Episode 16 Money for Nothing

Some people have lovely rubbish, don't they?

How do you make money for nothing?

-Are you chucking that, really?

-We are, yeah.

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

we throw out every year.

Presumably, it hasn't come straight out of the sitting room, then?

-That's why entrepreneur Sarah Moore...

-My colour?

..wants to get her hands on things before they hit the skip.

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

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

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

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

-What do you think?

-I think it's beautiful.

-Is that it?

-Yep.

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

Absolutely amazing!

..valuable...

Goodness, I love it!

..and, let's hope, saleable items.

Oh, my word!

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.

I didn't dream it would ever come to anything like that!

Sarah's at the Witley recycling centre in Surrey,

where hundreds of cars

are passing through the gates and into her loving arms.

The cars are rolling in, and every single one could be packed with

potential projects. I've just got to go and find them.

Sarah acquired special permission

to stick her nose into people's boots...

Rubbish!

..in order to sniff out three items that she can save

and transform into profit.

So far, though, there's not a lot of saving going on.

Sometimes, that lot are awfully sneaky.

They try and put things into the tip without me seeing.

Throwing rubbish into a rubbish tip? The nerve of these people!

Hang about. If you're quick, Bryn's got something you can rescue.

Eurgh! On second thoughts...

-Morning.

-Good morning.

Hi there. Is that yours?

-Yeah. Well, we're throwing it out.

-I can see why.

I presume it hasn't come straight out of the sitting room, then?

No, it's been in the garage quite a while.

Has it been in your family?

My wife's family. Unfortunately, her mother passed away last year,

-so we're clearing out her house.

-Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

Do you know anything about it? How old it is, or...?

Don't know. I haven't got a clue how old it is, but I know it's

been in the garage probably for quite a few years.

Well, Bryn, what you have there is a fine example of

a Victorian gentleman's chair.

New addition of some casters on the bottom.

Dating back to the turn of the 20th century, it defined an era

when gentlemen felt that they needed their own chair to sit down in.

Anything that comes into the recycling centre that's solid,

still in one piece, and hasn't collapsed like a flat pack,

has definitely got some potential,

so if it could be refurbished or done something with,

can I come and find you and show you what I've done with that?

Yeah. That would be really good, yeah.

-So I'm going to take this away. Thank you so much.

-Cheers.

Sarah's got herself a 100-year-old chair,

complete with 100-year-old dirt, by the looks of it.

Any idea what she's got in store for it, Bryn?

I don't know. Hopefully, make it, you know, look nice again.

You can see the frame's all nice.

I'm assuming she'll reupholster it, so...

Really interested to see what it comes out as.

Well, this poor old chair - it's out of fashion, out of love,

and fresh out of the garage, and that is the only fresh about it.

It's in a pretty tricky state, but it's got potential,

just buried under all of this.

And Sarah knows just the maker who will relish the challenge.

Anthony Divine, upholstery mega mind.

Anthony has two decades of design experience,

and now passes that knowledge on to others at his school of upholstery.

Anthony's work is loud, exciting, and experimental.

My style to somebody else's style is I try and avoid looking

at other things. I try and avoid seeing what everybody else is up to.

Now, it's like, in the workshop,

come up with the idea, do you know what?

This is my idea and this is the best I can do.

Judge me on that.

I'll always get the job done.

I might have to stay up late and do it, yeah,

with a few kind of twists along the way.

You don't mind a late night, eh?

Well, you might want to bring your sleeping bag,

because this is on its way.

That's one less thing heading to landfill.

Sarah's back at the boots to find two more.

Anything in there?

Nope.

That one?

Nope.

What about that big thing?

Definitely not.

Oh, I give up.

Keep going.

Well, if you don't like what Lorraine's pulling out of her car,

I'm stopping for lunch.

-Hiya.

-Hello.

Hello. A pair of nice chairs?

-These yours?

-They are indeed.

