Episode 7 Money for Nothing

Ooh, just before you throw those away...

How do you make Money For Nothing?

-Can I have it?

-You can have it, yeah.

The answer could be hiding in the 30 million tonnes of

household waste we throw out every year.

Now, this is one seriously unusual tip find.

That's why entrepreneur Sarah Moore wants to

get her hands on things before they hit the skip.

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

and I've turned my passion into a moneymaking business.

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

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

These were going to be thrown away? Seriously?

I love it, love it, love it.

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

It looks brand-new.

..valuable...

You are joking.

..and, hopefully, saleable items.

-That is a triumph!

-LAUGHTER

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.

That is amazing!

Today we're at a recycling centre in Walsall,

where Sarah is doing what she does best - scavenging.

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

and making money for nothing - that's always a bonus.

She's been given special permission to ransack the rubbish tip

to find three items she can rejuvenate and sell on for a profit.

Cars are coming in. They're full of stuff.

What are you chucking out?

-A toilet seat.

-Toilet seat?

Well, I might draw the line at recycling the toilet seat.

Oh, thank goodness for that, but what will you go for today?

Let's take a look at Michelle's drawers.

That looks nice and shiny to be dropped off at the tip.

This piece of furniture had pride of place in

Michelle and her husband Paul's hall for many years.

-Did you buy it?

-No, it was Mum and Dad's,

and they've gave it to us,

and then we've finished with it, so...

This is really quite sweet. I think it's...

-It's reproduction rather than old, really old, isn't it?

-Yes, yes, yes.

When do you think your parents bought that,

or your mum, mum had that...?

The late '80s?

-It's got that sort of look to it, hasn't it?

-Yep. Yep.

But it's a good, solid, sweet little bit of furniture. You never know.

If I could do something with it,

I'd love to be able to maybe keep in touch,

-and show you what I've done...

-Yeah, yeah, lovely.

-Yes, it's fine.

This was a case of out with the old and in with the new

for the chest of drawers.

We've brought it from the hall at home.

We've just all redecorated and bought new furniture for there,

so we're finished with it.

It may look antique but it was built in the '80s, not the 1800s.

I don't know if I'm going to be able to do anything with it. It is...

It's not the best quality, cos it's reproduction.

I really prefer original pieces,

and there's something about the reproduction that just looks...

not quite right,

and it's difficult to know if I'll ever be able to make something that

has got the right bone structure so it looks really classy but...

there must be something we can do to it.

Chin up, Sarah. You always think of something.

And she knows just the fella to help perk up this item.

With over 25 years' experience building furniture,

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

I love the timber. I love the finishing of it.

I love the product.

It's everything that is... It makes me tick.

There's no point getting up in the morning

and doing something you don't like.

Coming in and then picking up the wood,

and then turning it into something lovely,

you know, it makes me happy.

Norman's passion is making handcrafted, bespoke furniture

from salvaged and unwanted materials.

It's great when we buy a piece of furniture

where everyone thinks it's a load of rubbish and whatever,

and it's great that we bring it back,

and when we've finished it and we've, you know,

we've got it looking absolutely perfect, and whatever -

yeah, it's a great joy.

Hmm. I'm not sure how joyful Norman will be

when he gets a gander at this.

One item in the bag - two to go.

Fortunately for Sarah, the convoy of cars shows no sign of slowing down.

They come in all shapes and sizes -

big ones, little ones,

very little ones, and very, very little ones.

Another Porsche. I like the Porsches - classy.

Things like this are only going up in value,

and they're going down in the skip all day long.

Can Sarah turn Don's jumble of junk into a tidy sum?

Oh, I like the look of your chair.

-Are you chucking the chair out?

-Pardon?

-Are you chucking your chair out?

-Yes.

It's so heavy. They don't make them like this any more.

Look at that - I think it's the same sort of era of

the kind of classic Ercol, but it's just a bit too clunky.

This chair is similar in style to Ercol furniture,

famed for the sleek lines and smooth curves of their classic designs.

It's really heavy, isn't it?

