Episode 5 Money for Nothing

What are you chucking out today then?

How do you make money for nothing?

Don't throw them, don't throw them.

The answer could be hiding in the 30 million tonnes of household waste

we throw out every year.

Thanks so much for letting me have that.

I think that's absolutely made my day. I love it.

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

on things before they hit the skip.

I'm a passionate buyer, maker 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...

-What do you reckon to that?

-It's quite smart, isn't it?

-Tell me you love it.

-I love it.

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

Isn't it amazing?

..valuable...

It's quite a statement piece.

..and hopefully saleable items.

-I'll take you down to the till, that's fantastic.

-OK, fantastic.

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.

Wow, that's amazing!

Welcome to Walsall Recycling Centre.

A nonstop hive of activity.

Sarah's on a mission to turn trash...into hard cash.

I love rummaging through the bin bags and the boots and the boxes.

And making money for nothing - that's just a bonus.

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, re-purpose and sell on for a profit.

Although he doesn't know it yet, first to offer up possibilities

is Alan, arriving with some comfortable seating.

-Ooh, hi.

-Hi.

You've got some interesting looking things in there.

What are you throwing out?

Just stuff from my late mother-in-law's house.

OK, that sounds like a big job. Are you clearing out lots of stuff?

Not too much, not too much but just some of the bulky heavy stuff.

It's a shame in a way but we don't really know where else to take it

-other than a tip so...

-No, you definitely get to that stage.

I'd love to have a look at it.

-Is there any chance I can see?

-Yes, yes.

-Wow, it's quite cool, isn't it?

-HE CHUCKLES

-There's a similar designed one that's all leather as well.

-Really?

With these two wingback chairs she could be onto something good here.

A pair of chairs. How exciting.

Well done. Wow.

I have to say, that both those chairs are really interesting

cos they're old, they're chunky...

In a way, I am glad they're going to be reused

cos they just seem too good to throw out but they're just so big

in a small bungalow, which is where she is.

If I could take those two chairs and then if I manage to do

-something with them, could I come and show you what I've done?

-Yeah.

That would be lovely.

Lovely indeed.

Sarah has her first find in the bag and has roped the guys

from the tip in to help.

Good work, lads.

But what does Alan think Sarah will get up to with his chairs?

I don't know. It's... It makes me think, really.

I presume it's not going to be just recycled as furniture

but as something else,

so it will be interesting to see what happens to them.

I'll just tell you if they're comfortable because that is the key.

Ah, yeah.

Actually, that's got IKEA written on the back

so it's not as old as you think it is.

Everyone's a comedian.

Very comfortable but the look they have at the moment is just...

It's not going to go into everybody's house

and I want to make them commercial, saleable and expensive.

And given the style of them, this needs a specialist upholsterer.

This is going to have to go to somebody who really knows

what they're doing, who can cope

with the fact that there's wood and fabric.

I've got just the person in mind.

Meet Ray Clarke - upholsterer extraordinaire.

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

before discovering his love of 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, and I love them, yeah.

But will it be love at first sight when Ray claps eyes on these two?

That's one find ready to be transformed.

Now time for Sarah to find a little project for herself.

Just wondering if I'd like earrings is made out of these.

What do you think?

Hopefully John and his magic carpets will be just the ticket.

-Have you got somebody rolled up in the middle of there?

-No, no.

Isn't that lovely?

I really like your carpet. I like the back of it.

What kind of nick is it in? Is it...

It's got chunks out of it where it had to be fitted

around radiators and things like that.

OK. But it's a lovely old carpet, isn't it? It's...

It's beautiful.

I'm going to go have a look at the other one while you're at it.

-Wow.

-You are getting excited, Sarah.

Go on, then.

She does love a good find.

I think that I like that one more than that one.

I think it's cos I've got a few ideas about

what I might do with some carpet.

I think it's just beautiful. I really love this.

I think I'm going to pop this one back in the recycling.

