Episode 19 Money for Nothing

Oh, no, I like the look of your rubbish.

How do you make money for nothing?

I love a little rummage.

The answer could be hiding in the 30 million tonnes

of household waste we throw out every year.

I think that I might be able to make something out of that.

That's why entrepreneur Sarah Moore wants to get her hands on things

before they hit the skip.

That's... That's wartime.

I'm a passionate buyer, user and maker 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...

That was brief.

Oh, the potential!

No!

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

Work of art!

..valuable...

BOTH LAUGH

..and hopefully saleable items.

Holy Moley!

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.

-Thank you. I'm astonished!

-SHE LAUGHS

Today, Sarah is in Surrey at the Witley Recycling Centre.

Where you and I may see beat up and broken down,

Sarah sees the potential to make a bob or two.

People are flooding in here all day long,

all I've got to do is stop the good stuff from there

ending up in there.

She's been given special permission by the recycling centre

to transform the stuff all these lovely people plan to sling out...

..into a knockout.

-HE LAUGHS

-Behave!

SARAH LAUGHS

I love it down here, everybody's so nice.

Don't let her sweet smile fool you.

If being nice doesn't get her the three items she needs...

..she's willing to get nasty.

Hand over your rubbish.

I'd better put that back before somebody sees me.

Can Sarah turn the clutter

in Xana and her husband Tim's boot into cash?

-What are you doing? Are you clearing out...

-Yes.

-..or are you moving, or...?

-We've moved

and we've still got a lot of stuff to get rid of, so...

Really? So is that...?

I quite like your enamelware, but I'm interested in your chairs.

-Right. Yes.

-Have you had them long?

A long time.

I've had them years and years and years and nobody's ever liked them.

And we've tried to eBay them and still nobody wants them.

I think they've got that retro look that people quite like.

-And...I think those would be...

-Maybe we should keep them, then.

Actually, I think you should give them to me and you should see

if I can make something exciting out of them for you.

You're welcome to have them.

Xana may have failed to flog the chairs,

but that adds to the challenge for Sarah.

How she intends to make them over, though, I've no idea.

I'm bamboozled.

-Thank you for letting me have those.

-You're welcome.

I shall take them away and cherish them.

-Look forward to seeing them.

-Yeah, lovely, I'll keep in touch.

-TIM:

-All right. Bye!

-Bye-bye. Thank you ever so much.

Is Xana happy her chairs skipped the skip?

I think that's brilliant, it's much better to recycle and...

I did feel a bit guilty bringing them.

And maybe if they can be refreshed, they'll have a new life.

Da-dah! No? Not your cup of tea?

Well, I think they've got some potential, they just need a little

bit of love, a bit of TLC, but I'm sure they're going to turn a profit.

Sarah knows just the fella to help her turn potential into profit.

Jay Blades is a builder turned philosophy graduate

turned furniture designer.

If you want to have a go at what I do, your best bet is to find

a piece of furniture that isn't really worth that much money.

You might have bought it down the charity shop or a car-boot sale

for about £5, and just play around with it.

Jay has his finger on the pulse of contemporary interior design,

reworking the very best of British craftsmanship

and bringing it bang up-to-date.

Some people like working with spray cans,

some people like working with artists' brushes.

Whatever your creativity is,

just draw it out and allow it to just ooze onto the furniture,

cos the reality is,

that furniture was more than likely going to go into a landfill site.

So, you upcycling it gives that piece of furniture

an extended lifetime.

Well, I for one can't wait to see Jay ooze his creativity

all over these '80s gems.

One item down, two to go.

Sarah will leave no boot or box unrummaged,

no nook or cranny undisturbed...

It's hard work, but she's loving every second of it.

I never get TIRED of being at the dump. See, tyres, tired...?

Oh, dear!

Let's all just forget that ever happened and move on.

This is Julie, she's helping a friend clear out her garage.

Julie, meet Sarah.

-Hello.

-Hello.

That's really sweet, isn't it?

It's very old and tatty now and no use.

I mean, I can see it's been...

It's been well used, it was in the garage.

It's just the right sort of size and it's got that retro charm

that people are looking to put back into their houses at the moment...

-Mm.

-So, and...

