Episode 16 Money for Nothing

That's not going in there, is it?

How do you make money for nothing?

Oh, that's got lovely legs!

The answer could be hiding in over 20 million tonnes of household waste

thrown out by us every year.

-I'm now going to swan off!

-OK!

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

before they hit the skip.

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

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

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

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

Let's brainstorm a little bit and see what we can do with it.

It's absolutely gorgeous.

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

I'm speechless.

..valuable...

That looks amazing!

..and, hopefully, saleable items.

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.

Lovely! Lovely ending!

Today, Sarah is at Woodhouse Lane recycling centre in Altrincham.

Here, the good people of Greater Manchester have turned out

in their droves to dump their junk.

Look at them all flooding in, here.

There are 19 skips and no end of potential.

Sarah's after three things which, if all goes well,

will be made over and sold on to produce a tidy bit of profit.

What are you dropping off, then?

But don't think about trying this yourself.

Sarah had to get special permission for her mission,

and she will not fail.

One way or another, I'm having the rubbish.

Well, why don't you start by having a look at what Kate has in her boot?

-Hello, hello.

-Hi.

-Sorry to bother you in the rain.

-That's all right.

-That looks pretty amazing.

-Have you had it long?

-I've had it quite a while, it was my gran's.

But I've got nowhere for it and it's quite damaged now.

This bulrush bench is missing two of its stretchers -

connecting beams that help support the legs.

Better not sit on it, then, Sarah.

It's quite difficult to restore something like that, isn't it?

It takes up quite a lot of space, as well.

It's got a really strong look to it.

I don't know, is it Arts and Crafts, something like that?

Probably, yes, cos she had a few different pieces.

Due to the age and the handmade qualities of the bench,

Sarah believes it to be part of the Arts and Crafts design movement.

Started in Britain in the 1880s, it advocated a revival

of traditional handicrafts in the design of domestic furniture.

It's got some decorative appeal to it.

-Yeah.

-I think there's a lot of wicker and natural wood

and all this sort of stuff

and that people are liking to put in their houses at the moment.

So, if you don't mind,

could I take it away and try and breathe new life into it?

Yeah, that would be great, better than it going in a skip.

Lovely. And I bet it's not too heavy either, is it?

No, you can manage!

Brilliant. My perfect criteria - stylish and light!

-Thank you so much.

-You're welcome.

That's our first item saved from the skip.

But what does Kate think Sarah will do with her woven wonder?

I don't know what she might do, but possibly paint it up or something,

I don't know. I don't really mind,

as long as it gets a new home and somebody loves it, really.

I am loving this little bench.

It's a really sweet piece of furniture.

Such a shame that it's missing its stretchers.

I'm so pleased to have found it.

And I'm sure I know somebody who'll be able to turn this around.

Without further ado, let's meet the man who will be taking this on.

Norman Wilkinson, our woodworking wonder.

Norman creates high-end furniture

from unloved and undervalued materials,

although Sarah's finds can be a challenge.

Oh, the stuff we get from the tip, some of it I'm thinking,

"What are we doing?" But, you know, it's great fun.

And also when you turn the weird and wonderful ones into something great,

and they sell it as well, and if someone's going to love it, I mean,

that's what it's all about, isn't it?

Norman brings with him over 25 years of experience

and he's loved every second.

I enjoy my work. I think if anyone enjoys their work,

it comes out in the piece of furniture because, you know,

you love it and then it hopefully reflects when someone buys it,

that they can see the love that we've put into it.

You know, it's a joy to get up and come to work in the mornings.

Norman is passionate about his craft,

but I'm not sure how he'll feel about Arts and Crafts.

That's one item ready to transform.

Sarah just needs to find two more.

And it looks like someone has beaten her to it!

They've recycled those horses into zebras! Look at them!

Well, if you want to earn your stripes,

why don't you have a look at what Dan's pulling out of his boot?

-Hello, hello.

-Hi.

-You haven't smashed up your sofa, have you?

I certainly have, yeah.

I'm trying to make stuff out of old things,

and people keep breaking them up before they get here.

-Apologies.

-Shall we get it out and have a closer look?

-Yeah, absolutely, sure.

-So how long have you had your sofa?