-Just had enough of them?

-They are rather old and a bit battered.

They've got a really retro look to them.

How old do you reckon they are? 1950s, something like that?

I would have thought so. They were my mother's.

OK. Were there more than two?

Yes, I don't know if there were four or six,

cos I was only little at the time.

They had a table, but I'm still using the table at home.

They have got a lovely retro look to them that people quite like

-at the moment.

-Oh, right.

-But not your cup of tea.

-No.

So can I rescue them before you get them in the wood skip?

Yes, you can.

Well, thank you. You've made my day.

-Thank you so much.

-You're welcome.

Sarah's bagged herself a pretty jazzy looking pair of chairs,

but what do you think is in store for them, Lorraine?

I can't imagine them stripped bare, but they'd certainly need recovering

and repadding. I would imagine that she'll make them look as lovely

as possible, and someone's going to get some use from them.

Well, there was a time, and it really wasn't long ago,

that a pair of chairs like this with a ply back and black legs,

they really wouldn't have caught my eye, but do you know something?

I reckon they've got style, and where there's old-fashioned style

like this, there's old-fashioned money to be made.

Old-fashioned is right, so she'll have to call in some help.

Emma Walker is a self-taught furniture restyler.

With her best friend, Badger, by her side, she uses wallpaper and

other materials to give forgotten furniture a fresh new look.

I'm obsessed with design, and I'm obsessed with the right wallpaper

going on the right piece in the right way.

All my personalities are reflected in all my work.

Whatever the mood takes, it's going to come out in the furniture.

Yeah, loads of personalities, me!

SHE LAUGHS

All right, Emma.

Let's just hope you're still smiling when Sarah turns up with this pair.

That's two items now safely squirrelled away.

Sarah's desperately searching for one more

which she can work on herself.

No time for a rest around here.

You snooze, you lose.

Speak of the devil...

It's quite a good one, that one. Most of them are.

Oh, I don't really want to think about that, thank you.

Perhaps Suzanne has something a bit nicer for you in her boot.

Perhaps not.

What's hiding under there?

Maybe I don't want to know.

-Hi there.

-Hi!

Have you got anything good you're throwing away?

-Just an old typewriter.

-Under there? Is that a typewriter?

-Yes.

-Come on, let's have a look, then.

-Do you want to have a look?

-It looks really old.

-It is.

-That's an amazing one.

-There you go.

-How long have you had that?

Since I was a young teenager, I guess,

when I first started to learn to type.

And where did you get it from? Cos it wasn't new then.

No, it came from my great aunt, who was originally a secretary and

she passed it to me and it's been in the family ever since.

And where has it been? Have you had it in the house, or...

Yeah, originally it was in my mum's house and then it got moved to

her shed and she passed away in the last couple of years,

so I'm busy sort of getting rid of stuff and it's been in my garage

sitting there for a while, while I decided what I needed to do with it.

-Right.

-And I've now come to the stage where it's time for it go,

-unfortunately.

-Well, anything like that, that's been so beautifully

-designed...

-Yeah.

-..it must be able to be recycled.

Yes. Yeah. It would make me feel better about it,

rather than just throwing it away.

-May I take it away?

-Yes, of course. Do you want the cover with it?

It's a good old-fashioned leather cover as well.

Definitely. It's going to be heavy, isn't it?

-Yes, it is. The weight's at the back.

-Oh, yes. Thanks very much.

You're very welcome.

Hold the front page.

Sarah's got herself a sweet lovely little...

This thing's vicious.

..vicious typewriter.

What do you think will happen to it, Suzanne?

In my mind, I imagine perhaps it could be used as some kind of base

for a table lamp, or something like that.

That's actually a good idea.

Have you got anything better, Sarah?

Struggling to imagine it being anything other than a typewriter but

I think when we get down to it,

there'll be something fabulous made out of this.

You should talk to Suzanne.

So at the end of a long day, Sarah has her items.