Yeah, it's...

It's a great pity, but...

When you're done, you're done.

I don't think you have to feel guilty about it.

-We've got more up-to-date stuff, you see, so...

-Yeah.

And, do you know who made it,

or do you know where - do you remember where you bought it from?

-No idea. No idea.

-Yeah, cos it looks a bit like sort of

-Ercol furniture.

-Late '60s, '70s.

-Yeah. It's got a good look.

I do feel guilty about throwing this away.

OK, I think... I understand but, sometimes,

you know when you've just had enough of something, don't you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah. No, I don't think you have to worry about that,

especially as I'm here to take it away and, hopefully,

do something exciting with it.

Yeah, sure.

Sarah's got her hands on her second item

and Don's happy it's been rescued from the rubbish tip.

If it can be repainted and reused -

far better, far better than throwing it away.

I think this is the poor relative of the Ercols,

but it does mean I'm not destroying a classic British design.

I think I'm updating something that was just going to go in the tip

so, in one way, I'm sad that it's not an established maker that

I recognise but, then, in another, I can do what I like with it.

Sarah knows exactly who to take this chair to for a modern makeover.

Jay Blades is a builder turned philosophy graduate

turned furniture designer.

What I love about furniture is the playfulness.

It reminds me of my childhood where I used to make Meccano sets

and just making stuff.

Now, with furniture, I'm allowed to take things apart...

add some paint, add some fabric,

and just basically add a bit of me.

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.

Personally speaking, I think adding colour is very important.

Give me the most ridiculous piece of furniture,

and I will turn it into something beautiful.

That's my claim to fame. I know I can do it.

He's confident,

but will he be able to give this chair a style of its own?

Sarah's found items for Norman and Jay, and now she's

on the hunt for a little something she can sink her own teeth into.

Treasure time. Come to Mamma.

With her eagle eyes, if she sees an opportunity, she'll swoop...

EAGLE SCREECHES

..like a bird of prey.

Except that's a pigeon but, you know, you get the idea.

PIGEON COOS

James has been clearing out the cupboards,

as he and his family prepare to move to a new home.

-How far through the process are you?

-We move tomorrow.

-You don't want to talk to me, then, do you?

-Yeah, no, it's...

It's crazy at the moment - hectic.

-Yeah, OK. I like your skateboards.

-Yeah.

You don't want to give them to me

-to see if I can do anything with them, do you?

-Of course you can.

-There we go.

-Fantastic.

-Is there another one in there, then?

-Yes, there is. Here.

They're really cool. There's something so appealing about these.

-They're in good nick.

-Yeah.

-If you don't mind...

-Yeah.

..I'd love to take them away, and see if I can either use

the wheels or make something out of them and then...

-Yeah, of course. By all means.

-Yeah, that would be great.

-Can I show you what I've done?

-Yeah.

-Can I keep in contact?

-Yes, of course. No problem.

-Thanks ever so much.

-My pleasure.

Is James happy that Sarah's saved his boards from the bins?

Great, I think, if they can be used,

one man's rubbish is another man's...treasure, so, yeah...

I look forward to seeing what happens.

They're quite cool, aren't they?

You know, that pop art stuff, I can see, you know,

maybe using the skateboards to make some shelves or something,

but I think you can make some really cool furniture on wheels to

maybe go in a child's bedroom or something like that.

And this looked like a very quick phase.

These are hardly worn, these skateboards,

so I'm really pleased to find them.

I think there's money to be made.

Sarah's skills lie in performing radical transformations,

not radical tricks.

I know my limitations, and I'm not going across there on one of these.

Maybe later. Maybe I could do some practice.

I don't think I'm that leggy. Would I be that bad?

I think this is going to end in...

No, it's going to end in tears. It's going to end in tears.

Well, I'll be crying, but with laughter.

No, it's definitely not happening.

It's not happening.

Sarah has salvaged her three items.

Norman will give the old-fashioned chest of drawers

a new lease of life,

Jay will bring the wooden chair bang up to date,

while Sarah will have her work cut out creating something

saleable from these skateboards.