-Yes, it's all made properly too, isn't it?

-Yes.

-You know, all the joints and everything, all well...

-Yep.

But put together to last, and it obviously has.

This kitchen cabinet has been in Julie's friend's family

since the 1950s.

Would it be OK, instead of putting it in the tip,

-to let me have it to take away and see if I can do something with it?

-Certainly.

-I think that...

-Certainly, please do.

-And is it...?

-It's on wheels, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Yeah. I...

-Makes life easier!

-Lovely.

-Thank you so much for letting me have that...

-Thank you.

..and I'll keep in contact.

It may be well worn, but it's strong and sturdy,

there's a good few years left in it yet, a bit like me...I hope!

I'm sure she could rub it down and put a nice distressed look to it.

I'm sure if you've got the time, vision and the inclination

to do these sort of things, it'll come out lovely.

It's just teetering on the brink of having that appeal,

that retro look that people want to have back in their houses.

It's got enough chunkiness so we can cut it up and I think

I could be onto a winner here.

Julie's also found the drawers,

which gives Sarah the complete cabinet

to take to her choice of craftsmen.

Furniture restorers Johnny and Tom

just love to breathe new life into old furniture.

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

but have already made a name for themselves

with their imaginative designs and restoration techniques.

What I like about what we do is...

working with friends, that's always a good point,

but it's 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 kind of like a puzzle.

-You know, it comes in,

not in a very great condition and then you get to see the person's reaction when you get it back

and that's what I enjoy the most.

Ah, Tom and Johnny, two young lads full of positivity and optimism.

Hopefully, this item won't put an end to all that.

Sarah's salvaged two pieces for her artisans.

Now she has to save an item from the tip that SHE can transform.

And she will not stop until she has it. She's like a dog with a bone.

-Can I recycle you? Would you like to come home with me?

-Oh, no...!

-I could turn you into a lapdog.

-She's Daddy's baby.

Come on, Sarah, no time for pats, the clock is ticking.

Or in Richard's case, it's not ticking.

What are you chucking out today, then?

Well, it's a cuckoo clock, a very nice cuckoo clock,

-but it needs repair.

-Right.

-And...

-Oh, wow!

..I've got another one and it's a shame to throw it away, but...

Not many people have two cuckoo clocks, do they?

No, well, I mean,

I've got the other one because the last one needs repaired, but...

So, "Made in Germany," did you get it from Germany?

Yes, um, in the 1950s I was in the Army in Germany

and I bought it then.

-It's really sweet.

-In the mid-1950s.

I hate throwing it out, but...it's going to cost a lot to repair

and I don't need it, I wouldn't know where else to put it...

Well, I think if you've got one cuckoo clock,

that's probably enough, but if it would be possible

-to take that from you and see if I can mend it and...

-Oh, please do.

-Oh, I'm so excited!

-Please do, I'd be much happier doing that than it going down in the...

In the landfill.

Yeah, well, I'm definitely... I'm so pleased that...you let us have that.

That's lovely and I shall try my best to get it going and then I'll...

-It's up to you now.

-I know. Ooh, the pressure!

Sarah must be CUCKOO to choose this broken clock,

but she does love a challenge.

So I really don't know what I've got here. I'm not a clock expert.

There's potential that this little cuckoo clock could turn

a pretty penny, but at the moment it's not working,

I'm not sure if all the bits are here...

..and I'm not sure what kind of market there is for cuckoo clocks

at the moment, but I'm going to stay positive and hope

that I've just picked up a winner.

Perhaps Sarah can make this cuckoo sing again.

She has her three items.

Jay will perform his makeover magic on the bamboo chairs...

Tom and Johnny will take on the challenge of the cabinet...

and Sarah will need to make the cuckoo clock

into something saleable.

So, today's eclectic collection of items will provide just

the kind of challenge that I love, but there's going to have to be

some radical changes if I'm going to make some real cha-ching.

Welcome to Wolverhampton.

The hometown of heart-throb Liam Payne from boyband One Direction.

Their megahit, What Makes You Beautiful,

is a tale of seeing beauty where others may not...

..kind of like upcycling expert Jay Blades and furniture.