Anthony will spruce up the Victorian chair.

Emma will work her maker magic on the retro chairs.

Sarah will think of something to do with the typewriter, we hope.

-Well, that was close.

-It looked like nothing great was going to turn up,

but actually, I've found some absolute crackers.

Manchester, once the industrial metropolis of the North, now,

a mecca of music, art and imagination.

Sarah's brought along the old Victorian chair,

although she's wheeling it about like the last trolley in the supermarket.

Perhaps upholsterer Anthony can give it some of that

Manchester swagger.

Sarah's on her way and, to be honest,

I really don't mind what she brings any more,

because she brings such a different range of everything,

I'm quite open-minded on what her suggestion is and, you know,

we'll see where it goes with this one.

It's going to be quite interesting.

You haven't seen the state of it yet.

The wheels are coming off already but this chair has potential,

so I've brought it to Manchester and to Anthony to take a look at it.

Better not look too closely.

-So...

-I think it might have a gammy leg.

It's not only the legs that are gammy.

There's a lot of, I don't know, product on it.

Pigeon product.

Possibly.

Possible pigeon product.

How very TV friendly of you both.

It has some potential, don't you think?

Slim at this stage, to be honest.

-Slim.

-Slim potential.

-I have got some ideas about it, though.

-Good.

-I like the little acorn details and I was thinking,

how about we make some beautiful botanical inspired chair?

Perhaps some funky print on it, maybe over stuffing the arms and

getting rid of everything but the acorns? Something like that?

I like the idea of, like, botanical.

I think if we were to try and strip back or restore the wood,

we'd be forever, and it would just blow the budget

and we would never regain that.

So, like, where do we go?

Well, I know. Let's flock it.

Yes! Let's flock it!

Flock it.

If we're still on the botanical, maybe some, like,

acid green flocking.

Ah, flocking. I'm with you now.

I like the flocking idea.

Flocking is the process of sticking thousands of tiny fibre particles

-onto a surface...

-Have you ever flocked before?

..which creates a fuzzy velour-ey texture.

You're going to flock the frame.

Self flocked.

Please stop saying, "Flock."

Why don't I leave it with you?

After all that, I think the plan is that Anthony is going to attempt the

flocking himself and add botanical themed fabric to tie it all together.

Sounds expensive.

-OK, money?

-Around the 500 quid mark, to be honest.

Any chance you can do 450?

475, and we've got ourselves a deal.

Oh, go on, then.

See you soon.

We're going to try and flock it ourselves, hopefully.

We can do it, it'll look good, but, yeah, another string to the bow.

Well, that sounds exciting, doesn't it?

I'm a bit anxious. It's a lot of money.

I'm just hoping Anthony is a natural flocker, because that chair is going

to have to look mint if it's going to turn a profit.

Anthony has £475 to update the chair.

He can certainly talk the talk but can he flock the flock?

Well, thank goodness that's over.

I'm really looking forward to not saying "flocked" for a while.

Oh, look. A collection of seagulls.

Sarah's in Brighton with the pair of retro-looking chairs,

hoping that wallpapering wonder-woman, Emma,

can slap on some style.

Sarah's on her way.

I'm looking forward to seeing her, seeing what she brings me.

She always stretches me a little bit creatively.

It's just as well you have Badger on hand for support.

At ease, Badger!

Well, I've brought my two tired chairs to Brighton to see the

papering princess. I'm hoping Emma is going to work her magic on them

and they'll be fantastic.

Wallpapered chairs!

Now I've heard everything.

-Hi, Emma.

-Hello, Sarah.

-How are you doing? How are you?

-Nice to see you.

-I'm well. Thank you.

Er, a couple of tired old chairs.

Do you think they're up your street?

-Do you want to have a look at them?

-They're a bit tired,

with this fabric and what have you,

but they're actually in really good nick.

