Episode 25 Money for Nothing

Throwing out the whole three-piece suite, are you?

How do you make money for nothing?

What have you been smashing up?

The answer could be hiding in

over 20 million tonnes of household waste,

thrown out by us every year.

-Can I have them?

-You're welcome to them.

They're only going in the skip.

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 turn 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...

I think we can really be quite playful with this.

I could make several mankinis out of this, couldn't I?

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

Oh, that's such a relief.

..valuable...

-It looks all shiny!

-HE LAUGHS

..and hopefully saleable items.

I love them. You are a gem.

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.

Really can't believe that.

That's amazing.

Today, Sarah's travelled to the largest industrial town

in the West Midlands,

Walsall.

Well, the boots are open, the gloves are on,

and we're game on for a great day hunting for gems in the junk.

Sarah needs to find three of those gems,

give them back their sparkle,

and hopefully sell them on.

Well, you'd be nuts to throw things away that have the potential

to turn a profit, wouldn't you?

Yeah, you would.

Let me remind you.

Sarah had to acquire special permission to raid the rubbish.

You can't just turn up and help yourself,

or you'll be one getting chucked out.

Has Kevin got anything worth transforming in his boot?

Hello, hello. What are you up to?

Getting rid of all the rubbish that I've been using to decorate.

OK. What are you decorating?

-At the moment, toilet, and man cave.

-Man cave.

Almost finished the toilet, and that's what a lot of this is.

I bet you're looking forward to doing the man cave, aren't you?

Man cave more, but that was actually going to go in the man cave.

-What is it?

-It's an old record player.

I think either '40s or '50s.

It's got some good retro styling though. I mean, look at that.

-That's fantastic, isn't it?

-Well, that's what attracted us to it,

and it was just sat in my mother-in-law's loft,

doing nothing.

It used to belong to Kevin's late father-in-law

and it's no ordinary record player.

It's portable.

Groovy, baby.

I really wanted it to work,

because I've got some old albums that I wanted to play as well.

And vinyl's coming back, do you know that? It's...

So I'm convinced now I'll just buy myself a new vinyl player.

OK. Well, if you're buying a new vinyl player,

can I take away the old one and just see if there's anything that can be

-done with it?

-Yeah, no problem.

See if we can get it going again or do something with it, at least.

-Yeah, good.

-Brilliant. Thank you for letting me have it. So...

How heavy is it?

Not heavy at all.

He used to carry it around to his girlfriend's house apparently.

Really? I hope the mother-in-law...

I'm surprised the mother-in-law hung onto it for as long as she did then!

She was one of the girlfriends though.

Oh, how romantic!

I think.

So what could Sarah do with it? Any thoughts, Kevin?

Wouldn't be at all surprised if she completely upcycled it

into something crazy, like...

..a tea set holder or a drinks dispenser or something like that.

That's the sort of thing that her imagination can bring to that.

A tea set and drinks dispenser?

Now you're talking.

This thing weighs a tonne.

It's supposed to be a portable record player.

It's actually called the Portogram.

It's quite sweet.

It's got some lovely retro styling.

Even though it's not in perfect condition,

I reckon it deserves one last spin around the block

and, with the right person looking after it,

I reckon I could turn a profit on it, too.

And that person is Mark Phillips,

but everyone calls him Horse.

Horse was chief engineer for a world renowned audio recording company

for over a decade.

He has now taken his love for restoring vintage sound equipment

and made it into a business.

I like to utilise the items that look very nice

but don't necessarily have

much of a use in the modern age.

I kind of enjoy thinking about what I'm going to do with things.

I just find it very satisfying,

and then actually making it and building something to fruition

I find immensely satisfying.

Let's hope Horse is still in good spirits

when he claps eyes on Sarah's vintage record player.

That's one item down.

Sarah just has to find two more.

Actually, where is Sarah?

-Oh.

-Ooh!

Lots of interesting things in there.

Better go and find my own.

Well, you might not be waiting long

once you've had a look through the beauties coming out of Neil's boot.

-Hello.

-Hello there, how are you?

-I love a bit of gold.

-How long have you had this lot?

-A friend of mine,

his father passed on,

and he had to move out of his house

and gave me the rest of the stuff.

Yeah, cos this has got a real vintage look about it, hasn't it?