Even though I don't agree with people taking chairs like this

to the recycling centre, um, one thing I must say is that I do

enjoy that they do, because if they get rid of it or they don't see the

beauty in it, I guarantee you I will definitely see the beauty in it.

So, I'm really, really excited

to see what Sarah's going to bring along.

These two are a classic 1980s

conservatory pair of chairs

and they are going to need all of Jay's imagination

and ingenuity to turn them into something saleable and desirable.

I've never seen Jay work with anything like this before,

so I hope he takes them on.

I can't think of a safer pair of hands for this pair of chairs.

-You like to set a challenge for me, don't you?

-I do.

But I know that you will rise to the challenge,

that's why I can bring things like this to you

and I just know you're going to make them look special.

I'm hoping with a bit of colour and maybe some fantastic upholstery,

we might be able to create something that has, you know,

like, a reasonable amount of value to it.

Yeah. I've never worked with bamboo before and, yes,

you're quite right, with a bit of colour and a lovely fabric on there,

it should be able to bring these right up-to-date and...

I've-I've never done this before, this... It's going to be cool!

These chairs are a brave new world for Jay.

He's agreed a budget of £140 for the pair.

I can't think of a better man to maximise the bang for those bucks.

In terms of what I've got to spend on them,

I'm slightly maybe capping your creativity by the budget.

If you could hit it as hard as you can on that budget, pack a punch,

-see what you can do for that money, that would be fantastic.

-OK, cool.

-All right, you take care.

-See ya.

Well, I think I was right in thinking that those chairs

are not right up Jay's street, but he is going to take them on

and if anybody can make a couple of duds into something desirable,

it's Mr Blades.

My brain is thinking, like, "What am I going to do?

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do?"

I'm thinking of a load of different colours

and also just how to work with bamboo.

As I said, I've never done this before.

Pfff! Wow, Sarah's done it to me today, I must admit, um...

-Even

-I

-would like to see how these turn out.

Jay has a £140 budget to transform these '80s throwbacks

from dated to desirable.

This is the South London market town of Croydon.

There's been a market here since the 13th century, where,

just like today, traders would sell fruit, vegetables,

leather goods and linen,

although I think there are probably fewer oxen on sale these days!

Tucked away nearby is the creative hub

that is Tom and Johnny's workshop.

And Sarah's wheeling the old kitchen cabinet their way...

..one hard-earned inch at a time.

I think I should probably have left this at the tip.

A few times she's brought stuff which was really unexpected

and kind of a bit shocking, so hopefully nothing too outlandish.

Yeah.

This poor old kitchen cabinet is in a really sorry state

and I'm hoping the boys in here are going to take up the challenge

to turn it into something amazing, because at the moment I'm thinking

it should probably have stayed at the tip.

-Hello!

-Well, perhaps the boys can help you see the positive side

of this item again, Sarah.

-Give us a hand with this.

-Oh, wow.

-SARAH LAUGHS

-"Wow?" That sounded almost enthusiastic!

-Yeah, yeah.

-It's a bit of a dog, isn't it?

-That's kind of cool.

-Shall we get it inside?

-Yeah.

Well, I think underwhelmed adequately describes that reaction.

-It's not in fantastic condition, is it?

-No.

But I'm hoping that there is just enough left in it

that you can actually make it into something,

because it has got quite solid drawers to it.

I'm having a look here and I'm thinking it might even be

beech-fronted to the door and the drawers, so...

Any ideas what you might be able to do with it?

Yeah, definitely, I mean,

the handles themselves are really nice, actually, they just need a lot

of cleaning up to kind of get them back to sort of a nice kind of look.

Yeah. If we take this paint off and see what's underneath here,

this could be really nice, this wood.

So perhaps the whole carcass stripped might be nice

and then finished in oil or some other kind of finish.

If it was kind of pale and interesting

with those sweet little handles on it, it could look quite nice.

-This is a bit of a shocker on the top, though.

-Yeah.

Yeah, we're going to have to do something with that.

Possibly painted, probably with an oil finish.

-Cost comes into it as well, but...

-Yeah, exactly.

..I think we need to see what we can...

Keep it looking as good as possible, but keeping it cheap.

-Yeah, I like that "cheap" word.