I can do an end.

No, I think you need manpower.

With some more manpower from the chaps at the tip,

Sarah nabs one of John's rugs.

But does he have any idea what she might do with it?

Not really, no. Not at all.

I'm with you, John. Help us out, Sarah.

Well, I am super pleased to have discovered this because I think

this carpet would have been really valuable when it was made.

It is obviously really good quality and you can see from the back

that it's so well-made.

Sarah is flying high on her magic carpet find.

But with the day drawing to a close,

she still needs to bag her final item.

Right on cue, David and his son Matt

appear for an evening trip to the tip.

And they've got a tonne of timber.

-Hi.

-Hello.

-What is that and what's it doing here?

This is a Victorian, solid mahogany wardrobe.

-That weighs a tonne, no doubt.

-It does, yes.

Have you got all the bits that make it into the wardrobe?

-Every single bit.

-It's amazing. So, why has it ended up here?

-Is it yours?

-Cos we're moving house.

Right. And have you had it a long time? Was it in the family or...

No, no. Bought it in Stafford 20 years ago, 30 years ago.

It looks useful.

-The right size.

-You can have it. Do you want it?

-I want it.

HE SNIGGERS

I'm going to really regret this cos I know it's really heavy.

I'm going to be moving this around forever.

-If I get hold of it, it may not end up as a wardrobe.

-Great, great.

-You can do whatever you want.

-Really?

-Yeah.

OK. And it's all solid wood, isn't it?

OK, let's see the rest of it then.

I believe our Sarah is most excited about this one.

That's right, that's nice, I like that.

I've just realised what it's in.

I was so busy looking at the wardrobe,

I didn't realise it was in a car!

Sorry, I was mesmerised.

And more of the wardrobe

just keeps appearing out of David's Tardis-like vehicle.

Let's get it out of your car and into my van

and I will do my best to make something beautiful out of it.

Or at least you know a man who will.

It's a really nice bit of, you know, really nice bit of woodwork.

And is David happy for Sarah to be radical with his old wardrobe?

I'd be delighted if she could do something with it.

There is so much potential here.

And some of the detail, it's absolutely beautiful.

I know who to take it to,

I just don't know what they're going to do with it.

With over 25 years of experience building furniture,

if you've got wood, Norman Wilkinson is your man.

I love the timber, I love the finishing of it,

I love the product, it's everything that makes me tick.

Yeah, there is a passion for it because there is no point

getting up in the morning and not doing something you don't like.

Coming in and then picking up the wood

and then turn into something lovely, you know, makes me happy.

Norman's passion is creating handmade bespoke furniture

from reclaimed and unwanted materials.

And also using second-hand materials, it's a great joy.

The old saying, isn't it? One man's rubbish is another man's...

Can't think of the saying now!

Luckily, Norman will have a say of what becomes of the wardrobe

and with that, Sarah has all she needs.

I really love the eclectic mixture of items that I've gathered today.

I've got huge potential to transform them into things

that are fabulous and make some money for nothing.

So, Sarah's fab day's work at the

dump gives us a three-piece treat.

Ray Clarke will take charge

of Alan's pair of chairs.

Norman Wilkinson will wrestle

with David's rickety wardrobe.

And Sarah will come up with

a strategy for John's old carpet.

These days, the streets of East London team with creative

businesses and design know-how.

It's here Ray practises the sport of extreme upholstery.

And he's one of our top players.

Oh, Sarah is coming today.

Um, yeah, I wonder what she's going to bring.

It's almost like you're in goal and you've got to be prepared

for a shot from any angle, do you know what I mean?

From someone taking the penalty. It's like...

Yeah, sorry about the football analogy.

No worries, Ray. Good to know you are poised and ready for kick-off.

Normally, weight is a benchmark for quality.

This is definitely heavy but if it's quality, I'm not sure.

I'm hoping that between the pair of chairs,

we're going to be able to create something really lovely.