The things people chuck out never cease to amaze me

but, luckily, I was here to save a few bits today that I think

will prove to be real dump diamonds and bring home some big bucks.

Welcome to Hellingly, a picturesque village in East Sussex.

It's so peaceful -

the soothing sound of the gently babbling brook,

the sweet birdsong...

MACHINE BUZZES ..and Norman happily ruining it all

by creating a horrendous racket in his workshop.

DRILL BUZZES

He's blissfully unaware of what delights Sarah is wheeling his way.

It could be something great, it could be something useless,

but I'm sure what she'll bring will be fun and games, so...

And what weird and wonderful ideas she might have today

to do what we're going to do, so, erm...

Yeah, let's rock and roll and see what happens.

You'll be rocking back on your heels when you see

what Sarah's rolling towards you.

This little chest of drawers is about to undergo

a massive transformation.

Dr Norman is going to be performing all sorts of operations

in the hope that this is going to become saleable and desirable.

Norman?

-Sarah...

-I found your trolley outside.

-Look what I've got for you.

-You found... Oh.

Is this what we're working on today, the trolley?

-Pop it up here, then. Let's have a look.

-OK, let's go for it.

Excellent.

Go on, say something nice about it.

We're waiting, Norman.

Nothing? No?

All right, let's just move on.

What are we going to do today?

I think what we should do is use the drawers.

Use the drawers...

I've got an idea. How about we put all the big drawers in a line?

Like that?

How about turning it into a kind of console, serving side-table,

with those drawers in it?

Lovely, long... I want to see it, when you...

When I walk into my Georgian house, through the front door,

-I want to see it in front of me, there.

-You'll go, "Fantastic. Wow."

Make me something that I can sell into that house.

Right, legs,

and I think we should use a tapered-leg one -

a nice sort of "fine" elegant...

Elegant, eh? Sarah's liking the sound of that.

Any other elegant suggestions?

Then we've got to decide on

what material we're going to use on the top,

and I think we should use floorboards.

Mmm, not so elegant.

-OK.

-That's where we should go.

I see some. What are those for?

-What, them ones?

-Yeah, let's have a look at those.

-Let's have a look.

Drop them on the top so I can get a feeling of, kind of,

-what we're looking at.

-Yeah.

Let's try this one. So...

Obviously, before you get too excited,

it's the wrong size for the table.

Yeah, but I'm just imagining...

What will you do to that, to clean that up?

Maybe if we just get a bit of fine wire wool

and then just keep it nice, simple, and keep it fresh.

I'm not sure Sarah is sold on the floorboard tabletop.

It's time to talk budget.

How much is this going to cost me?

Right...

I'll tell you what, I'm going to have to look after you today.

We are going to do it...

for the price of...

225.

Perfect. See you soon.

Not too quick!

I'm so excited.

That repro chest of drawers is getting a whole new look.

It's going to be a console table and that is fabulous,

and I'm so pleased that Norman's bought into that idea.

I think it's going to be stunning.

From the tiny little chest of drawers to what it is

we are going to, erm...

elevate it into, a six-foot wow-factor console table.

Norman's all-in price is £225,

but will that budget really be able to achieve the wow factor?

This is Wolverhampton.

People from round here are famed for their local expressions -

for example, noggy means old-fashioned,

and bostin' means fabulous.

So, will Jay accept Sarah's challenge to transform the chair

from noggy to bostin'?

I've brought Jay a real ugly duckling here,

and I'm hoping he can turn it into a peacock.

There is potential to make a little bit of money here

cos, at the moment, this is three quid at a car boot, any day.

She knows my kind of style of working with timber

and anything kind of mid-century modern,

but she's brought me some interesting stuff before -

stuff made out of metal and stuff like that,

which I don't normally work with so, hopefully, erm...

Yeah, I can't wait to see what she's bringing through the door.

-Hiya.

-How are we doing? Are you all right? What have you got?

It's all kissy-kissy, lovey-dovey now...