Neil's friends are helping him move house

and sadly, there's no space for this lot,

which is good news for Sarah.

-What's that?

-That's a Singer sewing table.

-Is it?

-Don't seem so surprised.

Sewing tables became very popular in the late 1800s.

-I have to show you how to fit it up.

-Oh, yeah, go on, then.

Designed to have the appearance of an ordinary piece of furniture,

they would commonly have an extending drop leaf

to create extra space.

And all your sewing bits and bobs would be hidden inside.

I don't like throwing things away.

-But I've got to move.

-Well, do you know something?

Today's your lucky day cos I don't like throwing things away either.

-No.

-This is in beautiful condition so I would love to see

if I can do something with that, if that's all right?

Yeah, no problem.

That's item two sewn up.

Any thoughts on its future, Neil?

My end's all right, how's yours?

Ha-ha!

Hopefully, she'll be able to restore it,

or turn it into something else.

Something more... productive now.

THRESHING WHIR OF MACHINE

Listen to that.

MACHINE TRUNDLING

Such a sweet little machine.

It's in very good order.

The cabinet has seen a bit of wear and tear, but altogether,

it's quite a cool thing.

I think that its sewing days may be over.

It's got a few bits missing,

it hasn't got any of its spools or things like that...

..but there has to be something we can do

to give this a new lease of life.

Got a few ideas in fact.

And Sarah's got just the man to help her stitch out a plan.

Norman Wilkinson has been in the furniture trade for over 25 years.

He is a self-taught craftsman and a self-confessed cheeky chappie.

I think my personality is reflected in what I do.

I think I try to do everything to the best of my ability.

Everything we do, I think, looks A1.

Everything I make is fantastic, just like me.

He specialises in handmade, bespoke British furniture,

and he's got bags of experience.

If I actually told you how long I've been doing this,

it would give away my age.

I think I'm still 21.

In my dreams!

He likes a joke, but the joke may be on him

when he sees that sewing machine.

Two down, one to go.

The next find is for Sarah to revamp.

Well, it's been a smashing start to the day here

and I've got high hopes that some little gems are coming my way.

You might be right.

Mark might have something interesting

nestling in the back of his car.

Or should that be nesting?

Tell me you're not chucking it away, are you?

Yes.

How can you chuck it? It's so kitsch!

Is it yours? Come on, tell me.

No, it's come from my mother-in-law's house and she died,

so we had it.

But it's...sort of had its day.

I know it's had its day,

and I know it's 100% retro, kitsch. I absolutely love it.

-Can I have it?

-You can have it, yes.

-Is it really heavy?

-Yes.

-I keep finding things...

-No, it's not that heavy.

Oh, I love it, look.

Look at my swan, isn't that sweet?

-Thank you.

-That's all right.

You've made my day. I'm now going to swan off!

HE LAUGHS

Leave the comedy, Sarah.

Any thoughts, Mark, on what she'll do with it?

I don't honestly think it's of much value,

but somebody might get some pleasure out of it.

Mark's not too hopeful,

but what does the boss think?

Interior designers, antique shops and vintage enthusiasts

love this kind of thing because, pop it on a big table,

it's a stand-alone, beautiful thing.

You can have it inside, not outside.

Things like this as well, they sell for loads of money.

But at the moment,

I'm not sure I can part with it.

And neither should you, until it's laid a golden egg.

That's all three items collected.

The record player will be turned around by Horse.

Norman will tackle the sewing unit,

and Sarah will take on the swan.

Hopefully she can bear to part with it.

I can't believe they were going to throw that lot away.

But it's all right cos they're in safe hands now.

Let's go and see what we can do with them.

Sarah is off to Stockport, Greater Manchester,

famous for one of the British Isles' earliest mechanised silk factories,

dating back to 1732.

By the late 1800s,

high-quality hats were also one of the main industries here.

And it's also home to audio wizard Horse.

Sarah's brought along her hefty record player

to see what he makes of it.

The ideal equipment to work on for me is sort of compact audio devices,

radios, things like that.

Horse wants compact.

Well, it's not exactly that.

Well, I've bought my redundant record player to music man Horse.

And I'm hoping he'll be able to turn the tables on it

and make this box boom again.

Let's hope he can.

Almost there, Sarah,

good work.