And Ray is going to take up the challenge.

-Ray, how are you? How are you doing?

-Good to see you.

-I've got a couple of little...

-Oh.

-I'm not going to say beauties.

I've got a couple of little chairs for you.

Any chance you can give me a hand? This one is really heavy. Hold on.

Is that all right up there?

-There she goes.

-Lovely.

So, these two came into the tip as a pair but

they don't have to stay together.

I'd much rather work on this one, to be honest, than this one, I think.

-OK, well...

-Simply because this one has got a lot more character.

The orange chair will be put aside

so Ray can concentrate on the black one.

I did wonder about just really making it pack a punch.

Well, actually, Sarah,

truth to tell, I've been kind of developing my own fabric.

-Really?

-Or trying to design my own fabric.

-That's a new thing for you, isn't it?

-Yes. Completely.

What kind of fabric is it?

The fabric is based on different

types of New World and Old World monkeys.

Are you going to be able to nail it in time to get it on here?

I think so.

It sounds like, to me, you're going to pour your heart and soul

into this little chair.

It will be a work of art.

Ray is dreaming big but what will his time and materials cost?

We're looking at around 800-850 mark. Somewhere between there.

OK. If I can leave you chiselling away at the cost?

If I leave you around £800, I love the idea of the monkeys.

It's going to rock, it's going to rock.

-Go for it, OK?

-Yeah, thank you.

-Take care!

Thank you very much. Yes! Yes.

I think he's pretty happy with this project.

Well, that chair sounds like it's going to look amazing

and I don't want to hamper Ray's creativity so I think saying yes

to a load of monkey business all over is definitely the way to go.

And I think I'm going to have

a little chance of making a bit of profit, fingers crossed.

This is awesome. Oh, sorry, it's very difficult to...

to contain my emotions, I'm sorry.

No apology needed.

Ray has a big budget of around £800 to remake that chair but he's

never created a new fabric for upholstery before, so Sarah

is taking a risk on this one.

The leafy East Sussex village of Hellingly, near Hailsham,

is home to furniture aficionado Norman and he's full of optimism.

I think it's going to be great fun just to see what we've got to do

and let's take it from there

and see what we can actually achieve with the project.

Norman has a passion for bringing quality but dated wooden furniture

back to life.

Be it teak, beech or pine, Norman's the last chance saviour

for timber that would otherwise be heading for the tip.

And it's a good thing too because Sarah is bring him

that mountain of mahogany wardrobe.

I have no idea how to put this thing back together.

It's just like the biggest jigsaw.

Plenty of it to work with those, isn't there?

-Norman? Hello.

-Hi, Sarah. How are you?

-Yeah, really well.

-How are you doing?

-Yeah, nice to see you again.

Right, let's get this one out.

Now that's all inside, what's the plan?

Often I have this massive vision about how something will end up.

This, there's just so much of it, so much potential,

it's just a case of finding what would you really want to do with it?

-I'm thinking maybe a locker.

-OK, so you're saying locker.

So we're talking about leaving it up right like this?

Leaving it up right as it is.

If we keep the drawers in because people love drawers

and they're always so functional, so we leave the drawers in.

-Shall we stick them in?

-Yeah, let's stick them in and see where we go.

OK, let's have that bit.

Norman will concentrate on renovating the main body

of the wardrobe.

He thinks it could become a much more contemporary storage unit.

Because it's quite deep, we could slice it back a fraction

so it gives it the proportion.

Then we could put in three doors maybe and then keep them

individual little compartments

and then put a plinth back on it, make a nice little cornice for it.

It sounds like it's quite a complicated process.

Do you think it will chuck up any problems?

I think the only problem we'll have is once we decide where we

are going to cut it, you know, we have one go and one go only.

And if we get it wrong, we'll be sticking things

back on all over the place.

That doesn't sound completely ideal.

Measure twice, cut once. Golden rule.

