautiful little wall sconce.

And it sends out these lovely little rays of light from it.

So don't throw them away. Even as a grater, that's worth a fiver.

I love it. Never mind.

I spy a familiar face. We've seen Tamara at the tip before.

I've had it donated off friends and a charity

because I had a house fire and I ended up with nothing

and everybody has just been so great and, like, donated everything.

Having relieved Tamara of her 1950s dresser,

Sarah has her eye on an old set of ladders. Lovely stuff.

-Wow, they look like nice old ones.

-Yeah.

Where are they from, then?

These were left in my house, my new house, by the gentleman that

used to live there, and I've no need for them.

-I think they look cool. Can I have them?

-Yes, you can have them.

-I'll try and make something cool, make some money, maybe?

-Yeah.

-Be back in touch.

-Yeah.

-That would be lovely, thank you.

That's another item saved from the scrapheap.

I would have used them had they been safe, but I didn't feel

they were safe, so I'm glad Sarah can make some use of them.

So what do you reckon? A step too far or a stairway to heaven?

Sarah has her three items.

Ray will take up the challenge of rejuvenating the sofa.

Bex will get busy knocking the filing cabinet

and tool box into shape.

And Sarah will be tasked with transforming the ladder.

I can't save every bit of rubbish that comes in here.

But I've had a really good go today and I've got some cracking items,

all of which I know are going to make some money for nothing.

London's East End,

as famous for Albert Square as it is for the Olympic Park.

The area is a cultural crucible that blends innovation

with tradition, just like upholsterer Ray Clarke.

I wonder what Sarah's going to bring me.

It's just, it's just... Yeah,

she always brings some really mad projects.

-Look, it's a sofa, how mad can it be?

-Hiya.

Let me just pop that there.

I've got a little something for you outside.

-Will you come and help me in?

-Yeah, sure, sure.

-Wow.

-Let's get it inside.

Wow, look at this.

I personally hate maroon and I'm not that keen on red stuff,

all right? So for me, this is like a horror sofa.

-I am really keen on this.

-Natural.

-Natural.

Now, I did bring along a little bit of natural linen.

And what I was sort of wondering about this

is if we could rough it right up and make it look really rustic.

I don't want to say the word knackered, but I want this to

look like it is something that the dog has been sleeping on.

A dog bed? Now that's barking mad.

Is that really bad to ask?

No, it's not bad to ask. If that's what you feel it deserves,

-I can deliver that for you. Yeah, sure.

-Less show home.

-More, you know, rustic, traditional.

-More boutique, rustic...

I'm pushing on the rustic, I can tell, aren't I? Look!

I'm going to end up dreaming of rustic.

Do you use any hessiany fabric?

-I do. I mean, yeah.

-That's not quite the grade

that you'd want to sit on, is it?

No, it's not.

That's grim, Sarah.

It's not meant to be seen, let alone sat on, even by dogs.

I do have some linen scrim. It's quite thin but it can be doubled up.

I'm looking at designer stuff, £50 a metre. How much is this a metre?

That's about three pounds a metre.

Now, that's my kind of money.

-But it's the look, it's the overall look.

-But do you know something?

You are so good at your craft,

if you can make it look good in a sack...

HE LAUGHS

Sarah's made a saving on the material.

But how much will it cost for Ray to weave his magic?

Four-part figure?

-Between £600, £650 for re-covering, it's just re-covering.

-OK.

-I would happily leave you with 650 quid to do this.

-Right, done deal.

-Fantastic, well, best of luck.

-Thank you very much.

-Bye.

-Bye.

Fantastic.

I think Ray is going to duff that sofa up

and make it look really rough, rustic but reassuringly expensive.

I can understand where she's coming from.

I know the kind of work that she wants to have done,

but it's got to be done properly. It's got to be done well,

done right, and I'm a bit of a stickler for that as well.

Ray has a budget of £650 plus materials for the transformation.

HE SIGHS

Uh-oh. Where do I begin?

But can he really get on board with Sarah's cost-cutting design?

Ah, the peace and tranquillity of Surrey.

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,

it's also England's most wooded county.

But who needs wood when there's metal to mould?

Not blacksmith Bex Simon.

-She does like to challenge us with things, doesn't she?