-Horse?

-Hiya.

-Hi, how are you doing?

-Yeah, good, thanks.

I've got a little something for you.

-Right.

-Tell me if you think you can do anything with it.

-Right.

-Do you restore things like this?

Yeah, sometimes, if it works.

It would be nice to get that spinning at least

cos then you are at least making something

of the function of the record player.

One of my main concerns would be is it in any way working?

I've got a little test device that I can plug it into

that makes it non-lethal.

Now, this is very important, so pay attention, please.

You should never plug in old electrics

and hope for the best.

Horse is using a light bulb limiter which will stop any fuses blowing,

and stop anyone getting any nasty shocks.

So, does the record player actually work?

FAINT WHIRRING

It sounds...

Mmm, you can hear it running, yeah.

That's a good sign.

But does the turntable spin?

-Not quite, though, is it?

-The reason it's not spinning this is cos

this is a heavy platter, that's an old piece of rubber,

and it's not getting enough traction against the inside of the platter.

So a good oiling and that should all work.

I quite like the idea of trying to see if it can be more like

a party box.

It'd be easier to sell it if there's something about it,

if it's got like lights, action.

Can I leave it with you to just have a tinker with it?

Yeah, yeah, definitely, yeah.

By "party box",

Sarah means a completely renovated audio system

that can play music from modern gadgets,

like your smartphone or tablet.

And she wants some lights on it, for a bit of razzmatazz.

Can you give me a ballpark figure for potentially updating it?

I don't know, probably around £300.

OK. Well, if you can make it all-singing, all-dancing,

really making it really rock, that would be amazing.

Brilliant. Yeah, well, I'll give it my best shot.

I know you will, you always do, thanks so much.

Horse is charged with bringing this old record player bang up-to-date,

as a "party box".

But just how much of a challenge is this?

For this one, I'm really going to have to get my thinking cap on...

..with regard to how to utilise the turntable,

and kind of possibly putting some kind of light on it.

But it's always fun to try to think of creative solutions

for things like that.

This is going to be interesting.

Well, I feel like I've left Horse with a few hurdles there

but I think he's really going to make that box

absolutely pack a party punch.

Mm, I'm not completely convinced.

For £300,

Horse will turn this old record player into a modern tech party box.

We hope.

Off to picturesque Hellingly in East Sussex,

to see furniture maestro, Norman,

who sounds a bit wary of Sarah's impending visit.

Nine times out of ten, I'm like, here we go again.

But one day she will surprise me, and I'll go, fantastic.

Let's hope that's today, Norman.

Well, I've bought my sweet old sewing machine and its cabinet

all the way across Sussex to see Norman.

I'm hoping he's going to transform this Singer for a song,

and turn it into something lovely, make me turn a profit.

I reckon there's a way to go before that happens.

Norman, look at this!

-Do you know what it is?

-Do I know what it is?

-Um...

-Let me show you, let me show you.

Let me show you. I mean, I know it looks ordinary, but look at it.

It's...

-Pull.

-Pull.

-Ah!

-Open.

It's a Singer sewing machine.

-Look.

-This is in really good condition, isn't it?

They're normally quite battered up.

-What've you got in mind?

-I did have a plan.

I quite like the look of these side panels.

When the door's shut you get quite a cool silhouette from them.

And I was thinking maybe they could be turned into the sides

-of a little chest of drawers.

-A chest of drawers will be...

silly.

Go on, what's your idea? I know you're going to have a better one.

Frankly, I'm struggling.

Why don't we try and turn into maybe a little desk?

Throw that away, put that onto there.

-Right.

-And then we have that as a door, obviously,

but then when they come to want to use it as a desk

you pull the door open,

we have the treadles, Singer sewing machine bit here,

and if we use that part of it,

we could try and make that into a stool.

We can put a drawer in here and the bit on the door

they could use for pens and everything, so, yeah.

What Norman's going to do is take off the old sewing machine

and turn the cabinet into a foldaway child's homework desk and stool.

It's a space-saver,

because it will all be storable within the original cabinet's form.

What kind of price are you thinking of for converting that?

I reckon it's going to cost around the 250 mark,

make it all singing and dancing.

Not Singer and dancing!

Oh, dear, it's another joke.

Go on, then, have a go, 250 quid.