OK, I can see that you've got a very clear vision about how

this is going to look and I am happy to say to hand it over to you.

But what sort of budget will Norman need for this bold venture?

To get that into how I think it's going to look fantastic,

I think it's going to cost you 375.

I think I'm going to make some money on that.

Yeah, I think you will as well. It's going to look great.

Absolutely superb. Thank you.

So, our Norm will get cracking,

making sure to measure twice before he cuts any corners.

That massive wardrobe is going to get a massive transformation.

I love the idea that Norman's come up with

and he knows this business.

It's going to be an exciting project.

And I think, let's get on with it and see how we get on. Fantastic.

Fantastic, yes. Norman has a budget of £375

but converting that broken down wardrobe into a modern

and useful storage unit might challenge even his carpentry skills.

In the leafy Sussex countryside, Sarah is at home in her farmhouse.

And you better feel like dancing cos she's thinking of cutting a rug.

It fits perfectly, doesn't it?

It's actually quite a nice carpet but I've got plans.

I thought I might make a set of luggage out of it.

Sarah could make a carpet bag from it but now she is having a closer

look at the rug, maybe she has already bagged something unexpected.

It's got a really fine weave to it.

I think that it might be some kind of wool or silk mix to it.

I think it's handmade. I don't think I can cut it up.

Certainly not without taking it to somebody who really knows what

they're talking about, cos that's not me!

Completely change your plans, why don't you? Sheesh!

So, Sarah is heading for auction house Bellmans in

Wisborough Green, West Sussex,

where auctioneer Jonathan Pratt should be able to advise on the rug.

-Jonathan, lovely to see you.

-Hello, Sarah.

I've got a little something you might be able to help me with.

Gosh, let's take that off you. Get the other end.

Uh! Thank you.

Auction houses can offer valuation services to anyone looking to put

antique items up for sale.

With 20 years in the trade, Jonathan is just the man to tell Sarah

if she's onto something with her bit of old carpet.

Um... Quite nice.

It's quite a nice carpet, actually. It's very obviously Persian.

Looking at the style of it and the colours, it's...

Well, you want it to be antique at the very best,

early part of the 20th century. It's getting close to that.

Stylewise, it looks like it's like West Persia.

What I need to look for on here is signs of wear and discolouration.

Jonathan thinks it's a genuine Persian rug.

What you're saying, this is really bringing it to life for me.

But what sort of sale estimate would Jonathan put on it at auction?

I'd reckon potentially between £200-£400.

-Really?

-Potentially, yeah. Certainly...

Would you like to get off my rug, sir?

Yeah, that's valuable, Jonathan.

Can my tip-find rug come here and stand a chance of selling?

Yeah, absolutely. I really believe it can.

I'm joining you down the tip, I can tell you!

It's amazing down there. It's really good, isn't it?

It is good, Sarah, yes.

Jonathan will put the Persian beauty in his next appropriate auction.

-Brilliant, I can't wait.

-Thank you. OK, bye.

I take my hat off to her. What a find.

She's obviously got a very good eye.

On the whole, it has great potential.

With no outlay on materials for this little project,

Sarah is in with a chance of profit but will that rug that was headed

for the skip really live up to its potential at auction?

Back in busy East London,

Ray is hard at work on the wingbacked armchair.

In fact, he seems to have ripped it to bits.

I've basically gone a bit nuts on the chair!

I've stripped it back down to bare wood

so I can get it prepared for a new colour, a wood stain.

Ray needs to remove all of the chair's dated upholstery

and strip the wooden frame before he can begin to modernise it.

He's got a big budget of around £800 to do that, but time is money

and this is a seriously time-consuming job.

I hate it when they snap off!

It takes great patience and some determination as well.

Oh! Snaps off!

Great patience, yeah.

Ray's also been hard at work on the real stars of this piece -

his menagerie of monkeys.

I've just looked up certain types of monkeys and just illustrated them.

His signature fabric will be printed up from his monkey sketches.