Wait till they start haggling over the price.

OK, it's not stylishly punching, you know, really hard, is it?

But I'm sure you can do something with it.

You say that it's not stylish. I think it...

I think it's quite cool,

and not every chair in every household

has to be stylish, and this is quite...

I think it's quite nice in itself.

It's not the finest of detailing on it...

-Yeah.

-..but I know, in your hands, you're going to make it look...

A wee bit of a refresh.

So, am I allowed to just go wild with this one?

-Can I do...?

-Oh, yeah.

-OK.

-You can...

-You can really go for it on this one.

-I can go for it.

I don't feel, you know... It was going to the tip.

-You can do what you like with it, as long as you make me some money.

-OK.

OK. Cool. So we're talking money, then. How much, how much...?

I thought I'll leave you with a fiver.

A fiver? To work on that?

Wow. All right...

I'm starting, you know...

Yeah, you're starting super low. That is...

In its current state,

if I saw this at a car boot, I'd pay three quid for it,

-and I'd be haggling, you know?

-Yeah. Yeah.

So we have got to elevate this.

Top whack, in my wildest dreams, one chair on its own -

am I going to get 75 quid for it?

Yeah. So that's going to be very, very tight on the creativity.

Come on, now, Jay -

where's that positive can-do attitude we know and love?

But it is a beautiful chair in itself,

and it could be made even better.

That's why I come to you, you see, cos I know that

when I come back, I'm going to go, "Oh, Jay, I love it,"

because, at the moment, I'm not terribly keen.

Give it your special Jay magic and we have a chance.

Sarah's leaving Jay a budget of £45,

but has given him free rein to unleash his makeover magic.

I feel a bit guilty about driving such a hard bargain there,

but I'm hoping Jay can really strut his stuff with that chair,

and create something that is really beautiful, and has some value to it.

I'm hoping to do something really creative with this,

so Sarah will be able to sell it on for at least £70,

and it should be...

Someone should buy this for £70 after I've finished with it,

cos it's a really solid chair, really sturdy,

and I know she said she'll probably spend about...

I'd say about four quid at a car-boot sale,

but, after it's been jazzed up, it should be able to reach 70.

A little bit more, probably. Probably even £80.

Jay will need to come up with a quick and simple idea to

stay within the £45 budget, without scrimping on the style.

Sarah's dropped off the chest of drawers and the chair.

Now, back at home in Sussex, she has to get her thinking cap on

and transform these skateboards from trash to cash.

And how's she going to do that?

I'll tell you - by combining these with this lot.

I had these lying around, and these are perfect.

They used to be a couple of old side tables,

but they've got lovely beech legs,

and the fittings that I can use to go straight on here,

to make a pair of fantastic side tables.

How hard could it be?

Erm...very?

-DRILL BUZZES

-Oh, I love it.

I think this will be one of those "believe it when I see it" jobs.

Cos I'm a hoarder, I will keep those.

(You never know when you might need them.)

-DRILL BUZZES

-This one is sheared off.

SHE GROANS

DRILL BUZZES

Cheap nuts.

For problem nuts, I find it helps to have a hacksaw handy...

and, if that fails, give them a bash with a hammer.

These are going to be amazing,

and I was hoping to make a pair of side tables but I'm thinking...

that one big one, with these two together,

might work really well.

Sarah has taken the skateboard to bits, and now she's going to

put it back together again, just in a different order.

Sarah wants to ensure every piece has a purpose in her new creation.

These were the brackets that the trucks were on originally,

on the other side, so they should fit nice and neatly back

in there, and they've got a good angle on them

so once I've screwed this in place on here,

they're going to have a really cool look to them.

I've just got to get the wheels on that angle.

Like that...

Perfect.

The wheels will be the table feet

and the bottom of the skateboards become the tabletop.

Now it's all making sense - kind of.

Reflecting the bright and bold colours of the boards,

Sarah is spray-painting the legs a brilliant orange.

I have to shake these for three minutes. Come back when I'm done.

Just enough time to check on the latest trends.