Beautiful, saleable, small piece of furniture, suitable for children.

-Two bits of furniture.

-Two bits of furniture.

I think it's going to be lovely. Give me a shout when it's done.

-Fantastic, I will.

-OK.

-See you soon.

-Bye.

-All the best.

It sounds like Norman has finally been won over by the sewing machine.

Happier now?

I think what we've come up with is I think quite a good idea,

so yeah, turn it into something hopefully that will be saleable.

Well, Norman is talking a big game for a small piece of furniture,

so this one's all on Norman, and I hope he can pull it off.

Sarah's spending £250 to turn the sewing machine unit

into a kids' foldaway desk and stool.

Could it be a risky endeavour, or has Norman got it all sewn up?

In Sussex, Sarah is taking her bird home to roost.

The terracotta swan is a decorative outdoor planter.

These were extremely popular in the '60s,

when elaborate garden furniture was all the rage.

Sarah thinks this may have hidden value,

so it won't require any sort of makeover.

Is she quackers?

Or might this really take flight?

Well, it looks like I'm either going to be on a wild goose chase here,

or I'm going to be swanning off with a profit.

I think it's profit, cos I love this swan.

To find out if she's right, she needs to research online.

Sarah is checking auction sites to see what she can find out about

its potential value.

There are lots of vintage planters coming up that are swan shape...

..but none of them are made out of terracotta,

and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing,

cos normally that means you can get a good idea of what the price'll be.

But nobody is selling one of these, not historically,

not now, not in America,

so he's rare,

but I don't know if he's actually desirable.

But I am going to keep looking,

because I need to get some context for this.

I really like it. I think it's got decorative appeal.

But it would be really good to have a set price

that I can work on for sales.

Sarah eventually found a rough guide price of around £50.

If she wants to make more than that,

she's got to make this bird presentable.

Then post pictures of it on social media.

Can Sarah's flower arranging help net some interest?

Well, I'm not a natural florist,

but it's certainly looking a bit more saleable,

so I'm going to take it outside,

take some pictures of it against the flint wall.

Come on, swanny.

After a few snaps and a few uploads,

all she can do is wait and see what happens.

Sarah hasn't spent a penny so far.

If she does manage to bag a buyer, it'll be all profit.

To Stockport now,

where Sarah asked Horse to turn the old record player into a party box,

with new audio fittings for smart devices,

and a light display to dazzle while it plays tunes.

How's he getting on, then?

What I'm going to try and do is fit some kind of light

to shine onto this platter,

and put possibly a disco ball on the platter,

then, with a new circuit,

I'll get music coming out of the bottom of it,

so that you'll potentially have, um...

..a disco in a box, if you like.

Sounds funky.

What I'm hoping to do is retain the spinning mechanism,

but I'll probably have to get rid of the changer mechanism,

and the tone arm.

So let's have a look under here.

First job is to fix that faulty spinner.

What I think is the problem

is the arm that the idler wheel sits on is very stiff,

so I'm going to get some oil.

Horse loosens it up with sewing machine oil,

then gives all the bits a quick clean.

Has that done the trick?

That's definitely the best it's been.

It's working.

Oh, no, it's not.

What's the problem, Horse?

When it engages the different mechanisms

then it slows down the motor,

so that's not going to help what we need.

Basically he needs to disable some of the power

going to some of the parts.

Time to get out his trusty pliers.

I need part of it to work,

and part of it to not work,

and it's just trying to get the part I need to work to keep working

and the part not that I don't need to work, to stop working.

I think what he means is if you twiddle this bit,

take that bit off, and cut that bit,

it might work.

Let's try it.

Oh, we are at peak disco ball spinning speed.

I don't know what peak disco ball spinning speed is,

but it sure sounds fun.

And for the piece de resistance...

This is half a mirror ball I made earlier.

Looks like R2-D2 ready for a night on the town.

Could this get any more fun?

This is a little disco light.

Yes, it can.

By shining that onto there,

you can get some nice effects.

Let's just enjoy this for a moment.

Ah, bliss.

Let's hope this party box will be playing music soon.

Otherwise it's just half a revolving disco ball in a box.

Over in Hellingly, East Sussex, Norman is starting to create

his kids' foldaway homework desk and stool.

Norman won't be using the sewing machine in his design.