-BOTH CHUCKLE

But if I'm leaving you, what, 260?

If you can try and make it as saleable as possible

and as approachable to as many people...

-with styles of their interior...

-Certainly.

-..that would help.

That's why with the top we'd probably go for something that's

quite a neutral colour, something that's going to go well in any room.

So that way people are going to be able to kind of use it

where they like.

I think that sounds great.

-Yeah, so that's brilliant work. Perfect.

-Yeah.

-Thank you so much.

Cool.

Good lads, taking up that challenge!

Because that old kitchen unit - it's definitely seen better days.

The only place that that is going is up.

It's going to be a challenge for us to get it back up and running,

hopefully as a useful piece for someone, whether or not it's

-used in the kitchen or, you know, in their hallway, you know?

-Yeah.

-Um...

It's going to be a challenge,

but I think it's going to be a nice piece at the end of it.

The boys have a plan.

A stripped wood cabinet with a painted worktop

and they have a price, £260 all in.

From the suburban streets of South London to the quiet

countryside of Sarah's home in Sussex.

She's dropped off the bamboo chairs and the cabinet and now,

having enjoyed a morning walk with Bramble,

she's going to get started on the cuckoo clock.

So, the cuckoo clock really doesn't work.

I hoped I might be able to get it going or something simple

would be wrong with it, but I've had a really good look at it

and I've also spoken to a horologist.

A what? Excuse me a sec.

NARRATOR TYPES ON KEYBOARD

One quick interweb search later,

I can tell you a horologist is a clockmaker.

You learn something new every day!

It's 150 quid at least to get it repaired and a very long

waiting list, so I'm afraid I don't think this is going to tick again.

Aw, this cuckoo will cuckoo no more.

But don't fret, Sarah has a plan.

She intends to transform this clock into a smartphone-charging station.

OFF-KEY "CUCKOO" SOUNDS

You know when a cuckoo clock is broken -

it starts to sound like a pigeon.

OFF-KEY "CUCKOO" SOUNDS

It's a heavyweight item and Sarah needs to lighten the load

by clearing out its internal workings.

I'm sorry, this feels awful.

If this all goes wrong, it could make a lovely bird box!

You might think Sarah's cuckoo phone-charging station is bird-brained,

but when you're finding a new purpose for an old item,

no idea is too off-the-wall or wacky - get inspired and go for it.

So that is pretty much stripped now, so if that's all one colour,

I think that's going to look really cool,

but I need to find out a way of introducing the phone to it

and this bit, the old moulding from the front,

definitely needs to be kept and I'm hoping that a phone

might fit in there...

Oh, look, that is perfect...

and really lucky, cos that's going to mean it will look like

it's made to do this, which is always helpful.

So that's going to be on there in some beautiful colour

and then the phone will go in here, I've just got to work out a way of

getting the charger cord in here for whichever phone people have.

Can't be that hard, can it?

I think just get a little bit of something

to go over the top there and...

it'll be fine.

I said give it a go, I didn't say it would be easy.

I wonder if it's too late to call that horologist back.

Yep, I'd say so.

Well, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,

but what will this bird-brained idea be worth when completed?

So far, Sarah has only spent £12 on a charger for this project...

thankfully!

In Wolverhampton,

in Jay's workshop there's been big changes to the bamboo chairs.

They look cool.

Jay has had them spray-painted by an expert technician to ensure

a pristine, smooth finish.

So...

These chairs, when Sarah brought them in to us,

were just like a...plain kind of bamboo look and...

what I've done is, I've sent these to a spray guy to get them sprayed.

The contrast that I want to try and create is the chair looks

beautiful in black, but then I want a kind of distressed bit,

where, here, it looks as if it's just dripping with paint.

Jay is going to add a coloured motif using gold spray paint.

If he doesn't like it, he can't undo it, as removing the gold paint

would damage the perfect black finish.

I don't normally use spray paint and stuff like that,

so one's feeling a bit nervous.

So what I'm going to go for is doing a little bit of a test run

first of all.

When using spray paint, it's important to work in

a well-ventilated area, wearing the appropriate safety gear.

But that is quite cool.

And that's exactly what I want...

where it drips down.

Test run a success. It's time for the real deal.