Can you see any skateboard side tables?

No? Thought not.

Sarah's forked out for a few screws costing £3.

The rest were bits and bobs she had around her home,

so the side table won't break the bank,

but is it all just too wacky?

In East Sussex, Norman is still thinking about the budget

he agreed with Sarah to transform the chest of drawers.

I've been very kind to her, and we've quoted, erm, 225.

You know, making a console table just over six foot long

and everything - that's a great, great price.

SAW BUZZES

Sarah challenged Norman to create a table that would

look at home in a grand Georgian house.

He's crafting elegantly tapered legs from fresh timber

that he hopes will add a dash of panache.

And how does he ensure that each taper is identical?

He made himself a little gizmo, look.

I think that should be just about spot on.

So, make sure the blades start hot again,

and then we can whop it through,

and then you can see how we make the legs.

Low-tech but effective.

He knows what he's doing, does Norman.

TOOL BUZZES

For the tabletop, he is using salvaged floorboards

that he's glued together.

We've got the top already glued up.

We obviously cleaned the edges up,

squirted the glue down and then cramped it up and left it to dry.

So, the next stage is, we've got to take the glue off,

so we'll start with that first.

We've just got to carefully just take it off,

and not try and chip the... the wood.

I like working with the old timber cos it's got character in it

and it's got life in it, so, yeah, it's the best part of it.

A little wood filler is used to smooth the surface.

We'll give it ten minutes to dry,

and then we'll be able to then go on to the next part.

Norman is using a fine wire wool to clean up the floorboards,

as he wants to retain the well-worn character,

but the top is the focal point of every table,

so will scruffed-up wood really give Sarah the grandeur she's after?

In Wolverhampton, Jay is pondering his creative options.

I'm thinking probably two, maybe three colours, erm, with this one.

He has to keep time and materials to a minimum to make sure

he doesn't go over his £45 budget.

Sometimes what tends to happen is you start to paint

and then the design comes to you,

so what I'm going to do is just play it by ear.

You guys are going to, erm, see as this...

creatively unfolds.

This is a free-form design odyssey into the unknown.

It's upcycling jazz.

So I'm going to do black all over,

but I'm going to pick out some highlights with some colour.

To me, anyway, those two work really, really well together,

looking at it from a bird's eye view...

So really, really thin layers is what this one requires,

and most paint, anyway, when I'm using it,

I always do it very thinly,

simply because I want the colour to build up,

rather than dab on a load of paint.

Jay is using chalk paint.

It requires no surface preparation,

and it comes premixed with a wax finish,

which protects the paint against wear and tear -

both big time-savers.

Hmm...

So, sometimes what I tend to do is just try to imagine the chair,

erm, finished and seeing if that looks all right.

To me, now, that looks a little bit lopsided

so I would need something else added in there

or, I'm thinking, the pink doesn't work.

It might end up just being two colours.

Changing the design will take time,

and that could have a knock-on effect to the cost.

What I'm going to do...

is add the black because, at the moment, the pink and the blue

are not working as well together,

and it's probably because I can see a lot of the brown,

so I need to have the black, really, on there.

We could be witnessing creative genius at work...

..or a project spiralling out of time and over budget.

Back at Sarah's workshop...

..she's hard at it, combining two skateboards to make a side table.

This is pretty basic but I think, by the time I've sanded it

and smoothed it right down, and trimmed that bit up...

..that is going to make a good base for that table.

I'm not putting my cup of tea on that.

Using as much of the old stuff that I've got as possible,

so they should fit in my fittings that I've got.

Phew.

And I'm going to have a lovely pair of angled legs,

using all the fittings from the skateboards.

Every screw, bolt and nut has been reused -

apart from the one she hacked off with the saw -

so these skateboards can have a new purpose in life.

Sarah is ingenious. It's off-the-wall and wacky.

The design is brash and the concept, well, it's bizarre.

I've got to be honest, it's not my type of thing,

but the proof will be, as always, in the profit.

It's turned out really not too bad,

given the fact that it was just a couple of old skateboards.