Instead, he'll be giving it back to Sarah to sell separately.

Steady on, Norman!

As for the rest of it, he's applying the age-old technique

of winging it.

When you're doing something like this,

you're almost making it up as you go along,

and deciding.

But nine times out of ten,

sometimes the best stuff always looks great when you make it up.

You know, I'm not one for doing sketches and doing whatever,

it all comes out of the head.

His rough plan is to turn the main unit into the desk,

and transform the old foot pedal into the stool.

Best get it out then, Norman.

Oh, look at that.

We don't need that.

So the plan is to actually make this into a stool, so, um...

We're going to have to cut that off there, aren't we?

Might even see if I can then grind them off.

Yeah, Norman, sharp sticky out bits aren't the best for sitting on.

Let's get them gone.

You know the old saying, you've got two chances.

It's either going to work, or not work.

Well, whatever happens, at least you look cool in those safety specs.

Success.

For the stool legs and base, Norman is using pine.

Chopping up and then assembling the tapered legs in no time.

Looking good, Norman.

I tell you what, we might make a little frame to go round that,

and then we can pop it in.

With the stool taking shape,

Norman moves on to the new desktop,

and he's just had an idea.

I'm going to take a template of that, cut it out

and then we can then, because like we said,

we weren't going to use the flap,

but we're going to use the flap now,

because you've got it round, you know,

they can have a friend or mate sitting at the end as well.

Or mum and dad can be sitting there while they're doing their homework.

Basically, he's taking some MDF,

cutting it up to match the old worktop's dimensions,

then he'll hinge them together to create a fold-up section

for more space.

Genius.

We've got to decide on, um...

..what construction we're going to have inside, but, um,

I need to think on that,

and decide whether we're going to put the drawer in or not,

and then basically then we've got to sand it down,

prepare it, and then get it the colour that we think.

We're going to... I think because it could either be, you know,

a boy or a girl or whatever, we could be very neutral.

I think we might even do it cream or something, but, um,

we'll make that decision when we get nearer the time, so, yeah,

happy days. I think we're doing well.

Norman seems confident,

but he's still got to finish the stool,

and the writing desk needs the new top fitted,

the inside rebuilt,

and, oh, yeah, he's got to repaint the whole thing.

Good luck, Norman.

In West Sussex,

Sarah has headed to Billingshurst,

to find a new home for her terracotta swan planter.

After posting piccies of the bird online,

she's had a lot of fanciers,

including a vintage and retro boutique.

But can Sarah strike a deal with the shop owner?

-Hi, Julia.

-Oh, hi.

Oh, look at that.

-What do you think?

-Oh, gosh, it's beautiful.

I absolutely love that.

I know you saw the picture on my page.

Is it bigger than you thought it was going to be?

I think it is, yes, I had no concept really of what it was going to be

like in the flesh. It's absolutely amazing.

I thought it was lovely the moment I saw it.

It actually divides opinion,

because kitsch swans are not everybody's cup of tea,

but do you think it is saleable?

Oh, definitely, and I think full of foliage,

or you could fill it with other things as well,

it would look absolutely stunning in the shop window,

or in the middle of a table even.

Sounds like the perfect place for Sarah's swan to nest,

and she strikes a deal with a delighted Julia.

I'm always amazed what people throw away.

When I go to the tip I see fantastic stuff being chucked in,

so to throw this away seems a crime,

so I'm really pleased that it's been rescued, and I got it!

Sarah found the terracotta swan in the back of Mark's motor.

Is it yours? Come on, tell me.

No, it's come from my mother-in-law's house, but she died,

so we had it,

but it's...sort of had its day.

Sarah thought otherwise, and happily flew away with the bird.

I don't honestly think it's of much value,

but somebody might get some pleasure out of it.

And that's just what's happened,

now Julia's has bought it.

But how much profit was made?

Sarah's in Aldridge to catch up with Mark,

and let him know what became of his old swan planter.

SHE KNOCKS

-Hello, Mark.

-Hi.

-Hi there, how are you doing?

-I'm all right. You?

-Yeah, very well, thank you.

-Nice to see you again.

-And you.

-Now I've been really looking forward to coming to find you.

-Right.

Because I think when I saw you chucking out your...

I think it was your mother-in-law's swan at the tip, wasn't it?