I only get one chance at this and it has to look good, um,

because once I put the paint onto there, that's it,

I've got no more chances to rub it out or go over it again.

I'm nervous just watching!

It's a one-shot deal, so here's hoping Jay achieves

the element of distressed grandeur he's after.

I said you only get one chance at it, and the one chance I've got,

-I don't like it!

-HE CHUCKLES

Oh, he's made a right old mess of that.

In South London, there's a whole lot of stripping going on.

Tom and Johnny have been hard at it for over three hours,

stripping the paint from the cabinet.

It's just a lot of not very nice work on this one.

There's a lot of dirty work, a lot of sanding,

a lot of years of paint and build-up on it,

so it's not the most glamorous of jobs, but I think the end result's

going to come quite quickly once we've done all the horrible bits.

Sarah hoped that once stripped,

it would reveal the cabinet was made of solid beech.

Unfortunately, it's plywood.

Only the front of one drawer is beech.

This means a change of plans.

You can really see the difference between the two drawers now.

So this one's the solid beech and this one's plywood.

Um, so, we're going to paint the carcass instead

and have a stripped wooden top.

So it's basically kind of flipping the idea, really.

It was going to be a painted top and a...bare...bottom.

Ha-ha! He said bare bottom!

Oh, just me, OK.

And now we're going to have the carcass painted

and the top in bare wood.

We found this old bit of worktop...

A surface that's going to be a good fit for our kitchen unit.

It's a bit messy, as you can see, cos we've used it for stripping!

-HE CHUCKLES

-So it needs a bit of a clean-up,

but we know there's nice solid wood underneath,

so we've just got to get to it.

While Johnny takes care of the worktop,

Tom is preparing to paint the undercoat of the cabinet.

If you use a dark-coloured paint,

then it's quite good to use a darker undercoat.

I'm going to thin it with a little bit of water as well.

It just helps it go on smoothly so you get nice thin coats

that you can build up gradually

and it'll sink into the pores of the wood a bit more.

Obviously, make sure that it's a water-based paint if you're going to do that.

If it's an oil-based paint, then it won't work so well.

Top tip from Tom.

The cabinet will be finished in olive green, a deep, earthy,

natural colour, which should sit in harmony with the natural finish

of the stripped wood worktop.

So, like, as expected underneath, it's a really nice,

solid piece of beech.

It's starting to come through, it just needs a lot,

lot more sanding, so I'm just going to continue doing this

and then hopefully we can get it looking like this all over.

They've been forced to change their plans once,

here's hoping it's plain sailing from here on in.

In Sussex, there's been some big changes to Sarah's charging station.

It's just arrived back from a special technician

and if you didn't think she was cuckoo before,

wait till you see a load of this.

Well, I've had a really fun idea for the cuckoo clock.

So I just thought I'm going to throw caution to the wind

and turn it into something really kitsch and cool.

So the cuckoo clock has been flocked.

Flocking is the process of adding thousands of tiny particles

of fluff to an object covered in a fine coat of glue.

It gives the item a velvety feel.

It was very popular in the 1970s on wallpapers, but truth be told,

you can flock almost anything.

It's flocking marvellous.

Look at these two. Aren't they amazing?

Look at that really vibrant, lovely pink.

I've mixed it up a bit and I've got a few different tones of pink here,

so when I put it all together, it should kind of layer up

so it looks really pretty.

But this stuff, stunning, isn't it?

So all I've got to do now is put it together, and hopefully

we'll end up with something that is truly unique.

When Sarah saved this cuckoo clock from the scrapheap,

it was beyond repair, but now...

It's time has come to be born again

as a retro-chic and completely unique smartphone-charging station.

It's functional and eye-catching,

a classic cuckoo-clock design given a bold and brash spin.

The vibrant shades of playful pink give it a pop-art feel.

It's one of a kind, uber-cool and utterly brilliant.

Well, it's definitely kitsch, isn't it?

And I think it's beautiful, it's definitely useful,

and I'm just hoping it's saleable.

It was almost lost for ever, but Sarah saved Richard's broken clock.

What are you chucking out today, then?

Well, it's a cuckoo clock, a very nice cuckoo clock...

I hate throwing it out, but...it's going to cost a lot to repair.