Oh, this is about seven or eight years old, this one.

Just bought a new one, so just had it delivered.

-And it's leather? Leather, leather?

-Yeah, it is, yeah.

Looks like it's been in the garden. Have you been storing it?

It's been sat out on the driveway for the last week,

waiting for me to smash it up and take it to the tip.

Would you mind if I took your sofa

and tried to make something out of it?

-Not at all.

-You sure?

-You can help yourself.

-Thank you.

Shall we just pop it over there?

Mmm, a smashed up, mouldy sofa.

I think this one's better off in the skip!

Dan, what do you think?

Yeah, I'm really surprised that Sarah wants the sofa.

To me it was just a piece of junk.

But hopefully she'll be able to do something nice with it.

Not sure what she can make, but good luck to her

if she wants to have a go at it.

I think it'll take more than luck.

Well, you've got to wonder what I'm going to make out of this because

basically, it's seen better days, hasn't it?

But it is leather, and it's got a lovely worn, soft look to it.

I think there's something to be made, here.

And I know who's going to help me, too.

Meet Anthony Devine, upholsterer extraordinaire.

Anthony takes his two decades of design experience and passes it on

to the younger generation at his school of upholstery.

His designs are bold, experimental, and never boring.

If I was to say I had a style, it would probably be erratic.

There's loads of ideas washing around in my head

and whichever pops out first is the one, normally, that gets done.

Anthony's seen it all but there's a few things left on his bucket list.

I'd love to make a chair for Barack Obama.

If the Queen came knocking, I'd make her something.

Well, if you do get the call from Buckingham Palace,

something tells me you won't be making Her Majesty a sofa

from this thing.

That's our second item saved.

Now Sarah just needs to find something to work on herself

and we can call it a day.

I reckon this could be a penguin, what do you think? Look!

I think she's been out there too long!

Perhaps Cynthia and Mike can bring Sarah back to reality with what

they've got in the back of their car.

That looks very interesting. Hi, there. I'm Sarah.

-I'm Cynthia.

-Cynthia, hello. Who are you?

-Mike.

-Mike, hello there.

How do you do? Wow. How long have you had it?

-Where's it from?

-It's my grandmother's.

-Right.

-She had it in her lounge for many years.

But, of course, the way they are these days,

it just won't fit in our houses.

It's got to be 100 years old, hasn't it?

-It definitely is old.

-It's got that sort of...

-It's got the look.

-Probably more than that.

Yeah. Wow. What a piece! I'd love to see it out.

What's the best thing to do? If we just try and...

Considering its age, this Victorian display cabinet

is in pretty good condition, although it is a whopper.

Oh, my word! It's a beast!

I didn't realise it was that high!

That is huge, isn't it?

You don't know the half of it, Sarah!

They've still got another great big bit in the boot.

Wow!

Well, you have absolutely made by day.

I have never seen anything like it.

I can't thank you enough for letting me have it.

I hope you can make use of it, cos I'm sure you will.

Thank you so much. It's amazing.

Sarah's bagged herself a lovely,

but rather spooky looking Victorian cabinet.

Let's hope she can do something to make it a little less imposing.

But what do Cynthia and Mike think?

Very interesting as to what she's going to...

What anybody can do with it, because it's a beautiful piece.

And it's beyond us to bring it back to how it was originally.

Considering it's in the, you know, 1880s probably when it was made,

it makes it 120, 130 years old by now.

So it's seriously old.

It's enormous. It's pretty brutal stuff.

But it's got a charm of its own, hasn't it?

And there must be something to be done with this that makes you want

to put it in your sitting room, because at the moment,

I don't think it's going to find a home.

And with that, Sarah has her items.

Norman will get crafty with the bench.

Anthony will try and do something with that broken sofa.

And Sarah will try to brighten up the cabinet.

Well, salvaging today has worked like a charm.

I just hope my luck doesn't run out

when it comes to turning things into little money-makers.

For our first stop,

we've headed to the village of Hellingly in East Sussex...

..where our master craftsman, Norman,

is giving the place a quick tidy.

Oh, you missed a bit!

Sarah's brought Norman the Arts and Crafts bench,

although Arts and Crafts for a master craftsman,

I'm not sure they all go together.