And my kids love it so I'm hoping, a bit of a target audience -

people their age - maybe they want this in their bedroom,

they want it next to their TV when they're playing games,

or something like that.

So I'm hoping there are a few people who'd like to buy it.

Sarah first spied these skateboards in James's boot.

She loved their brash designs.

They're really cool.

Oh, there's something so appealing about them.

-These are in good nick.

-Yeah.

James was quite philosophical about it all.

One man's rubbish is another man's...treasure.

Wise words, my friend. Wise words.

And in complete agreement is Nick from online retailers

Smithers of Stamford, specialists in retro and recycled furniture.

Sarah invited him to see it, and enticed him into purchasing it.

I've never seen a thing like this before, so that's really quirky.

Will its quirkiness earn James a few quid?

Despite best efforts, I haven't been able to contact James,

who gave me the skateboards at the tip,

but I can say I'm really pleased with a £50 profit from the sale of

the little table, and that is going to go straight to Children In Need.

Sarah spent £3 on screws and agreed a £53 sale price with Nick,

so she could hand over a nice and neat £50 profit,

which is on its way to charity.

We're back in Hellingly, East Sussex, in Norman's workshop.

He's preparing for the grand unveiling of what was

a chest of drawers and is now, hopefully, an elegant console table.

Now, if Norman has managed to pull this off, it's going to be

a right result because that chest of drawers was tragic,

and I'm hoping it's now terrific.

I think she's going to love it.

If she don't, well... I don't know what I'm going to say.

I'm sure your work will do the talking for you, Norman.

Wow.

The drawers inspired Sarah's big idea,

which Norman has brought stunningly to life.

The floorboards have been finished with a clear varnish,

which brings up the grain exposed by the wire wool

and the natural patina of the well-worn wood.

Norman's choice of tapered legs adds elegance.

The combination of the hand-painted fresh timber

and the salvaged floorboards sit in perfect harmony.

I'm impressed, but what about the boss?

-Norman?

-Hiya.

-How are you?

-Yeah, I'm good. You?

-Really well. How are things?

-Fantastic, yeah, good.

What have you been up to, then?

Making this chest of drawers into your console table.

You are joking. Is that really it?

That is the one, yep.

How exciting!

That is beautiful.

Lovely tapering on the legs, a really fine look underneath...

-Yeah.

-Nice colour.

-The colour's great.

Obviously we picked the top - the nice reclaimed timbers.

We've left the, erm, the wear in it and everything,

and it looks really, really good.

I absolutely love it.

-Fantastic. That's what I wanted you to say.

-It's stunning.

It's... It's sympathetic, it's clever,

-and it's reusing.

-The proportions look good, as well.

Beautiful. Perfect.

Budget-wise...

Well, we've given you a really good trade price,

and we've done it for 225 like we said.

We haven't gone over budget - nothing.

-That's, that's, that's fantastic.

-Yeah.

I mean, that's good. I really appreciate you, you know,

keeping it in budget because, erm, you've created something amazing.

-Those boards just bring it to life, don't they?

-Oh, they sing.

Oh, they sing, yeah.

-I cannot believe you've made that out of that chest of drawers.

-Yeah.

It's got the lovely Georgian appeal

-and that is going to sell beautifully.

-Yeah.

-It will do.

-Thank you so much.

I'm really, really pleased with the...

with the way it looks and everything.

The proportions are great, we've picked the right top for it,

and it's just all pulled together really, really well.

It really does look the business. It really, really does.

I love Norman cos he's old school, isn't he?

And he has created something fantastic out of that

old chest of drawers and, with that kind of budget,

I'm going to sell that at a profit, for sure.

They were destined for the dump

when Sarah first caught a glimpse of Michelle's drawers.

That looks nice and shiny to be dropped off at the tip.

They may have looked antique, but they were built in the 1980s

and, for Michelle, their time had passed.

We've brought it from the hall at home.

We've just all redecorated and bought new furniture for there,

so we're finished with it.