They are ugly pretty, I think, but they could have a really fresh style,

so I think you're the ideal woman.

They could have some wallpaper on them, can't they?

-Perfect. I think wallpaper...

-Front, back, legs, everything.

Not the seat pads.

-That wouldn't work.

-So would you really do the legs?

Yeah. When I... I quite like these days,

going as far as I can with the wallpaper.

It can sometimes look a little bit like I've really wrapped a present up very well.

THEY LAUGH

Well, I don't know what you two are laughing at.

Who wants a chair that looks like it has to be unwrapped?

That sounds lovely but I think the paper choice is going to be key,

isn't it? Cos anything too chintzy is not going to suit these.

I think shimmery, glimmery, right on trend.

Just go for whatever is naturally looking good.

Pair of chairs.

A total wallpapering.

How much is that going to cost?

I'll do both of them with the materials for £100

and you should be able, cos they should look...

You'll never find another pair like them.

I don't doubt that for a second, Emma.

If you can do it for that, I'm really happy, so just go for it.

Thanks ever so much. Enjoy them.

-Yeah.

-Bye.

-Bye-bye.

I'm going to really enjoy doing these.

I don't know if I'll mirror them, do them as an identical pair yet,

so they'll be nice and shimmery, fresh.

Well, that's a great price and with Emma's big ideas,

I reckon those chairs have got a fighting chance.

Emma has £100 to gift wrap the chairs.

Let's hope Christmas comes early and it's not a massive turkey!

With our makers off and wrapping,

in Sussex...

..Sarah is back home and ready to start on the novel

she's always wanted to write about a brave dog called Bramble,

who lies about in bed all day.

Or maybe not!

I love this old typewriter, but its typing days are definitely over.

It's seized and that is not something you want to associate with a typewriter.

It's got some lovely details.

The letters on here and the typography is so nostalgic,

so I reckon there's heaps of things to be done with this.

With no plan in place, Sarah begins to dismantle the typewriter

in the hope of finding some inspiration.

Whoever invented this was really clever.

It's got hundreds of bits on it.

This typewriter was made by the Underwood typewriter company.

They produced what is considered to be the first widely successful modern typewriter.

I will not be putting this back together.

In its heyday, it was the largest typewriter manufacturer

in the world, and by 1939, had produced over five million machines.

I think those little keys are going to make fantastic cuff links.

They've got letters on, they could be personalised.

They've got to have some appeal.

Cuff links! Sounds classy, but Sarah's not finished there.

I'm just trying to reclaim all the little bits with the letters on that

actually hit the paper.

Quite tough, but...

..definitely worth retrieving, if possible, cos they're really sweet.

That one's an ampersand.

If I personalise them, they definitely get a chance of selling.

With a full set of keys and type hammers,

Sarah puts the body of the typewriter to one side,

to give the rest a good old scrub.

Bramble's toothbrush!

Don't worry, Bramble, I'm sure she means your old toothbrush.

Well, with a little bit of elbow grease,

these will come up really well. I love the way they look.

The cuff links are coming along

but what does Sarah have in mind for those letter blocks?

These are so fiddly to work with,

but I hope they're going to be worth it.

So I'm going to solder a little hook on the top of each one and make them

into tiny necklaces, so either somebody could write something with

them, or you could just maybe have an initial.

Cuff links and necklaces from typewriter parts.

That is smart!

Soldering time.

Not the best at it, but it's reasonably straightforward.

Just have to remember that everything gets really hot,

so I'm just going to attach a ring to the top.

Soldering is the process of joining two metals together

with a filler metal.

In this case, Sarah is melting some solder wire

to join the hooks to the blocks.

Perfect.

One down.

55 to go!

Solder on, then.

So far, Sarah has spent £7.99 on parts to make her jewellery

but with lots of work still to do, costs could still go up.

Back in Manchester, and it's flocking time.

Well, nearly flocking time.

Anthony needs to strip the chair first and he's discovered

that he's not the first person to have worked on it.