She couldn't fix it, but she did find a way to repurpose it.

Sarah paid £72 to have the clock flocked,

plus 12 for a charger, making her total spend £84.

She sold the charging station to Velvet Moon,

a craft shop in Glasgow, and is now on her way to Richard's home

near Witley to hand over the profit.

DOORBELL RINGS

-Hi there, hello.

-Hello.

-Richard, hi, it's Sarah.

-Sarah.

-Hi there, nice to see you again.

-Nice to see you, this is...

-Oh, hello there. Hi, I'm Sarah.

-Hello, I'm Anne.

-Anne, hi there, how do you do?

-Hi.

Now, I actually took your cuckoo clock to...

-I think it's a horologist, isn't it...?

-Oh, yes.

-Yeah.

..to see, and it was at least £150 just to get somebody to look at it,

so I know why you were taking it to the tip.

-That's why I went to the dump!

-That's right.

-Yes!

Having not been able to get it going, I had to think of something else to do,

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

-Hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised. Here is...

-Oh, no!

-Yeah.

ALL LAUGH

-I knew I was going to get that reaction!

-Wow!

-That's lovely.

-Gosh, it's gone pink. Fantastic.

-Isn't that fantastic?

-Wow.

So it is now a phone charger.

-Wonderful. Oh, how clever!

-A phone charger, yeah.

-And it was flocked.

-Oh!

-Lovely!

-ALL LAUGH

-So it has had a new lease of life.

-That is amazing.

-Yes.

It is definitely in the pink and it has been bought by a shop

-who specialises in that kind of thing...

-Oh, really?

-Oh.

-..and I do have a little bit of money to hand over to you.

-Oh, good!

-Oh!

-It didn't make a fortune...

-I'm sure it didn't!

-..but I have got £26 here...

-Oh!

..for your old cuckoo clock and I hope you don't mind this now?

That is fantastic. I mean, as it was going in the tip, um...

You know, I don't want that, so it'll go up to the church,

-where she... You know, up at Witley.

-Yes.

-Oh, fantastic.

So, you know, we're about to spend a lot of money on outside

decoration and so on, and a sound system, so it'll go into that pot.

I'm so pleased that's going to somewhere so close to your heart.

-Thank you very much.

-Great, well, thank you so much for the clock.

-Well, lovely, that was a wonderful surprise.

-That's very sweet of you.

-Thanks very much.

-Bye-bye, thank you ever so much.

-Bye!

Sarah spent a total of £84 transforming the cuckoo clock.

She sold it for 110,

turning a profit of £26 for Richard and his wife Anne.

In Wolverhampton, at Jay's workshop...

..he's getting prepped for Sarah's arrival to give the thumbs up

or down to his handiwork.

It is perhaps no surprise that those two bamboo chairs

were destined to the tip.

They're short on style and even though there is

a little bit of bamboo and wicker creeping back into fashion,

they just didn't have the look.

But I'm hoping with all Jay's skills,

he's managed to make them look desirable and saleable.

Has Jay succeeded in transforming these '80s chairs?

He's added a dash of contemporary panache.

The addition of the floral fabric adds a timeless classic quality.

And with a deep cushion, well, that just looks oh so comfy.

And as for that drippy, distressed motif,

it's now a golden glint down one side - a stylish touch.

For Sarah's viewing, Jay's hiding the floral design.

He's such a tease!

-How are things?

-Very good, very good.

BOTH LAUGH

-Are you good?

-They're different. They're different.

They are different.

Uh-oh, is that different good, or different bad?

That's just... This is the bottom fabric, if that makes sense?

OK, are you saying there's... there's another dimension?

Oh, yeah, there's another dimension.

So we've got to turn them over...

Different good! Excellent.

Great, thanks, lovely. Er, I'll take those.

-They're cool!

-You like 'em, yeah?

Yeah, they're good. They're really good.

They're strong and they were weak, and that is amazing to achieve that.

And you've got a real chunk of comfort in that...

Chunk of a cushion there, chunk of a cushion.

Cos the problem that I had before is when you sit on them,

the bamboo's really...

it comes through the thin cushion, and personally,

I really like the fabric, I must say, it's really, really nice.