Michelle may have been finished, but Sarah was just getting started.

With the makeover complete, it was an easy sell to

specialist antique and upcycling shop The Old Cinema in London.

Now Sarah's on her way to Michelle's home, to tell her the good news.

-Hello.

-Hi, Michelle, how are you doing?

-I'm fine, thanks. And you?

-Yeah, very well.

-Good, good.

-Nice to see you again.

-You, too, yeah.

Much smarter, isn't it, than where we last met?

-Yes, yes.

-Yeah, it's beautiful here, isn't it?

Erm, I said I would come back to you

if I could do anything with your chest of drawers.

Did you wonder what we might do?

Yeah, because it's quite polished, isn't it? So I did wonder...

It's not like raw wood, when you can rub it down,

so I did wonder what you'd...

yeah, would do with it, so...

Well, I actually had some help

because I took it to a great guy called Norman,

who specialises in recycling furniture,

and I've got a picture of it to show you,

-and I think you might be quite surprised.

-Yeah.

-So, this is probably how you remember it.

-Yes. Definitely.

Yup. And, are you ready for this,

-cos I think this is quite a transformation?

-Yeah, go on, then.

-Wow. Wow.

-It ended up...

Oh, gosh, yeah.

-So, what do you think?

-That looks really different.

I would never recognise, never have picked it out...

Gosh, that looks really good.

That's brilliant, yeah. Yeah, very clever.

-It is quite a commercial piece...

-Yes.

..and, erm, the first person who saw it snatched it up.

-Really?

-Here's some profit today with you.

-In fact, I've got...

-Oh, lovely.

-I've got £100 here, for you.

-Wow.

-Wow, I didn't expect that.

-So...

-That's fantastic, thank you.

Oh, it's an absolute pleasure. I was really pleased.

I really didn't expect that. Not at all. Thank you.

Go on, tell me, what will you do with £100?

Well, we're still busy trying,

-cos we had a flood just before Christmas...

-Oh, no.

So we're still trying to get everything back to normal

from then, so I think we'll probably put it towards

some of the, the things we've been doing there.

Or we've been married 20 years next month -

we may use it to go out for a meal or something so, yeah...

-Oh, great.

-It'll come in handy.

-Excellent.

-Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear about the flood.

-Yeah.

-They're very unsettling, aren't they?

-Yes.

Maybe go for, yeah, some sort of champagne night out

-to forget about it all.

-Yes.

It was great to catch up again

and thank you so much for letting me have your old chest of drawers.

-Thank you, and thanks for this. Thank you.

-Oh, it's a pleasure.

Nice to see you again.

-Lovely to... Yes, thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Thanks, then. Bye.

Well, that was lovely.

Michelle really liked what we did with her old chest of drawers,

and I think Norman achieved a great deal, and she's got £100 to go

and celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary.

Norman charged Sarah £225 for his handiwork.

Sarah sold it for £325, putting £100 profit in Michelle's pocket.

In Wolverhampton, at Jay's workshop,

he's getting ready for Sarah's arrival,

for a thumbs up or down to his renovation.

I'm really pleased I managed to save the Ercol-style chair

because, after years of being well-used and well-loved,

it was being thrown away, reluctantly,

but I'm hoping that Jay and his fantastic style has recreated

something that would be welcomed back into anybody's home.

Has Jay succeeded in jazzing up the retro chair?

Jay's creative instincts have served him well.

He kept to his original concept.

The soft pastel shades give this chair a cosy feel,

but the sky-blue and pale-pink detailing pop and catch the eye.

Chalk paints have a rustic texture.

Jay has used this to give the chair the subtly distressed finish.

It feels vintage, in keeping with the original styling.

I think Jay's come up trumps again, but what about Sarah?

-Hello.

-How are you doing? Are you all right?

-You like it?

-It's neat.

I think that really looks really nice.

You've got the chalk paint out.

Yeah. I'm not a brilliant chalk paint expert, I must admit.

There are people that can probably do a far better job than me,

but I love working with chalk paint cos there's no rubbing down.