I'm seeing all the hallmarks of a bit of a DIY job.

This bit cut around here is completely wrong.

But especially this.

Any upholsterer with any credentials would definitely not put any wood

on the bottom here. It's a quick way of shoring the whole frame up,

so I'm worried that if we take this off,

the whole chair's going to become wobbly.

So there's only one way to find out, and that's start stripping.

A frame that is going to fall to pieces.

Great start.

Anthony begins to remove the fabric and padding so that

he can get a good look at the hard board base,

which may or may not be holding the whole thing together.

Hopefully, when I knock this off, it's not going to...

..find a wobbly frame underneath it.

Hardboard does not make for the comfiest of chairs.

Nowadays, elasticated webbing is used as base support,

as it's strong, and more importantly, flexible.

So, Anthony, the hardboard is off.

Is it holding together?

To be honest, the frame is in not bad condition.

Thank goodness for that.

Next, Anthony is removing the fabric backing and armrests.

So now, we've got the fabric off,

it's a case of making sure we've got all the tacks and the nails out,

then we can actually clean the frame ready for the good stuff to begin.

And by good stuff, I take it you mean time for the flocking?

I can hardly wait!

As Anthony struggles with his chair, in Brighton,

Emma is hoping to have better luck wallpapering her pair.

I do like doing a chair.

I've usually got a chair or two on the go and a pair is nice to have,

so I'm going to really enjoy doing these.

What's the first step, Emma?

Yeah, take them apart, get to know them before we put them back together.

We will rebuild you.

With only a couple of screws holding the backs to the bases,

Emma can easily remove...

Oh, are you all right, Emma?

Reminds me of when the dentist was getting my wisdom teeth out!

He put his foot up on a chair to get the leverage.

Oh, it was horrific.

Oh, yeah. They've put a tack in it.

They've put a pin in it, there.

With the chair deconstructed, Emma is sanding down the frames.

Usually, I'd be out here in my bikini.

And that's come rain or shine as well!

Well, you've got to be comfortable while you work.

Next, Emma applies filler to the chipped backs so the wallpaper

will have a smooth surface to paste onto.

And talking of wallpaper...

We're not going to use wallpaper.

In fact, we're not going to use any wallpaper at all.

Surprise!

We are going to use a tablecloth.

A tablecloth?

Love this. Isn't it lovely?

This is basically cotton with a coating on it that's wipeable.

And I thought wallpapering was pretty out there.

The good news is, it's a very pretty tablecloth.

I want as much of the design pattern in as possible.

I want it centralised.

It's a print of a classic design by William Morris,

the leading light of the Arts and Crafts movement.

That's PVA, that's wallpaper paste.

Emma is treating the tablecloth as she would wallpaper.

First applying wallpaper paste to the fabric...

I want it to soak into the cotton.

..and PVA glue to the chair back.

It feels like it's going on nicer than wallpaper.

This might be my new go to.

And I think I want these birds' beaks up as high as they can go.

Once centred, Emma cuts through the hole in the chair back to release

tension before leaving it to dry.

So, I'm really pleased that I changed my mind.

I'm pleased with the way these are looking.

I can't wait to see the whole,

the pair completed and I hope that Sarah likes them.

With such a drastic change in material, let's hope so.

Back in Manchester, Anthony is well on his way with the Victorian chair.

It must be time for the flocking now.

Or is it?

So for what is quite a simple upholstery job,

it's been one of the toughest decisions to make,

to know what to do with it. As you can see,

I've currently done nothing with the woodwork.

I've made a start on upholstering it.

We're going to go slightly unorthodox,

we're going to put the fabric on first and we're going to see what it

looks like and then, hopefully, the chair will speak to me.

Oi, Anthony!

It's the chair here.

Where's the flocking?

Hopefully, it will say, "Use this," and then it will just look amazing.