-It was. Yes.

-I think you said I'd find out that it was worth

-probably not very much.

-I did.

THEY CHUCKLE

Have you been laughing about it since I took it away?

Well, I was expecting you to come and bring me a cheque

-for 500,000 or something, you know.

-I wish, I wish.

It wasn't, it turned out, a Ming swan

or anything very exciting like that.

It was a terracotta...

Garden planter. Yes, yeah.

It didn't stop me. I put some pictures on social media.

-Yeah.

-And I was right, actually, your swan was desirable.

OK, that's good, that's good.

80 quid desirable for your swan.

-Dear me!

-He was decorative,

and he was beautiful and he's gone to a shop who paid 80 quid for him.

HE LAUGHS

Thank you very much, that's very nice of you.

What do you think of that?

I... Um... I'm speechless, if I'm honest.

I didn't think it was worth anything.

That's lovely, thank you very much.

What might you do with £80?

Um, I'm a member of a charity called the Blood Bikers,

Midland Freewheelers, so I shall probably give it to them.

That sounds like an amazing thing to do with it.

Thank you very much, that's very good.

My pleasure, he was a beauty, your swan,

so thank you so much for letting me have him.

I'm so pleased he didn't get smashed.

-No, that's fine.

-Take care, thank you ever so much.

-Bye-bye.

-Cheers, bye-bye.

Sarah didn't spend anything on the terracotta swan.

She sold it for a whopping £80,

meaning every penny could be passed on to Mark.

Good work, Sarah.

In Stockport,

Sarah is heading to see how Horse's party box has turned out...

..and it looks like Horse has had a smart haircut for her arrival.

Very dashing.

It's the weirdest thing I've ever made,

but it was a lot of fun to do and I'm pleased with the result.

I'm looking forward to showing Sarah, cos I think she'll like it,

cos she likes mad stuff.

She sure does.

And here she comes.

I'm here to pick up my tired old record player.

I left it with Horse with a remit to make it fun, fab, totally disco.

He's not really a disco man, so I'm wondering if he's pulled it off.

This dilapidated long player

was both long in the tooth and destined for the skip. But now...

..it's got the Saturday night fever,

and it's transformed into a sparkling party box.

It can play any number one from tablet or smartphone,

with a spinning disco and laser light combo.

It creates a dazzling display across the room.

This is enhanced by a selection of tiny mirrors across the box's lid.

The speaker grille has a hip new twist

thanks to a repurposed metal plate from a fire escape.

And all the electrics have been updated and PAT tested

to comply with UK electrical safety regulations.

Plus, there's a new amp, speakers,

audio connection and Bluetooth connectivity.

So, get ready to pair your smart device and get dancing.

If Sarah doesn't love this one,

I'll eat my spandex hot pants.

-Horse? Hiya.

-Hiya.

-How are you doing?

-Yeah, good, thanks.

Oh, wow, you've upgraded it.

Yeah, yeah.

Go on, then. Tell me.

Well, I haven't done that much to the outside.

It's more inside that's...different.

-I can't wait. Come on, let's see what you've done.

-OK.

That looks amazing!

What have you done to it?

I've kept the turntable function, but that's now a disco ball,

ridiculously.

Of course it is!

HE LAUGHS

And then I put a little disco light shining on to it as well.

Come on, then, let's see it in action.

So, do you want music through it, yeah?

Yes, let's hear the tunes.

ELECTRO-SWING SONG STARTS

Oh, Horse!

THEY LAUGH

That is legendary.

The sound quality is amazing, isn't it?

It is good, yeah, yeah.

I'm pleased with the speaker that I put in it.

That is fantastic.

What a load of fun!

So, it's all singing, all dancing,

but did it come in on budget at 300 quid?

I got it in for about 250 in the end.

You legend! Really?

I cannot believe you've done that under budget

and packed so much into it. Fantastic, thank you.

Yeah, well done, Horse.

Good on you, son.

I really enjoyed doing that. It was a lot of fun to do.

It was the maddest thing I've ever done.

It's pretty strange for me, but I'm glad Sarah liked it.

I thought she might, but, yeah, I'm chuffed.

Well, I asked for a party in a box.

Horse has delivered a Disco Inferno.

Sarah found the record player in Kevin's car.