-She does.

She hasn't defeated us yet.

No. Let's just hope it's not a filing cabinet.

SHE LAUGHS

OK, who let the cat out of the bag?

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 tool box.

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...

-And 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?

Back at home in Sussex, Sarah is hopefully taking

steps in the right direction.

I love these ladders.

But as they are, I just can't make enough money out of them

if I just sell them like this.

So I've got to make them into something.

And because they're quite a complicated set of angles,

I think it's best to go for something really simple.

So I want to make lovely little planters

out of each of the steps, fill them up with beautiful bulbs.

And so, people can have them in their homes,

out on their windowsill, by the front door,

just bringing a little bit of colour in their life. And then using all

this lovely white paint, flaky surface as a real selling point.

How hard can that be?

To make flaky paint a selling point, a lot tougher than you think, Sarah.

Especially if you can't use a saw.

Let's make a plan.

When you do something, measure twice, cut once.

Not a complete novice then.

Look away now.

Oops, spoke too soon.

A good start would be to secure the ladder by clamping it down.

Let the saw do the work.

The longer the stroke, the easier it'll be.

Hm, we could be here for a while.

Let's clean up those bits. I could have maybe cut that a bit better.

Never mind, have a back across there. Plants in there.

It should look quite cool.

But one planter isn't going to bring in much.

Time to step it up. See what I did there?

You can come and help if you like. Don't just sit there.

Oh, I'd love to, Sarah, but quite frankly, I think

I'll keep my distance.

I'm channelling potting-shed chic. It's going to be awesome.

Well, I suppose you have to believe your own propaganda.

But you still have to nail the backs on.

Just want to make sure I can make one

and I'm on the right track before I cut the whole thing up

and have to make a plan.

This could be fun.

Chin up, Sarah. Hopefully, all the hard graft will be worth it.

On the bright side, Sarah bagged a bargain at a car-boot sale,

paying only £30 for bulbs to put in the planters.

But will her idea really flourish and bring in the big bucks?

At his studio in Poplar, East London,

it sounds as though Ray has come up

with a design compromise for the old maroon sofa.

The overall look is quite rustic,

like a countryman's jacket with, you know, the leather patches.

Kind of that look but translated into a two-seater sofa,

if you know what I mean.

So, Ray's giving a nod to Sarah's rustic vision,

but with an extra air of elegance. Sounds expensive.

Before re-covering the sofa, Ray and his assistant Anna have to

strip it back to check that the frame and the filling

are in good order.

Yeah, ripping this should be fairly good fun.

I'm saying this cos I already know

what's already going on underneath here.

I can feel it with my hands and it's like, urgh.

Modern sofas aren't always built with quality in mind.

No, it's not feathers, this is polyester wadding.

Yeah, bleurgh, bleurgh. Don't like that.

But Ray is about to change all that.

Ooh, this could be painful.

Cardboard there, cardboard here, cardboard here.

They haven't even bothered putting webbing in here,

it's just... I could punch through that. I'm not going to.

But, yeah, it's a cardboard sofa.

High-end sofa frames are made of solid hardwood like oak or maple

and are put together with screws, glue and wood blocks.

These could last a lifetime.

But modern manufacturing methods

and price wars have created some new ways of building frames.

Some are OK, others, not so good.

The springs should be lashed laterally from end to end

so that, when you sit in them, they don't spread apart.

Yeah, this is, um... I wouldn't say shoddy...

Yeah, I would say shoddy, actually.

This has got to be pushing Ray's perfectionist nature to the limit.

I want to do this properly, or as well as I can possibly do it,

so it's going to be upgraded

better than it was when it arrived, anyway.

Much better.

Ray's exacting standards has meant the job has gone from a

relatively simple re-cover, to almost a complete rebuild.

That's the excitement of the challenge on this,

trying to produce something and still keep to within the budget,

so it's not just like built with cardboard.

Argh! I hate cardboard.

I hate cardboard. I can't stand cardboard.

From one artisan loving life...

Look at that - nasty, nasty, nasty.

..to another.

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, onto the tool box.

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.

Back in Sussex, Sarah's putting

the final touches to her refashioned planters.

It's coming along, isn't it?

Not quite there, though. I want it to really pack a punch.