Because of the types of monkeys I've chosen as well, it'll give me an

opportunity to maybe explore colour in quite a vast range.

So you've got the gold of the tamarin here,

then you go on to the red howler.

And then there's a black howler as well.

So, hopefully, this will be more of a surprise for Sarah

when she gets to see this

cos I really didn't have a chance to show her.

His final designs will be sent to a fabric printing company to be

transferred onto a velvety fabric.

Obviously, I want the print process to go quite well to capture

all the definition, but I'm also asking a tall order

because asking for the illustrations to go into a pile fabric

as opposed to just a plain, flat fabric so there may be

some compromise I might have to make at some point, but we'll see.

It's getting me all lumpy in the throat as well at the moment,

I'm that excited.

Ray is passionate about his monkey designs

but he still has a lot of work to do on that chair.

Once his labour costs are factored in,

can he really manage to deliver it on Sarah's budget?

Back in Hellingly in the East Sussex countryside,

Norman is about to tackle the enormous mahogany wardrobe

and he's keenly aware that Sarah's left him a challenging job.

Like, in Victorian times, they could spend a year making

a piece of furniture and it wouldn't matter.

But, you know, like with us, we have got a certain limit

and we have to work to it so we're a bit more under pressure.

You know, that's modern day for you - pressure, pressure, pressure.

To keep his labour costs within Sarah's budget,

Norman needs to work fast but carefully.

I think as long as we think about what we're doing, we should be OK.

You know, one of those ones!

It's like we always say - measure twice, cut once.

I've heard that somewhere before, Norman.

He plans to cut the bulky wardrobe down to more manageable proportions.

First of all, he's removing the back panel.

The screws do not want to come out.

Or at least, he's trying.

I think I might have to get a hacksaw on here.

Bingo. That's that one.

Oh, dear.

The mahogany wardrobe is made from a tropical hardwood - a popular

material used for quality furniture back when this was made,

which was quite a while ago.

This is the problem sometimes of using reclaimed

and you can't get the screws out so we have to make the decision on,

if we can't save it then we might just put a new back on it.

Yeah, that one's snapped as well so...just this one now.

Uh!

But with a little bit of elbow grease...

That's all right, we haven't snapped the joints so we are in business.

..the back comes off relatively cleanly.

Excellent. Very good news.

The dilemma now is that it's too wide.

I've got to decide on how much we're actually going to cut off it.

And that is a tricky question.

Nearly.

I mean, there's only

a half inch in it, an inch.

That can be quite critical.

Know what I mean?

I've no idea what you are referring to, Norman.

I'm going to take 4.5 inches off.

That decision made,

it's nearly time to fire up Norman's circular table saw.

That should make short work of cutting the wardrobe down to size,

but he's only got one chance to get it right.

I've just got to make sure when I cut it,

I don't wobble off the line and things like that.

-Let's not talk about it.

-HE LAUGHS

Good luck, Norman.

I can hardly watch.

They could have done with being slightly higher.

I'm going to do it again.

What was the golden rule, Norman? Measure once, cut twice, was it?

This mahogany monster looks like it has a long way to go

before Sarah has anything worth selling.

In Wisborough Green, West Sussex, it's sale day at the auction house.

And Sarah's Persian rug is about to go under the hammer.

Now its fate is in the hands of today's auctioneer, Simon Garner.

We have, I think, between 30, 40 rugs for sale every month.

It will sell, I'm confident.

Sarah thought she might have spotted a quality weave

but will any of the buyers at the sale want to snap it up?

Lot 970A is this Kashan carpet. Early 20th century one...

When Sarah met John, he was about to unload a roll of unwanted rug.

It's got chunks out of it where it had to be

-fitted around radiators and things like that.

-OK.

Sarah loved it but did John

have ideas on what fate might await his rug?

Not really, no. Not at all.

Well, he will soon find out

because the rug has now been successfully sold at auction.