Well, Sarah's on her way.

Sometimes I wish she'd just drive straight past!

But no, no, not really.

I look forward to seeing her,

so let's just see what she's going to bring and go from there.

Well, I just loved this Arts and Crafts bench the moment I saw it.

But will Norman?

We're about to find out!

-Norman?

-Hello, you.

-How are you?

-I'm good.

Can I put that on there?

-Isn't it lovely?

-Yeah.

-Are you a fan?

-Yeah, it's quite cool, isn't it? Lovely.

Ah, he likes it.

-Let's turn it upside down so we can have a look.

-OK.

Ah, right then. We're not going to do anything silly with this, are we?

I've had two thoughts.

One is to do something just to use this lovely base,

maybe drop it into a bench or a storage box or something like that.

Oh, he's not happy with that!

OK. Two, restore.

I think we should have a go at restoration, really.

With these stretchers missing,

I just don't know if we can restore it.

I mean, yeah, it will be a little bit tricky,

but I'm sure we can manage it.

I'm so pleased to hear you say that.

I think that would be just the right thing to do with it.

But the seat is definitely tricky in places. That bit there is loose.

Yeah, we're going to have to be very careful with what we do.

We'll have to stick it down

and cover them up and then give it a really good wax up and a clean.

And I think you'll get a really, really lovely looking stool.

I mean, it'd be sacrilege to make something else out of it.

-You know?

-Well, who knew you were so sensitive, Norman?

Well, one tries.

Sensitive Norman wants a simple restoration.

Lovely. But it'll be a lot of work to make new stretchers.

Will that come at a price?

How much is it going to cost?

-£80 - £100, I reckon that's going to cost.

-That price,

to bring a bit of Arts and Crafts furniture back to life, lovely.

-Well, who knew, Norman? Nice to see you.

-See you soon.

-Bye.

So, it will be simple and straightforward, except it never is!

It's nice to have a straightforward restoration job.

It'll be a nice change

to do something that we should be doing to it.

Well, who knew Norman liked Arts and Crafts?

I think he's going to do the best thing for that little bench

and I can't wait to see it when it's restored.

It'll be £80 - £100 for Norman to restore the bench.

But with bits missing and other bits broken,

it might prove to be a bigger job than he first thought.

Welcome to Manchester.

With a population of over half a million,

it's a veritable cooking pot of creativity.

But there's one person Sarah loves to get creative with her furniture -

Anthony Devine.

Though it'll take some imagination

to create anything out of that smashed up sofa!

So, Sarah's on her way.

I'm pretty excited, I like to always get stuck in

with the stuff that she's got.

Yeah, it's going to be a challenge.

Anthony, you have no idea.

It might be broken now, it's in a dreadful state,

but I've brought this old sofa

all the way to Manchester to see if Anthony can turn it into a winner.

OK, Anthony, it's over to you.

What a joy!

It's... I'm just having a moment.

Yeah, that's how I felt first time I saw it.

There's another half, right?

-No.

-I can't believe I'm asking for more of it!

This is what you've got and it doesn't look great at the moment.

It's brown, verging on maroon!

You're going to turn this into something amazing.

That's why I brought it to you, because you have that imagination.

Don't you?

I'm struggling.

I have no idea.

Come on, Anthony. There must be something!

Erm, footstool!

-Not big enough.

-Small child's chair.

Not commercial enough.

Dog bed?

Keep going!

Some sort of armchair?

OK, I'd love an armchair.

Phew!

But how on earth are you going to create an armchair out of all that?

It's just showing its true beauty!

Right. I think, basically,

we take the leather off and we work out what we've got from there.

It'll be a chair of some description.

Failing that, it'll be a footstool.

Failing that, I'll end up with a scatter cushion!

If we say 600 quid, we'll see what we come up with.

I know, I'm being vague.

I apologise, but to be honest,

it's going to take a bit of digesting, this one.

I'm going to leave it with you. It'll be amazing.

-Nice to see you.

-See you later.

£600 quid for some kind of armchair!

Good luck with that, Anthony!

In true Sarah style, she's left it and legged it.

We've set a budget.

It's going to be a challenge. It's going to be a tough one, this.

Well, predictably, Anthony wasn't that keen on that broken up sofa.