But before Anthony puts on his fabric,

there's a few things he wants to take off.

As you can see, I've got three castors.

One of them is missing, so it's time for them to go.

Taking an angle grinder to three small casters may seem over the top

but it does produce pretty sparks!

How is Sarah going to wheel it home now?

I don't need that any more. That's a lot easier.

Now it's decision time.

Anthony needs to get the fabric out

and decide what to do with the frame.

This is what I meant about getting the fabric in place before we start

the wood, because now, the mind starts rolling.

Shall we pick up these colours? Shall we do it with this colour?

Shall we use this colour down here?

Now that energy's starting to rise, and, yeah,

fully inspired and ready to get cracking.

That is some pretty funky fabric but Sarah isn't going to be happy

until the whole thing looks good.

Flock, stock and barrel!

While it's all go for our artisans, Sarah's putting the finishing

touches to her typewriter bits and pieces.

Well, a lot of hard work has gone into making all of these pieces.

Let's hope it pays off.

When Sarah saved the typewriter,

the old machine's glory days were well and truly behind it.

But with a bit of imagination...

..it's back in action.

Sarah has fashioned the keys into classy cuff links.

Using metal putty, she has painstakingly secured each character

on ready-made cuff link backs that she bought online.

The letter blocks have been beautifully gold-plated and the

soldered hooks mean they're ready to attach to any chain.

It's a shiny, stylish and seriously inventive way

to re-use the old typewriter.

Well, after all that hard labour,

the results are surprisingly delicate.

These tiny little pendants with their lovely gold-plating look

really shiny and all together, there's so much personalisation

available here for gifting.

I think I've created something that's delicate, that's saleable,

and it's quite original.

And to think these typewriter parts were almost put in the skip.

Have you got anything good you're throwing away?

Just an old typewriter.

No longer working and taking up space in the garage,

it had been passed down through Suzanne's family

and she was happy for Sarah to take it on.

In my mind, I always imagined perhaps it could be used as some

kind of base for a table lamp, or something like that.

Well, not quite.

Sarah got straight to work trying to find a buyer for the jewellery.

And it wasn't long before Jo snapped up the gold-plated

letter block charms for her gift shop in Manchester.

I absolutely love them.

They're really unique and they go really well with

the vintage typewriter prints that I'm selling at the moment.

But did Sarah have any luck with the cuff links?

She's in Godalming in Surrey to show Suzanne the transformation

and hand over the profit.

-Hi there.

-Hello, Suzanne.

Hello, Sarah. Nice to see you.

Very nice to see you, too.

Well, I was so pleased to see you the very first time we met at the

recycling centre with that lovely old typewriter.

It was a very challenging project to start with,

because it was so well made.

-Yes.

-It was very difficult to take apart and do anything with.

-Yeah.

-So I ended up attacking it with hammers...

-Oh, OK!

-..and all sorts of things to make these.

Your typewriter now looks like this.

-Reimagined as cuff links.

-Oh!

What a wonderful idea.

I took off all of the tabs, all of those bits on it,

where you had learned to type.

-Yes.

-And also took off the hammers and had the little bits on the end

plated to make charms.

That's absolutely fantastic.

I wouldn't have dreamt you could do anything like that with a typewriter.

-It's amazing.

-Yes, so do you think your aunt would ever have imagined

-her typewriter would end up like that?

-She'd be over the moon.

She'd be just pleased that it's still in existence,

so that's amazing.

Well, it's definitely in existence. In fact, it's going places.

It's going to be going to weddings and parties and to all sorts of occasions,

because those cuff links and the necklaces have sold.

I've got some profit here for you.

-Wow!

-I have got...

..£472 and a penny.

Oh, my goodness!

That's amazing.

Well, I'm over the moon.

I didn't dream it would ever come to anything like that.

Oh, crikey!

-A bit of a surprise there.

-Definitely.

But is there something that you need to spend money on at the moment?