I haven't gone for this print right in the centre because there's

so much going on here that I thought

do it a little bit off-centre, similar with that one as well.

Rather than use the fabric in exactly the same way that

everybody would, it's just doing it a little bit off-centre,

which makes it look really, really cool, I think.

They look classy, they look designer and they look expensive!

They do look expensive, I must admit.

70 quid each we left on them, did they come in on budget?

Bang on budget, £70 each, yeah. They look really, really expensive.

I really do like them,

I never really liked them when you brought them in.

-I thought they were horrible.

-Horrible?

-Yeah!

He's dissing my skip finds again! I don't have...

-I don't shop for my stuff, OK?

-I know you don't.

I need to drag it

kicking and screaming off a recycling centre, so...

I love what you've done to them.

I think you've given them every chance of going back into

somebody's house and being loved again.

-Thank you.

-Nailed it again, Blades.

-HE LAUGHS

Right, thanks for that.

That's a job well done, Jay.

These chairs are as exciting as I could possibly have hoped for.

They have got heaps of character now.

They are crispy, clean, exciting things

that I can sell and hopefully make some money on.

Xana was moving home and clearing out when Sarah spied this pair.

I've had them years and years and years and nobody's ever liked them.

I think you should give them to me and you should see

if I can make something exciting out of them for you.

It's much better to recycle and...

I did feel a bit guilty bringing them.

But maybe if they can be refreshed, they'll have a new life.

And that's exactly what happened.

With a striking new look, Sarah sold the chairs to Nick Smith,

a regular client of hers whose online shop specialises

in retro and recycled items.

And now, Sarah's going to tell Xana the good news.

-Hi there.

-Ah, hello.

-Hello.

-Hi, good to see you.

-And you. So, is this...?

This is where you were moving to when I saw you at the tip?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is it.

-How did it go?

You said you had loads of bits that you were clearing out, have you...?

We did, we've spent all summer whittling it down

and finally we're all sorted now.

Um, your chairs went all the way to Wolverhampton

to a fantastic guy called Jay Blades who specialises in taking

furniture like yours and giving it a whole new lease of life, and

I've got some pictures to show you.

-I'd love to see it.

-How about that?

Wow! That looks amazing! Oh, gosh. They're so different.

They're lovely.

And for some reason I thought they were going to be

a sort of khaki colour.

I don't know why - I didn't expect them to be black.

The cushion pads are absolutely beautiful and really lovely fabric.

They're really comfortable as well, they've got that big,

-squashy seat pad on them.

-Yeah, because they were really...

I had quite thin pads and after a while they were a bit sort of...

-That ten-minute chair where you want to stand up again?

-Yeah.

They're not like that now and they're lovely and they have been

bought by a retro shop and I've got a little bit of profit to hand over.

-You're joking?! That's so good!

-So, there is £25...

-There's...£5 there...

-Wow! Thank you!

..and 20 quid there for you.

Well, that's not bad for some... some old junk! Thank you very much.

What might you do with that little...lot?

Well, I don't think we'll need to buy any more chairs,

but it'll probably go towards something else that we need here,

so that's very helpful.

-Lovely, OK, well, really great to catch up.

-You too.

-Thank you very much for letting me have your chairs.

-You're welcome.

-Bye-bye!

-Bye-bye.

Jay charged Sarah £140.

She sold them for 165, giving £25 profit to Xana.

In South London...

..Tom and Johnny are ready to reveal the fruits of their labour to Sarah.

Ever since I dropped it off,

I have been wondering if Tom and Johnny have been able to find

any redeeming features to transform that old kitchen cabinet

into something that you'd want to have in your house

and that I can sell for a profit.

Have the lads achieved the perfect combo of style and practicality?

They've done a marvellous job!

The replacement beech worktop has been sanded down

and finished with a clear varnish.

It's a strong and sturdy bit of solid wood,

which adds character and quality.

The original metal handles have scrubbed up a treat

and add to the heavyweight feel.

This cabinet was built to last and now it's ready to take

pride of place in a new home.

Hello?

For now, though, it's hidden away, ready for the grand unveiling.

-How are you?

-Good, and you?

-How are you doing?

-Really nice to see you.

-You too.