I'm not really certain exactly what I've commissioned,

but I have high hopes.

I don't think he's going to give up

till he's made something really special.

So, it's a hefty £600 budget.

That's fine for an armchair, but if all we get is a footstool,

we could be in real trouble.

While Anthony hums and haws over that sofa,

Sarah's headed back home to the West Sussex countryside.

She's about to start work on the big, old Victorian cabinet.

And I tell you, this thing really needs brightening up.

It looks haunted.

Well, I've had some time to think while I'm dusting

and I think it's in the wrong place.

This isn't going to fit into a modern home,

but it would look fantastic as a display piece in a shop.

I need to embrace its theatrical design and just really go for it.

Make it sing.

To turn this cabinet into a shop front show stopper,

Sarah is going to remove some of the more decorative elements.

And I can tell she's feeling a bit guilty about it.

So, I'm putting it out there right now.

This might be antique, it might be 100 years old,

but something has got to go.

It needs a style update and if I can get some of this cornicing

and the moulding, just to give it a little bit of a fresher look.

Victorian designs are now widely viewed

as having indulged in a grand excess of ornamentation.

It's quite well made!

Display cases like this were focal points in houses from this period,

so were often extravagantly decorated.

Getting there.

But this is the 21st century.

So it's time to make the cornicing a thing of the past.

Looks better already.

Still a bit scary!

But Sarah's got a bright idea that could turn things round.

Well, I've got my paint and it's looking a bit blue at the moment,

but there's a very good reason for that.

I kept on looking at this piece and thinking it reminds me of something

and then I remembered what it was.

It's my china.

This willow pattern is full of the kind of motifs

that are appearing on here.

I thought, "Why not turn this into a beautiful chinoiserie inspired

"piece of eccentric English furniture?"

It's going to take ages.

Chinoiserie derives from the French word chinois, meaning Chinese.

First job, base coat for the whole lot.

It's the European interpretation of Chinese artistic traditions,

popularised in the 18th century.

And chinoiserie was all the rage -

everybody wanted to have

that sort of hand painted Chinese look going on.

One of the things that contributed to its popularity

was the 18th century vogue for tea drinking.

The demand for chinoiserie porcelain sky rocketed,

as the la-di-da wanted something nice to dunk their biscuits in.

With the base coat applied and time to dry,

Sarah can begin to make it look like a dinner plate.

So, the sensible thing to do with this would be to plan it all out,

maybe in pencil and put all the pattern on,

exactly where the blue design is going to go.

I'm just going to freestyle it.

Of course you are.

I'll do a tree first. That looks easy.

The design Sarah is attempting to recreate is known as

Willow Pattern, the distinctive blue and white chinoiserie pattern,

used on ceramic, kitchen and house wares.

This is way more difficult than it looks.

Really?! Because it looks quite difficult!

And to cover the whole thing with it,

I think you'll be here for a while.

So far, Sarah's spent just £10 on paint.

She's got a colossal task ahead of her

and I've got a feeling she's got too much on her plate.

From West Sussex, we travel east, to East Sussex

where our big cuddly timber teddy bear, Norman,

is about to begin the restoration of the old bench.

So, Norman, what's the plan?

I'm going to glue that back.

We'll glue it back and make sure everywhere is all neat and tidy

and then we've got a couple of stretchers missing.

So we're going to cut some timber up, shape them, put them in

and see how we get on.

Norman starts to make the stretchers.

I'll cut it to 30 inches

and then that gives me enough to play with, then.

He's cutting to size some new oak,

which will match the existing oak framework.

The challenge with any restoration is making the new elements

look similar in appearance to the old ones.

Norman will have to make this brand-new timber

look like it's around 60 years old.

Beautiful!

Yes, you are, Norman!

I think I'm going to drill these holes out now.

Next, Norman will clear out the old wood from the holes in the legs

with his trusty drill.

HIGH-PITCHED DRILLING

Ugh! Does that remind anyone else of the dentist?

Oh, I can't even look!

I'll have to have a dig out with a chisel.

As part of the Arts and Crafts movement,

this bench would've been handmade.

That's it. It's coming out.

Pioneered by artist William Morris,

the movement was a reaction against machine and factory production,

instead, advocating traditional methods.