Sarah is on her way to see John and fill him in on what became of it.

-Hello, Sarah!

-John, lovely to see you again.

Yes, nice to see you again.

-Are you well?

-Yeah, very well, thank you. You?

-Yes, very well.

I said when I met you at the tip that I'd really like

to keep in touch with any progress on your rug.

So I had scissors poised ready

to cut it up to make it into carpet bags

and there was this little voice inside me saying,

"I'm not sure that I should do that,"

because I'm not a rug expert but I do have a friend who is.

And so I bundled up your rug

and I took it to the local auction house and let Jonathan,

who runs the auction house, have a look at it for me.

-So he put it into auction for us.

-Oh, right.

I would never have expected that.

So it did sell and I've got the profit here.

I have got £381.60 for you.

I would've never imagined that! That's amazing.

Is that a bit of a surprise then?

A massive surprise. I'm amazed it's this much money.

That's amazing. Thank you very much.

I don't think I'm going to throw anything away again!

What are you going to do with that sort of money?

A friend of mine's wife has been very poorly.

She's only in her 30s and she got quite a nasty illness.

She's now in a wheelchair and they've just put a stairlift

into her house so I'm going to give it to them.

That will be absolutely fantastic. You know, I couldn't be happier.

I'm so pleased we stopped that

little rug going into the skip that day.

This will make, I hope, a difference.

-Sarah, that's absolutely brilliant.

-I'm really pleased.

-That's a lovely outcome. Thank you ever so much.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

Bye-bye. Bye.

What a result. The Persian rug sold at auction for £480.

After auction costs totalling £98.40 were deducted,

Sarah was able to hand over an amazing £381.60 to John.

Back in East London, Ray has finished

his makeover of the hotly anticipated armchair.

He is waiting for Sarah...anxiously.

I'm proper nervous!

I just hope that she really likes it, yeah.

Oh, no, what have I done?!

You've done up an armchair, Ray, don't worry.

Although Sarah is also on tenterhooks.

I've come to see Ray and to find out how the armchair has turned out

that I left him.

And this is one of the projects that has really been on my mind

because Ray is inventing a whole new fabric to go on the chair

and doing all of the upholstery

so this just one of those things that could go either way.

Either way, the transformation is now complete.

When Sarah dropped off the chair, it was solid

but badly needed bringing up-to-date.

But now Ray has worked his magic. It's utterly transformed.

Ray's hand illustrated menagerie of monkeys are rendered

on a luxurious moleskin velvet,

which he's positioned to show off the stylish simians

to their best effect.

The chair has been entirely reupholstered with quality

finishings and the original wood

has been stained in a cool contrasting grey.

Ray took a big creative risk

on designing his own unique monkey fabric and it's paid off splendidly.

Well done, Ray.

But what will Sarah make of it?

-Hi!

-Hi. Ooh!

-You're not nervous, are you?

-Just a little bit, yeah.

-Let me see.

-I'll pull it off. One, two, three.

Ta-da!

I absolutely adore it. You've done so well there. It's so cool!

She likes it! The woman from Del Monte says yes.

She does indeed.

-Which is your favourite monkey?

-I do like the black howler.

-Yeah.

And I love the golden tamarin. Oh, come round here.

-I want to take you round the back.

-I'm going on tour.

-So, who's he? A howler?

-Yeah, it's a black howler.

And that's a red howler.

That chair is a triumph.

What's so odd is I can't even relate to the chair that I brought to you.

-No.

-Because of what you've done to it.

It's like you're showing me something

that I've never seen before.

With the very highest praise,

Sarah is delighted with Ray's monkey chair.

It meant so much to me to try to do this, so thank you

for giving me the opportunity to do this.

Honestly, thank you.

I'm properly made up, I really am.

It's smiles all round for the painstakingly finished chair.

On that note, Sarah has got a question

but she doesn't want to pry-mate. You see?

Has it gone over budget?

I'm feeling now that my original costs were probably

a little bit low.