-Nice to see you again.

-Oh, it's under wraps.

-It is, yeah.

-Is that a good thing or not?

-You'll see in a second.

Guys, that's amazing! I cannot believe that. It's great.

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

-The finish is fantastic. It looks brand-new.

-Yep.

-Retro style...

-Yeah.

-..but brand-new.

-Mm-hm.

We used all the original fittings, they cleaned up really nice,

so we didn't even have to change them, so, yeah.

Look at you! That's so clever.

I did not think that it would have that much style and that much

distinction about it, because it was awful when I dropped it off,

-wasn't it?

-Yeah, it didn't look great.

And a great chunk of timber on the top that adds gravitas to it.

And it's much thicker, which is nice,

cos it gives it a bit more kind of weight to it.

-Before it looked quite flimsy, whereas now it looks really solid.

-Mm.

There's nothing lightweight about this piece of furniture,

but have the boys kept within their £260 budget?

How did you come out on costs for it?

Yeah, we went a bit over, but not too much. About £35 over.

Mainly on materials, cos it took so long to clean it and strip it and...

-Mm.

-You know, lots of sandpaper, lots of wire wool and stripper.

Yeah, and we decided to go for a better-quality paint,

which was definitely worth it.

I know, well, it's got a lovely sort of matt look to it, hasn't it?

It's a good choice and you've done well to match that up.

So I think to make that out of what I left with you is a great job,

really, very cool.

-So thank you so much.

-Cheers.

-Cool, no problem.

-Brilliant.

-Cheers.

Tom and Johnny have worked wonders.

This cabinet combines utility and beauty.

Sarah met Julie when she brought the cabinet to the tip for a friend.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-That's really sweet, isn't it?

-It's very old and tatty now and no use.

I'm sure if you've got the time, vision and the inclination

to do these sort of things, it'll come out lovely.

And we knew a couple of craftsmen who had all three.

And then it was time to sell.

Sarah posted pictures online

and hosted a pop-up barn sale to showcase the cabinet.

Now she's off to meet Julie once again, along with her friend -

also called Sarah, who originally owned the cabinet -

to show them its new look.

-Hello!

-Hi there.

-Hi!

-Oh, and Sarah. Hi there. How do you do?

-Hello!

Nice to see you.

-Oh, are you in the wars?

-No, a broken hand.

Oh, dear, oh, dear.

So you were helping out and diligently dropping off

-the old kitchen cabinet when I last saw you.

-Yes, that's right. Yes.

Did you think what we might do with it when we took it away?

Not really, no, I couldn't see any sort of...

-..improvement to it, do you know what I mean?

-Yeah.

Well, it went to some lovely guys, they're called Tom and Johnny,

who are based down in Croydon and they are proper furniture restorers

and so they're used to putting a very fine finish on things.

So I've got some pictures to show you of it.

-So here is the restored kitchen cabinet.

-Oh, my word!

That is wonderful!

-It's good, isn't it?

-It is.

They have completely restored it...

-Yeah, yeah.

-..and they've given it a new chunky top.

-Ah!

-All of the drawers completely relined.

-Same handles?

Yeah, same handles, they kept all of the detail that they could.

It's surprising what you can do if you have the foresight,

-you know, that's marvellous.

-It's beautifully restored.

-Could be an island, couldn't it? You know, a kitchen island.

-Exactly.

Yeah.

It's something that's still for sale, so they have made it

-look amazing and I have high hopes that it will be soon sold...

-Yes.

-..and I can come back to you with some profit.

-Oh!

But it is a really lovely piece and all the bones of it have been saved.

-It's gorgeous.

-Great.

-Really nice to catch up.

-OK, thank you.

-Bye-bye!

-Thank you.

-Bye!

Well, I think Julie and Sarah really appreciated Tom and Johnny's

hard work in transforming that old kitchen cabinet,

they certainly brought it back to life.

Tom and Johnny charged almost £300 for the restoration.

The cabinet is still to sell, so that might mean a loss of £295.

But I'm sure it won't be long before the cabinet is taking

pride of place in a new home.

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.

Well, we've made a little bit of money along the way,

but what's been really special is that I've met some great people

and we've seen three tip finds transformed into amazing new items.