That's it. Beautiful.

He's all about the beautiful, this guy!

And staying true to the Arts and Crafts vibe,

Norman's going to whittle the stretchers into shape by hand,

rather than using a wood-turning lathe.

Obviously they've done it by eye.

They haven't had, like, a copying lathe, like they have today,

chuck a bit of wood in and, er...

chuck a bit of wood in and it just copies it and they throw it out.

This was done by a bloke with his eye,

you know, so really that's just...

..see what my eye's like.

I would say beautiful!

All the legs and stretchers are delicately tapered in at each end.

Norman's using a plane to gradually shave the wood

until it reaches the right thickness,

although this way is taking ages.

Time to break out the belt sander.

Oh! Careful, Norman!

Oh, Norman, do you want to find something to hold it while you sand?

Yes! That's more like it.

Right, let's go for it.

Once Norman is happy with the stretchers,

it's on to the broken bulrush top.

Bulrushes are a wetland grass-like plant.

They're a bit like wicker, or even rattan.

Bulrushes are strong and flexible, but, over time, get dry and brittle.

I'm really pleased with it. I think it looks great.

We're just trying to keep it...

I know we're using electric bits

but we're trying to keep in the spirit of it and do it by eye.

Yeah, really pleased with it. I think it's come along really well.

I imagine by the time we've coloured that up and done it,

I think we'll get away with it.

Norman's done a great job making the stretchers the same size and shape,

but now comes the hard part.

If they don't match in colour, they'll stand out like a sore thumb.

Some days it goes absolutely perfect and other days it doesn't.

So, you know, when you put it on, rub it back, start again,

rub it back and hopefully you get to where you can.

I'm going to start with the orangey, reddy colour first.

Let's just rock 'n' roll and see what happens.

This could be a lengthy process.

Norman will have to let each coat dry before applying more

to achieve the perfect colour.

Rather him than me!

And he's still got the top to fix, too.

Back we go to Manchester,

where upholsterer Anthony is still trying to work out how

to turn this broken sofa into some kind of armchair, was it?

Although, at the moment,

it looks like he's about to pick a fight with it.

I've been having a long, hard think about this one since Sarah's left.

Trying to find some inspiration amongst this.

I've got a few ideas starting to bubble away,

but I've got to know what I'm playing with.

I've got to get it all stripped off, discard the bits I don't want,

try and find something we do want and take it from there, really.

I think you'll be struggling to find anything you do want

inside that busted up base.

Still, at least Anthony has lots of usable leather to work with.

Or does he?

This sofa appears to be a leather sofa, but it's not entirely leather.

The sides, and especially the back, is all kind of man-made kind of PVC,

reconstructed leather.

Reconstructed or bonded leather is made by shredding leather scraps,

sticking it back together on to a bit of cloth

and embossing it with a leather-like texture,

which is no good to Anthony,

because it leaves him with half the leather he thought he had.

Brilliant!

And how's that base looking?

It's not getting any better.

Brilliant!

So this is the first time ever, in my whole entire career,

that the one thing I've actually kept from a job is the fabric

rather than the sofa itself.

So, yeah, she's brought something from the tip

that I'm actually going to have to take to the tip myself, so...

I'm not sure how that one quite worked out, really.

This just keeps getting worse.

Normally I'd be chucking them on the floor.

That's going to be a chair.

Well, we'll wait and see about that!

After a quick trip to the skip to discard the sofa base,

Anthony moves on to preparing the usable leather.

I'm going to try and keep everything intact, dye it all

and then work out exactly what I've got, start re-cutting it all up.

I've never dyed leather before,

so it's going to be all kinds of interesting.

We're going to get rid of this brown, horrible stuff

and try and make it black and beautiful.

To colour the leather,

Anthony is using an oil-based dye, which will...

Oh, are you all right there, Anthony?

Do you want a hand with that?

I might have to get a responsible adult to help me with this bit.

First things first, try and remove the lid.

Can you tell he's never done this before?

I probably should be wearing gloves.

Anthony should absolutely be wearing gloves,

because that stuff is really powerful.

I'm starting to feel... Oh!

Seriously, he'll be scrubbing that off for days!

I've started to feel quite relaxed about it already.