It's just straightforward - slap it on and there you go.

You've got some candy colours in there,

and they're working really well with the grey.

-You like it, yeah?

-Yeah, I think you've done well.

-Thank you.

Jay's got the thumbs up for the style,

but has he kept to the £45 budget they agreed?

A quick and easy job, erm, with chalk paint.

£45 - can't go wrong.

I think it looks quite cool, actually.

-I can't ask for more than that.

-No?

For 45 quid that is... It's great.

You've picked all the good points

and made them look so much better than they did,

and I can see that going into interiors magazines anywhere.

-Job done.

-Right. OK. Cool.

I'm happy, you're happy, and then,

hopefully, the person who it goes to, they'll be happy as well,

-so happy all around.

-Brilliant.

Well, let me take that away and, erm, try and get it sold

and I'll pass on the happiness when I find out who takes it.

-All right, no problem.

-Thanks again.

-You take care now.

For £45, it's a really cheap and quick and easy job to do.

It's a solid chair, as I said before,

and it's going to last the test of time, really.

It's... It's a good, strong chair.

Well, Jay has managed to pump a bit of cool into our wan single chair.

He's really lifted it with those lovely pastel colours,

and I'm hoping to squeeze a little bit of profit out of it, too.

Sarah first came across the chair just as owner Don was about to

sling it in the skip...

-It's really heavy, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It's got a good look.

I do feel guilty about throwing this away.

..so he was happy Sarah saved it.

And, with its colourful redesign, Sarah was able to sell it to Nick,

who also bought the skateboard side table.

It's time to bring Don up to date with his chair's upcycling odyssey.

-Hello again, Don.

-Hello. Hello, Sarah.

-How are you doing?

Very well, thank you. Yeah.

I said, when we last met, that if I could do something

-with your lovely old chair I would be back in touch...

-Yeah.

..and, although it was maybe a little, erm,

-old-fashioned looking, it was...

-It was dated, yeah.

-Dated?

Yeah, probably dated, but do you know something?

Dated is now called retro, retro is vintage,

-and vintage sells, so...

-Oh, right. Right.

It went off to Wolverhampton, to a fantastic guy called Jay Blades.

-Right.

-Now, I'll be keen to know what you think about it,

so I've got some pictures.

Oh, right, yes.

Here is your chair.

Oh, yeah.

So, what he's done to it...

-Right, right. Wow.

-Now, he has painted it,

and he's added some colour.

Oh, right.

-Do you approve?

-Quite different, quite different, yeah.

Transformed it, hasn't it?

-Yeah, it has given it a new lease of life and...

-Really, yeah.

-Oh, yeah. Yeah.

-Yes, he worked on it beautifully,

and the colours make it actually quite commercial.

-Right. Yeah.

-So, I have got some profit to hand over to you.

-I have got...

-Really?

-..£25 here.

-Oh!

-The profit from your old chair.

-Oh!

-That's for you to keep, to do whatever you like.

-Well...

Thanks very much indeed.

What will you do with that? Any ideas?

A worthwhile charity, I think. Yeah.

Oh, well, that's a lovely idea,

-and thank you so much for letting us have your chair.

-Yeah.

It was a sweet little thing,

-and I'm glad it made a little bit of profit.

-Yeah.

Hopefully, people will be inspired to pick up a paintbrush

-and do something with their own chairs.

-OK.

-OK?

-And it was lovely to catch up with you.

-Yeah, brilliant.

-It's been a pleasure.

-Take care.

-Been a pleasure.

-Bye-bye.

-Thank you.

Well, that was a lovely chair, a lovely result,

and a lovely £25 going to good causes.

Jay charged £45 for the makeover.

Sarah sold it for 70, making a profit of £25.

Sarah rescued a variety of eclectic items

that have now been transformed,

handing money over to their owners and charity.

That's a job well and truly done.

Well, that's three things saved from the tip,

and handing over wedges of cash is just the icing on the cake,

and it just goes to show, with a little imagination,

you really can make Money For Nothing.