It took longer than I thought, so therefore labourwise

it would have been a bit more expensive.

The amount of work that's gone into the chair has pushed

Ray's labour costs up,

meaning he's gone around £150 over budget at a total cost of £950.

However, Sarah is still confident.

I will try so hard to sell this at very high-end

so that we turn a really good profit over on this.

-If you would, that would mean a lot.

-Great job.

Lovely finish and I think you should be very proud of that.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

She likes it.

Ah! These monkeys, you're so tricky, I'm telling you.

Those tricky monkeys are a triumph.

Ray took a chance on a creative idea that really paid off

but it came with a high cost to Sarah's budget.

Back in Walsall Recycling Centre, Sarah found Alan about to off-load

two armchairs.

A pair of chairs, how exciting.

Alan was happy for Sarah to nab them.

In a way, I'm glad they're going to be reused cos they just

seem too good to throw out.

So, Sarah spirited them straight to Ray in East London...

Lovely.

..who immediately took a shine to one chair in particular.

Now Sarah is on her way back to Walsall to update Alan

on what became of his armchair.

-Hello.

-Hi there, Alan. How are you doing?

-I'm very well, thanks. You?

Very nice to see you again.

-I said I would be in touch with news about your chairs.

-Yes.

I took it to an upholsterer called Ray Clarke

so I've got some pictures of what he did to it.

Gosh.

-Wow.

-Is that recognisable?

-It's tremendous, isn't it?

It has been transformed.

He has redesigned it, he has given it a whole new lease of life.

These are the pictures of it in his studio.

I've never seen anything like that before. That's unbelievable.

It's unbelievable.

You just think, what are we all throwing away, really?

-Yes, well...

-It's got that potential.

It has got huge potential and it is out there now waiting to be sold

and I've got high hopes that it's going to generate some profit

-for you, and I'll keep in touch...

-Wonderful.

..and be knocking on your door with the money in the future.

-Thank you ever so much.

-Pleasure, pleasure.

Well, I think that Alan was really impressed with all Ray's hard work

because that chair really is a unique piece and I'm sure it's

going to sell well and I'm going to

be sending cash back to Alan very soon.

Ray's materials and painstaking labour on the chair

came in at just under £1,000.

This niche item has yet to sell

so it's currently a potential loss of that £950.

In the quiet East Sussex village of Hellingly,

Norman is waiting patiently for the arrival of Sarah

with a piece he's rather proud of.

It's a really versatile piece.

The beauty of it is, it's the size that it can go anywhere

and the amount of storage you can get into it is ideal.

You could use it for anything, basically.

I mean, the beauty of it is it's got doors on it,

you can put your junk in it, hide it away, like we all do.

Speak for yourself, Norman. But, yes, you are correct.

Let's hope Sarah is as happy with the result as you are.

Well, I left Norman with a whopping great wardrobe

and I hope that he'll be able to transform it into something that is

much more saleable and commercial that will fit into anybody's house.

When Sarah dropped it off, this was a broken down lump of lumbar

destined for the furniture graveyard.

But now Norman has worked his magic, the wardrobe is reborn.

Its cool distressed finish and slimmed down proportions make it

a practical and stylish storage cupboard fit for the modern home.

The cornicing details add interest and the contemporary paint job

brings this Victorian beast bang up-to-date.

-Hi.

-Oh, I thought I'd shut the door.

I thought I locked it.

But what will Sarah make of the finished storage unit?

Ooh, it's tall. It's really quite cool.

I know that cool is not something I normally associate with you.

With me. No, no.

-I think you've done really well there.

-Yeah, I think it works well.

Proportionately it works.

Really nice to have kept the drawer handles.

Because you have converted a big piece of furniture

into something much more commercial, haven't you?

Yeah, I mean, we've used... Obviously, we made the doors

out of all the old timber that was left round here, the plinths.