If you're planning on dyeing leather at home,

please do some research beforehand.

I'm quite impressed, to be honest.

Or at least read the instructions on the bottle.

I really hope it comes off your hands.

And your face.

Confident the other panels will turn out just as well as the first,

Anthony moves on to the armchair frame.

Hold the phone. That doesn't look like any armchair I've ever seen.

So, we've been prototyping a new footstool here and basically,

I think we're going to use this.

So now you're making a footstool.

Do you think Sarah will be happy with that?

If somebody drops off a leather sofa and you're chucking away the frame

and you're only keeping a couple of square foot of leather,

what do you expect?

So, yeah, she's definitely in for a shock on this one.

On your own head be it, Anthony!

I can't wait to see Sarah's face.

And talking of Sarah, it's time to head back to Sussex,

to see how she's got on with her chinoiserie -

you know, those Chinese designs.

And she's nearly done.

Well, it's definitely getting there.

I've got some lovely wallpaper panels, here, just to go on

the sides and into the alcoves just to make it really pack a punch.

Well, let's find out if all your hard work has paid off.

Lovely.

Before, the Victorian cabinet was dark,

foreboding and frankly frightening but now...

..it's light, bright and simply stunning.

Sarah has painstakingly hand painted the intricate willow pattern which

has created a beautiful Chinese inspired design.

The bold patterns of the wallpaper contrast with the delicate and

elegant arrangement on the surface.

The whole look has turned from eerie to exquisite.

Well, I know it's a really out there design, but then again

it was quite an unusual piece of furniture to start with.

It might end up in a shop, but you never know,

somebody might even give it house room.

Well, let's find out, shall we?

That looks very interesting.

When Sarah met Cynthia and Mike at the tip,

she couldn't miss their massive family heirloom.

It's my grandmother's, she had it in her lounge for many years.

Sarah was bowled over by the size of it.

-Oh, my word!

-It's a beast.

I didn't realise it was that high.

And Cynthia and Mike were happy to let it go.

Very interested in to what she's going to...

What anybody can do with it, because it's a beautiful piece.

Well, with a plate full of inspiration, Sarah worked her magic.

And it wasn't long before she found a buyer.

The new cabinet was shipped off to an upcycled furniture shop

in Alton in Hampshire and owner Jackie is over the moon.

This Victorian hall cabinet is absolutely beautiful.

The detail Sarah has done is just lovely.

I do believe my customers will really want to purchase this.

Sarah's off to see Cynthia and Mike in their new home in Portishead

in Bristol to show them her handiwork and hand over the profit.

-Well, hello.

-Lovely to see you, Mike.

-Lovely to see you again.

-Hello, Cynthia.

-Hello, Sarah.

I was so surprised the day you turned up at the recycling centre

with your furniture.

I mean, you just don't see things like that any more, do you?

And it'd been in your family for ages, hadn't it?

It has, since, well, 1910 or so.

Did you think, "I wonder what will happen to it?"

-We did.

-Yes.

-But on the other hand, we knew that it was very difficult

to go into modern houses so you, being who you are, would probably

modify it in such a way that it would become very modern.

-Let me show you some pictures of how it ended up.

-Oh, excellent.

-That's unbelievable.

-I can't believe it.

I actually thought I would have a go

at putting some willow pattern designs.

-You've done that yourself?

-Yes. What do you think?

-Beautiful.

That is unbelievable, it looks absolutely marvellous.

That's very kind of you to say.

I did want it to sell and I did want it to be something that was useful

because it should be a good piece of furniture for storage.

It has been bought and I've got profit for you.

-I have got £220 for you.

-Wow. I can't believe it.

-I can't believe that.

-That's unbelievable.

I'm very nosy, I always like to ask, what might you do with £220?

We've talked about this and what we decided,

we're going to get a picture round about this area.

First of all, it will remind us of this area but also to remind us of

the history of why we got that picture.

I'm so pleased, that is such a great idea,

I hope you find a lovely picture.

I certainly had fun painting all over your furniture,

so it's the right thing to do, isn't it? It is.

-Thank you very much.

-Lovely to catch up

and so pleased you're settled in your new home.

-Thank you very much indeed.

-Great to see you.