Well, yes. I'm in the middle of a major DIY reconstruction in here,

so yeah. Anything to go towards that is brilliant.

Well, there's a bit there and I hope that you enjoy that project,

-cos I certainly enjoyed this one.

-Yeah. Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

-Absolute pleasure.

-Lovely to see you.

-And you. Bye-bye.

-Bye.

-Bye-bye.

Sarah spent £62.99 creating the jewellery.

The cuff links all sold to private buyers, and along with the charms,

they made a total of £535,

giving Suzanne £472.01 to help with the DIY.

Sarah has proved she can turn cast-offs into cash.

Now she's back in Manchester,

expecting to see a flurry of fantastic flocking from Anthony.

But what are the chances he actually did it?

Anthony?

Sarah's on her way. I think she'll love it but it's not quite what we discussed.

Well, blow me down.

It was a case of what could we bring to the party?

And we just invited everything.

Well, I left Anthony with a massive challenge because that chair

was tip-bound for all sorts of reasons.

And I just can't wait to see what he's done with it.

Let's hope he's pulled it off.

When Sarah dropped off the old armchair, it was dated, dirty,

and no-one would have dared to sit on it.

But now...

..it is truly fit for a king.

Anthony has created a radical and regal botanical throne,

replacing the flocking idea with distressed gold leaf.

The chair has been expertly upholstered with green fabric,

which meets all UK fire safety standards.

Whoever sits on that should feel like a king, a veritable VIP.

But did Sarah have her heart set on the flocking?

-Anthony.

-Hello.

Oh, my goodness me!

-That is...

-Are you well?

Oh! Anthony, that is fantastic.

What a transformation.

Isn't it amazing?

A little bit different to what we agreed, but...

So, original plan was to have a go at flocking.

How did you end up with this?

Well, you brought the chair to the party.

We invited a few other guests but forgot to invite the flocking.

-OK.

-Then we thought, gold leaf, and I was like,

"Ooh! Could work, could work," but the first thing we found was the fabric.

I'd seen this and I was like, "Wow!"

Yeah, I completely agree with you. It's got all the right things going on.

-It's got... Yeah.

-It's got botanical influences.

It's got that's nice dark side, hasn't it?

I remember having a chat about botanicals.

I wasn't too far off with what we agreed.

-I don't care what we agreed.

-Just a bit of a twist.

Whatever you've done to this, is the right thing to do.

Was it a lot of work, though, cos I think budget on it was 425?

-Is that where it's ended up?

-We're still on budget,

but it looks so much more.

I agree with you. I'm blown away.

It's one of my favourite things I've ever seen you make.

I think it is beautiful, absolutely stunning.

Tick!

Tick is right, Anthony.

And give yourself a gold star for staying on budget.

Well on budget. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

Happy days!

Well, the king is back.

That chair is now an absolute throne.

I can't imagine anything nicer having been done to it.

That is a triumph.

It was a triumph that could so nearly have been a tragedy

if the chair had been dumped.

-Morning.

-Hiya. Is that yours?

Yeah. Well, throwing it out.

The chair belonged to Bryn's late mother-in-law and he was delighted

that Sarah wanted to give it a new lease of life.

You can see the frame's all right,

so I'm assuming she'll reupholster it.

So, I'm really interested to see what it comes out as.

Bryn was spot-on about the upholstery, but even he couldn't

have guessed that it would get the royal treatment.

Sarah put the throne up for sale and it was snapped up by an interior

shop in Liverpool, and owner Elaine was royally chuffed.

Absolutely thrilled.

It's beautiful.

The colour is so rich and the distressed look of the gold

is beautiful. Stunning.

Sarah's in Farnham in Surrey

to show Bryn the regal renovation and to hand over some cash.

-Hello.

-Hi, Bryn. Nice to see you again.

-Yeah, nice to see you.

-How are you doing?

Yeah, good, thanks.