But that, at the moment, stands me in at four quid.

It's got to be worth more than that.

It needs wow factor. Sparkle. Pizzazz.

Or an old tin bucket.

Not exactly what I had in mind.

Happy days.

Happy days indeed. This old wooden step ladder was saved from the skip.

The steps of the ladder now make up seven country cottage planters.

Sarah kept costs down by using soil from her own molehills

and bulbs from a car-boot sale.

And as much as it pains me to admit,

the tin bucket tags are an inspired addition.

I was a little bit intimidated when I first started this.

I couldn't quite visualise how they were all going to look together.

But I think these planters, all their forest stuff inside them,

all the free stuff that adds that lovely look to them

has worked out really well.

And I think I'm going to make a blooming great big profit

out of this lot too.

Sarah first discovered the stepladder

in the back of Tamara's car.

Wow, they look like nice old ones.

-Yeah.

-Where are they from, then?

These were left in my house, in my new house, by the gentleman

that used to live there, and I've no need for them.

The ladder's days may have been numbered, but Sarah's crafty

talent means it looks great revamped into planters.

And where better to get the sales started than at her barn sale?

Get it out there, make it sell.

-So do you know what that's made from?

-No.

Doorframe or something or other.

-Old stepladder.

-OK.

-No way!

-I almost want the full set, don't you?

-I'll do you a deal.

They seem to be flying off the shelf.

Fantastic, I'm so glad you bought that. Excellent. One more planter.

-Have a lovely day.

-Sarah managed to sell four planters, and Matthew,

who owns Spriggs Florist in Petworth,

snapped up the final three.

I love the fact that these were made from old stepladders.

Gives us an opportunity to offer something really quirky

to our customers.

Now Sarah is on her way to tell Tamara

the tale of her old wooden stepladder.

-Hiya.

-Hi, Sarah.

-How are you doing?

-All right, thank you.

Nice to see you again.

And you were madly tearing about last time I saw you.

-And you've just moved here, is that right?

-Yeah, yeah.

And you had some ladders.

They had a really lovely vintage look to them, but they're not

-that practical when they're old like that, are they?

-No.

Did you imagine what we might do with them after we took them away?

I don't know what you've done with them,

but, yeah, I can imagine you've done something good.

Well, I know you said that you found them in the garden, so we

thought it would be nice to make

something for the garden out of them.

-So do you want to see what we did?

-Yeah.

-So here is your stepladder planted up with spring bulbs.

-Wow.

-We managed to make seven of them.

-They're lovely.

-So I've got a little bit of money to hand over to you.

-Aw. Thank you.

-I've got £90 here.

-Wow. Just off a ladder!

-Just off a ladder!

-Wow, thank you, Sarah.

-What will you do with £90?

Probably buy some paint and some new fabric to go on my couch,

-cos I need my couch re-covering.

-Fantastic!

So that's what that will be going towards.

It was great to catch up and so pleased

that you let me have your ladders.

-Thank you.

-Take care. So nice to see you.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

Bye, thank you.

Well, I loved working on those stepladders, turning them

from practical into pretty planters.

And it sounds like Tamara has projects on her mind too,

and that money's going to be helpful.

Sarah did well in keeping her costs to just £30,

and even better in selling the lot for £120.

That leaves £90 for Tamara and her family to enjoy.

Back in East London, Ray is putting the finishing touches to the sofa.

Actually, I'm more nervous than confident, to be honest. Yeah.

It's always a bit nerve-racking when Sarah comes to see the piece.

I just never quite know what her reaction's going to be.

Not long to wait, Ray. She's on her way.

Ooh, you tease.

When I left Ray with a chain store sofa

and the idea that he was going to turn it into potting-shed chic,

who knows if he's managed to achieve that.

-Hiya.

-Hey, Sarah, how are you doing?

-Really well, how are you?

-I'm good.

-Is this the baby?

-This is the baby.

Feels interesting under there.

Yeah, looks considerably different from before.

-Come on, then, let's see it!

-Do you want me to whip it off?

-Yeah.

-OK.

One, two, three. Ta-dah!

Oh, wow!

Sarah challenged Ray to transform this floral sofa into a

rustic two-seater that would look at home in a country manor.

And Ray's only gone and done it.