-Nice to see you.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

Sarah spent just £10 on paint and wallpaper,

she sold it for an incredible £230,

giving Mike and Cynthia £220 to spend on a lovely new picture.

That's our first item transformed and sent off to a new home.

Sarah's back again in East Sussex

to see how Norman got on restoring the old bench.

Ah, he's got a smile on his face.

I think we've done exactly what she wants,

so I think we are going to have, hopefully, a ten out of ten here.

Well, I'm back to pick up my battered but beautiful bench

and I'm hoping for a very sympathetic restoration.

Before Norman got his hands on it,

it seemed there was no way back for the bench.

But now he's restored our faith in furniture.

Norman's new handcrafted stretchers

blend in perfectly with the existing dark brown oak.

The bulrush top has been expertly repaired and waxed

to give a smooth and shiny sheen.

Norman has sanded and refinished the frame making it look as good

as new. This is a real masterclass on restoration,

with the emphasis on class.

-Norm?

-Hiya.

-Hello.

-How are you?

Oh, Norman, you saved it.

Where was the broken bit?

-Oh, I see.

-You see, yeah.

-Those two.

-Yeah.

I can only tell because I'm looking. Nice to see you.

-And you.

-Great job, isn't it?

We've made the new stretchers.

-They're great.

-Two new stretchers.

Cleaned it up. We've then waxed it, got it nice and shiny,

and then we've polished this as well.

So it just makes it look like a nice, tidy job.

Beautiful job. Lovely, sympathetic, good looking restoration.

We had a bit of a wishy-washy budget, 80 to £100.

-Wishy-washy?

-You normally give me a bang on figure but I think there was

-80-100 on this.

-OK. Well, why don't we just go in the centre at £90.

90 quid sounds like a good deal.

Fantastic, as long as you're happy.

Definitely happy, this is a gem.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Have a good day.

-And you.

You've done it again, Norman. Ten out of ten.

Well, Norman has done a great job. That is just what I'd hoped for.

It was tired, it was old, it had pieces missing.

Now, it's a beautiful, complete, and I think really expensive bench.

Well then, let's flog it.

-Hi.

-Sorry to bother you in the rain.

When Sarah met Kate at the tip, the bulrush bench caught her eye.

I've had it quite a while, it was my gran's but I've got nowhere for it.

Sarah recognised the style.

-Is it Arts and Crafts, something like that?

-Probably, yes.

She's had a few different pieces.

So, she took it away and Kate was just happy

it wasn't ending up in the skip.

I don't really mind, as long as it gets a new home

and somebody loves it, really.

Well, Kate, Norman loved it and that love shines through

in his beautiful restoration.

And now, someone else loves it.

Antique furniture specialists Puritan Values in London

bought it for their shop.

And owner Tony is absolutely chuffed with it.

What's really nice about it,

it's the restoration to the front stretcher,

which, I wonder if you know which one it was?

It's such a good job.

Unfortunately, Kate isn't able to meet up with me again but I have got

a fantastic 35 quid here to send on to her,

for her beautifully restored bench.

Norman charged £90 for the restoration.

It was sold on for £125, meaning Sarah has £35 to send to Kate.

Marvellous.

That's two of our items now selling on for a profit.

Sarah's back in Manchester and, my goodness, is she in for a surprise.

Anthony promised her some kind of armchair,

but instead it'll be some kind of footstool... I think.

There was a £600 budget attached to this.

So, how are you feeling, Anthony?

I'm a teeny-weeny bit nervous today, because she's here,

probably thinking she's picking up a chair

cos that's what we discussed but personally, I love it.

Get ready for fireworks.

Well, I've come back to find out what Anthony has done

with my beaten up, battered old leather sofa.

He's got a big budget to spend on it.

Let's go find out what he's done.

I, for one, can't wait.

This sofa has been taken to the tip,

saved and then taken back to the tip.

But now, it's a smart, stylish and massive footstool.

The frame is a one of a kind design created by Anthony and his team

at his school of upholstery.

It's a footstool but big enough to seat a couple of people too.

So it's a kind of sofa, as well.

Scandinavian-inspired atomic legs complement the sleek, curved base

with the newly dyed leather turning out very nice.

It's a lovely looking thing.