We changed the cornice because we didn't want to keep the same

cornice on because it just didn't work so we put a new one on.

So apart from that, we used everything that we can, everything.

Norman has clearly put a huge amount of effort into transforming

this piece and he's given Sarah a fighting chance of making a sale.

-You're such a safe pair of hands for me to bring things to...

-Really?

You get it done on time, you nail it, you make it look commercial.

-And it's saleable.

-It is.

-The storage is great.

I'm really pleased with it.

It's a really good-looking piece and I think you've got a lot

of storage per square inch, given the floor space you are taking up.

So I reckon I'll position this as something that is

a universally great kitchen cupboard.

-This is good kitchen storage, isn't it?

-Superb.

-It's got a lovely strong look.

-Yeah.

I think hopefully you're going to have another winner on your hands.

-I think I've definitely got a winner there.

-You happy?

Safe Hands Norman, that's what I'm going to call you from now on

cos you just get it right.

Let go, please let go.

Thank you.

No, no, Safe Hands Norman, thank you.

Well, I'm pleasantly surprised about what Norman has managed to create

out of that huge piece of furniture.

I've now got something saleable and good-looking on my hands

and I should be able to make a profit out of that.

When Sarah spotted David and his son Matt,

they were hauling a terrific amount of timber.

This is a Victorian solid mahogany wardrobe.

They wasted no time in coming to an agreement.

-Do you want it?

-I want it.

And David wished Sarah well in her endeavours.

I'd be delighted if she could do something with it.

Now that great hunk of hardwood has a whole new home.

The Old Cinema,

a vintage and retro furniture dealer in West London,

snapped up the revitalised storage unit as stock to sell in their shop.

So now Sarah is aiming to update David on what became

of his wodge of old wardrobe.

She is heading for his office in central Birmingham.

-David, hi there, how are you doing?

-Hi. How are you?

Very well. Nice to see you.

I know that when we met briefly at the tip I said I'd like to keep

in touch to see if we'd managed to do anything with your wardrobe.

I was really pleased to be there on the day that you were

dropping that off because it was obviously a lovely old wardrobe.

So we took it to a guy called Norman

who uses wood like that all the time.

So we decided that the best thing for it would be to go back to being

some sort of storage.

I've actually got some pictures to show you what he did with it.

So that's how it ended up.

That's the drawers, yes. Oh, very good. Yes. That looks great.

That looks really useful, really good.

It did sell to a London shop and I have the profit to give to you.

Jolly good. Profit.

-I've got £100 for you.

-Thanks very much.

And that's probably about what it cost us 30 years ago

when we bought it.

Marvellous.

David has had three decades of use out of the wardrobe

and now he has got his cashback too.

But what will you do with this dividend?

Would it be a good idea if I gave it to someone like

Forestry Stewardship Council or something like that

who look after sustainable wood?

Maybe they'll plant lots of new

mahogany and teak trees with the money.

I think that's a lovely idea.

I was very conscious that I was putting it in the tip

and there was a better place for it so you've done well.

I really appreciate your time today

and for letting me have your wardrobe.

-Thanks very much.

-Absolute pleasure.

-Lovely to see you. Thank you ever so much.

-Thanks.

-Bye-bye.

Well, that's all worked out beautifully.

Norman delivered on the storage

and David is going to give that money so new trees can be planted.

Norman's materials and labour came in on budget at £375.

Sarah sold the new storage unit for a neat £475,

leaving a nice profit of £100 exactly to hand over to David.

Sarah successfully saved three items from oblivion.

The Persian rug was a fabulous tip find

that sold for a fortune at auction.

The wingbacked armchair got a marvellous modern monkey makeover.

And the Victorian mahogany wardrobe was revitalised as a practical unit

for storing your stuff.

So while Norman produced a stunning transformation of that wardrobe,

and Ray's innovative design on that armchair really paid off,

I have to say, I think the find of the day was definitely that rug.

It just goes to show, you really can make money for nothing.