Hours of love and attention have seen this sofa stripped

back and re-assembled using master craftsman techniques.

The mix of rustic, raw linen with luxury leather

and suede makes the old sofa almost unrecognisable.

The vision I had was not something as sophisticated and loved as this.

Oh.

You have created, you know, the bit of the potting-shed chic that

-I was after but with some lovely details.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It's lovely.

I love the scrappy look. Thank you for giving it that.

But it's not... The thing is, to actually achieve this

type of look takes so much work!

-And they're all hand-stitched, aren't they?

-That's hand-stitched!

That's like just hours and hours,

-getting that looking really quite perfect.

-But you know what they say?

-The devil is in the details.

-Yeah, exactly.

And that's what you've put into this.

Did it blow the budget, then?

Because this isn't the spec that I left with.

I was on the £20 a metre fabric,

and I'm not looking at that for that, am I?

You're looking at somewhere around the £950 mark for this.

-OK.

-That's £650 for my labour plus the materials.

OK, so that's a bit more than we were hoping

to get away with, wasn't it?

It's a bit more than we were hoping, but to be honest with you,

-it's infinitely more sellable, I think.

-Yeah.

It's a case of the cobbler's shoes.

I would love to have something like this at home as well.

Great, well go to a tip near you

-and you too may have something like this.

-Yeah.

You just need to have a keen eye like Sarah.

It was at a tip in Altrincham that she struck lucky

when she met Jean-Luc.

-Oh, hello.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-That's not going in there, is it? It looks brand-new.

-I'm afraid, yes.

-Really?

-I tried to recycle to a charity, but it will go

because it doesn't have the labels on.

Oh, I know, I hear that all the time.

In reupholstering the sofa, Ray has also ensured

it complies with all the fire regulations,

complete with fire labels, so it's ready to sell.

And where better to flog a high-end piece of furniture

than at her barn sale?

Well, it's a rustic setting, I suppose.

And it's certainly caught Ron's eye.

If you bought it...

-But I love this.

-It's beautiful, yeah.

-I think I'll go for it.

-Really?

You sound surprised, Sarah.

I didn't expect to sell it today cos I didn't think it was quite

the right environment to sell it.

-In here?

-It's the perfect environment.

-We just love it.

Another happy customer.

But with a £300 overspend, has it made enough of a profit

to make Jean-Luc, its original owner, happy?

Sarah has travelled to his home in Hale to show him

what Ray did with the old sofa.

-Hi there.

-Hi there.

-How are you doing?

I'm doing very well, thank you.

Last time I saw you, I think you were being a very helpful

-daddy or you were helping drop off a sofa.

-That's right.

-It wasn't yours, was it?

-No, I was dropping it for my daughter.

-Yes.

In the end, it went up to London,

to a great upholsterer called Ray Clarke.

-Do you want to see what he did with it?

-I'd love to.

-Can't wait.

-See if you recognise this.

-Wow.

That's very smart.

That's outstanding. I love the leather on it as well,

-it's really nice.

-Yes, we were really pleased with how it looked.

-I know you said that you couldn't give it away.

-That's right.

-But we managed to sell it.

-You did?

Yes, and I have some profit to hand over here for you.

-So I have £100 here from the sale.

-Wow, fantastic. Thank you very much.

That's not for me, anyway. That belongs to my daughter, anyway,

which will go to my granddaughter, hopefully. Everybody's lucky.

Perfect. Thank you ever so much.

Thank you very much, bye. Bye.

Even though Ray went over budget, bringing his costs to £950,

Ron was happy to pay £1,050 for the sofa,

which meant a lovely £100 profit for Jean-Luc's granddaughter.

Not bad for a sofa a charity shop had to turn away.

Over in Surrey...

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

become of the old filing cabinet and tool box.

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 tool box

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 tool box 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 tool box 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 tool box.

-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 managed to make money from all three items

she salvaged from the dump.

The sofa is now trendy, with at least 25 years of good use ahead.

The filing cabinet and tool box became a new-look lock-up.

And of course, Sarah's idea for the ladder

flourished into spring planters.

Well, I really couldn't be happier.

That's three amazing items, three fantastic results

and the chance to hand over three chunks of cash

to some very delighted people.