But will it impress the boss?

Anthony?

Hello.

OK, Sarah, before you say anything,

remember that that sofa was in pretty bad nick.

And Anthony has turned out a really nice footstool.

It's cool and calm and really flipping excellent.

Thank goodness for that.

I absolutely love it.

The more we cut into the sofa and the more leather we didn't have,

we were thinking, "Right, we're going to have to downscale,

-"downscale, downscale." Here it is.

-I love it.

It's got a pure, mid century excellent look to it.

It's excellent all right,

but there's still the little matter of the big budget.

Go on, then, tell me about the budget,

I'm not paying 600 quid for it.

No, you're not. The good news is, 240 quid -

you've got yourself a bargain.

You surprise me every time.

That's better. £240 for the first of its kind,

a footstool seat thing or whatever it actually is.

It's a footstool but also,

you could fit a couple of people on, so it's a sofa as well.

-What are we going to call it?

-Stofa?

-Hashtag stofa.

-Hashtag stofa.

The first. Great job. Come on!

Ugh! Why is everything at hashtag these days?

I was a little bit nervous because I really wanted to do her proud and

I have to say, she is overwhelmed with it which makes me feel good.

So, job's a good'un.

Well, if I was writing headlines,

I'd be saying, "Skip Find Sofa

"Inspires Iconic Design Hashtag Stofa."

You haven't smashed up your sofa, have you?

-I certainly have.

-When Sarah saw Dan pulling the old sofa

out the back of his car, she just had to have it.

Just bought a new one so just had it delivered.

The sofa wasn't in the best nick.

It's been sat out on the driveway for the last week,

waiting for me to smash it up and take it to the tip.

But that didn't stop Sarah.

Not sure what she can make but good luck to her

if she wants to have a go at it.

And what a journey it's been on -

from sofa, to armchair, to fabulous footstool.

Sarah sold the first of its kind stofa to Roost Interiors in Glasgow,

and co-owner Greg is pretty impressed with Anthony's handiwork.

There's a lot of customers coming in and looking for bespoke items and

I think this will be right up their street.

Sarah's travelled to Altrincham to catch up with Dan,

show him what happened to his sofa and hand over the profit.

-Hello. How are you doing?

-Very good, thank you. How are you?

Very well, nice to see you again.

-And you.

-So this is where your sofa ended up?

You said it had been outside your house.

I laid it on the drive, here, yeah.

-It was there for about five or six days.

-And smashed it up.

Cut it up with a saw so I could fit it into the boot of the car.

So were you a bit surprised when you got to the tip and somebody said,

-"Can I have your sofa?"

-Yeah, because it was junk.

Even the charity shop didn't want it, so, yeah.

I thought even in its bashed up state, it had some good leather

on it and it must be fit for something.

So I took it to a great mate of mine, Anthony,

who is a fantastic upholsterer, who actually works in Manchester.

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

So this might be how you remember it.

Yeah, very much so.

-Now looks like that.

-Wow.

Crikey. I'm shocked, I really am shocked.

-That's lovely.

-He's christened this the stofa -, half stool, half sofa.

It's really nice. I'm really impressed with the stofa.

There aren't any other ones out there.

-I've never seen anything...

-I like it. It's unique.

It is unique. It's been bought by a shop in Glasgow.

OK, excellent.

So I have got £25 here made up from your beaten up broken sofa.

That's brilliant, thank you.

Every penny counts so I will put this to a good use.

Any idea what that might be?

Well, we have a new baby so everything's very expensive.

Yeah. So possibly just something towards the baby.

Brilliant, thank you so much for letting us have your sofa.

Thank you. I really appreciate it. Glad it's gone to a good use.

It has gone to a good use. There are going to be stofas everywhere.

-Lovely to catch up.

-Bye-bye.

-See you. Bye-bye now.

The total cost for Anthony's hard work was £240.

Sarah sold it for £265, giving Dan 25 quid to spend on his new arrival.

Hashtag lovely.

Sarah salvaged three items that were destined for the dump.

With some skill...

..and a lot of imagination...

..they can all live again.

I would say that's a great result.

We saved three things that were definitely destined to be skipped,

we had some fantastic transformations,

and we made some money for nothing.