I think it's '40s or '50s.

It was just sat in my mother-in-law's loft, doing nothing.

Kevin was happy to let Sarah take away

his late father-in-law's pride and joy.

How heavy is it?

Not heavy at all.

He used to carry it round to his girlfriend's house, apparently.

Really?

I'm surprised the mother-in-law hung onto it

-for as long as she did, then!

-She was one of the girlfriends!

A real labour of love, then.

And what a transformation.

Even better, Sarah's sold it to Smithers of Stamford,

an online retro and vintage shop.

And owner Nick is thrilled.

I feel like a DJ.

One happy customer, then.

But how much was he willing to spend?

Sarah is in Birmingham to let Kevin know.

DOORBELL RINGS

-Hi there.

-Hi there.

-Nice to see you again.

-How are you?

-I'm really well.

-How are you?

-All right, I'm OK.

I was so excited when I saw you dropping off that old record player

at the tip, but it wasn't yours, was it?

No, it was actually my father-in-law's,

and it was a real wrench for my wife to let me take it away, actually.

I took it to my go-to man for sound.

He's called Horse, who's up in Manchester.

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

-That would be fantastic.

-Are you ready?

-Yes, please.

In fact, this one is a moving picture.

-Hopefully, you can see...

-Oh, fantastic!

Oh, it's a disco ball.

Aah!

Crazy, crazy...

-It's a fully functioning, loud as you like party box.

-Really?

It's got full Bluetooth connectivity.

You can plug anything into it,

and it has this lovely glitter ball that lights up the whole room.

It's gone from almost a wind-up to state-of-the-art.

Oh, fantastic. John would have loved that.

John's my father-in-law, by the way. He would have loved it.

That it's had another use.

It's actually been sold.

-Right.

-So, it's going to have a new lease of life.

-And I've got some profit for you as well.

-Oh, that's even better!

I've got 100 quid here for you.

Whoa! Thank you.

So I think we'll put this to good use.

A nice meal.

Is it OK if I show my wife and my daughter what you've done

-with the record player?

-That would be great. Are they here now?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Lovely, yeah, do.

Lorraine, Isabel, come and have a look.

-Hello there.

-Hiya.

-Hi, so it was your dad's player, was it?

-It was, yeah.

-Oh, fantastic.

-Hi there. I'm Sarah.

-Hi.

Do you want to see what it does now?

-Are you ready for this?

-Look at this.

-Unbelievable.

-That is so cool.

-So cool.

-That's so cool.

-What do you think of that?

-Fantastic.

-Fantastic.

That's made me feel quite emotional.

Aww. I really feel for you.

Lovely to catch up with you.

-Thank you very much.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye now.

Well, that's one tip find that now really rocks,

and Kevin is going out for dinner.

That's music to my ears.

Sarah spent £250 on the record player.

She sold it for a total of £350,

giving Kevin £100 to splash out on a slap-up meal for all the family.

Time to head back to Hellingly in East Sussex

to see how Norman has transformed the Singer sewing machine unit

into a desk for Sarah.

I think she's going to like it. It's a cool piece.

I think Sarah will be the judge of that, Norman.

Well, I'm here to pick up my old sewing machine table,

and I'm hoping that Norman has done something fantastic with it,

cos I have just no idea what this is going to look like.

Time to find out if Norman's idea has paid off.

And I'm delighted to see...

..that it has.

Norman has breathed life back into this old unit,

making it a perfectly formed, foldaway desk for a child.

The hinged MDF top doubles the desk space.

And inside, he's built an extra bit of storage for paper or books.

The new stool is delightful,

cleverly using the sewing machine foot pedal inside a bespoke frame.

The whole lot has been painted with regular wood paint,

and sealed with a wax polish.

It's modern, fresh

and perfect for a little one to sit and do their sums at.

But will Sarah give it top marks?

-Hello.

-Hello!

Look at that!

-There we go.

-It looks beautiful.

What's hiding inside?

Yeah, well, we've obviously done what we had to do.

Got the pencil thing there, put your pencils in.

That goes over to the flaps.

Love the choice of colour. The grey is really good.

And the stool, beautiful.

-Can I try it?

-Yeah.

-Is it comfortable?

-Yeah.

It should take your weight.

THEY LAUGH

Yeah, that's really neat.

Yeah. Then also, if kids are doing it,

Mum and Dad can sit there while they're doing homework as well.

If they've got to help them out or whatever.

Yeah, because you can tuck in that side as well, can't you?

Tuck in that side as well, yeah.

So it's got the versatility of everything.

Brilliant. Well, I think that's what we're trying to create now,

isn't it? Pieces of furniture like this,

if they're flexible, they can go into so many different spaces.

Really sweet.

And then, when you're finished,

it just packs away really neat and tidy.

And then...

you can still have it as a piece of furniture

and do what you want with it.

How did you get on with the budget?

250 quid was left on that one, yeah, and we are bang on it.

-Good.

-Yeah, really, really happy with it, and everything.

Brilliant. Well, thank you so much for doing that.

Fantastic.

-A really good makeover.

-Brilliant.

A top-notch homework desk,

delivered on budget.

Top of the class, Norman.

Well, I think Sarah was pleased with that.

I think she likes the colour,

she likes what we did, nice little stool,

so...

Done it on budget, so happy days for everyone.

And hopefully she'll make lots of money.

If she doesn't, I'll tell her off.

Well, that is a sweet little transformation.

That's gone from sad sewing table

to very saleable item.

Sarah found the sewing machine unit in the back of Neil's car.

He was happy to see it saved.

I don't like throwing things away, but I've got to move.

Well, do you know something? Today's your lucky day,

-cos I don't like throwing things away, either.

-No!

And Neil had a few ideas of what Sarah might do with it.

Hopefully, she'll be able to restore it

or turn it into something else, something more...productive, now.

Which is exactly what she's done.

And, more than that,

Sarah sold it to a sewing club in Kent.

And creative director, Angela, is thrilled with her purchase.

It's beautiful, it's lovely,

it's going to look really good in my studio, very versatile.

Sarah's back in Walsall to tell Neil the good news about the cabinet,

but did she manage to sell the sewing machine, too?

-Hello, Neil.

-Hi there.

-Nice to see you again.

Lovely, thank you.

So you were on the move when I last saw you, and ended up here.

-Yes, that's right.

-Have you settled in?

-Yeah, yeah, it's lovely.

Excellent. Now, I was a bit surprised to see a sewing machine

coming out of the back of a car. What were you doing with that?

It was a friend's relative, but it was going in the skip, so...

-You had to save it.

-I rescued it,

but obviously I haven't got enough room here.

It was a sweet little sewing machine,

and I didn't want to do anything with that,

because it was still in working order, and in really good condition,

so I actually took the sewing machine out,

but the rest of it, the lovely case it came in

went all the way East Sussex and to a lovely guy called Norman,

who has made it into something really special.

So I've got some pictures here to show you.

This is how it ended up.

-Yeah.

-He has transformed it...

Oh, the treadle's there as well.

He's made the whole unit into a desk that opens up,

and he used the treadle from the sewing machine

-to make the top of the stool.

-Oh, that's lovely.

-What do you think about that?

-Yeah, the treadle's really impressive.

The sewing machine has gone on to a new home,

and so has the old table.

In fact, just hold on to that for me, I've got 19p there.

Oh, lovely!

And 70 quid to go with it.

Oh, that's brilliant! Thank you.

-That's for you.

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

-What might you do with that?

Well, my son's girlfriend has just gone into labour today.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah. He just phoned me, actually.

-Oh, brilliant. Congratulations.

-That's lovely, yes, thank you.

Thank you so much for letting us have your sewing machine table,

-and that's great news.

-Yeah, it is, that's lovely.

-Thanks ever so much.

-Thank you very much.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

Well, I would say that is fortuitous timing.

Great news that Neil's about to be a grandpa.

And money to be spent there!

Norman came in on budget at £250.

Sarah sold the sewing machine on eBay for £25.19.

The desk sold for £295,

making a total of £320.19.

So Neil has £70.19 to spend on his new grandchild.

Sarah saved three unwanted items from being thrown in the tip.

And, with a bit of elbow grease and lots of love and attention...

..they've been completely transformed,

into fantastic, desirable objects.

I diverted items that were about to hit the skip

and, with the help of Horse and Norman,

have transformed them into truly special items,

and they're going to take pride of place in their new homes.