When I first met you, you were looking like you were

at the end of a massive job.

You were tidying out your mother-in-law's old house.

-Yes.

-Is that right?

-Yeah, quite a large house, yeah.

It's always exciting for me when a van turns up at the tip packed with

stuff and your armchair really caught my attention.

Did you have any thoughts about how we might update it, or...?

-No.

-I'm really intrigued to see what you've done with it.

I took it to Manchester to an upholsterer who is up there,

so I've got pictures to show you of what he did with it.

-OK.

-He's called Anthony and he made your chair look like that.

Wow! That's quite amazing.

He took all the beautiful details it has and gilded the wood and put

a fantastic new modern fabric on it.

Wow! It's quite different, isn't it?

I sense maybe not particularly your cup of tea.

Yeah, I don't know whether I'd necessarily have it in my house

but, yeah, it's great.

And it's actually sold to an interior designer in Liverpool.

-Oh, wow!

-And I have profit from the sale.

-I've got £150 here...

-Oh, wow!

-..for your chair.

-Pretty good.

-Well, thank you very much.

-That's an absolute pleasure.

So have you got any ideas what you might do with something like that?

Yeah, so, as I said, it was my mother-in-law's,

and she's got a brother and sister, so we'll probably take all of them

out for dinner or something like that.

Have a fantastic time.

-Lovely to catch up.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Cool.

-Bye-bye.

-Thank you.

Anthony came in on budget at £475.

The chair sold for an impressive £625,

leaving Bryn with 150 quid to treat the family.

Sarah's back in Brighton...

..to see how Emma has got on with the two ply-back chairs.

I hope Sarah likes the chairs.

I think they're quite good fun.

Sarah will see red but hopefully in a good way!

Well, I left Emma with a pair of chairs,

which could probably, at best, be described as ugly,

but she's said some big ideas for them.

Let's go and find out if she's pulled them off.

Before, the chairs were battered, chipped and had lost their mojo.

But now...

..they have been transformed by a tablecloth and a lot of talent.

The classic William Morris print now covers the backs,

seats, and struts of the frame.

And the chairs meet all UK fire safety standards.

Emma has sanded the cloth at the edges

so it blends seamlessly with the wood.

Topped off with bold yellow legs,

Sarah will certainly not be expecting this.

-Emma.

-Hello, Sarah.

-Hello. Emma!

-A pair of chairs.

-Emma, aren't they amazing?

Do you think they're amazing? I'm so glad you think so.

They're quite good fun, aren't they?

They look really good.

You've really pulled them together.

I'm amazed that they look so sharp.

I just changed the colour last night.

-You didn't!

-Yeah.

-You're a nightmare.

I know. What was I thinking?

And I've done a little bit of extra here and here.

And then we've got a cheeky little bit at the back.

-Lovely.

-Inside there, so, well, I wouldn't usually mix mid-century

modern with Arts and Crafts but it's kind of worked.

I think it's massively working.

I'm really pleased with them.

I think you have done a fantastic job on those.

-Can I talk about money?

-Yes.

So how did you get on with the price?

All in for the pair, £110.

Yeah, that's a good price, Emma.

-Yeah.

-I think that you have turned a sow's ear into a silk purse.

I'm delighted. Brilliant.

-Thank you so much.

-You're welcome.

What a pair of beauties.

Good job, Emma.

Well, that wasn't what I was expecting in the best possible way.

Emma's nailed that. There must be a profit in those chairs.

When Sarah met Lorraine at the dump, she pounced on her chairs.

-Hello.

-Hello. A pair of nice chairs?

-Are these yours?

-They are indeed.

Lorraine was happy that Sarah spotted some potential.

I would imagine that she'll make them look as lovely as possible,

and someone's going to get some use from them.

You were certainly right about that, Lorraine.

And Sarah wasted no time in finding a buyer.

Deborah, from retro shop Tea And Roses in Bridgnorth, loved the chairs.

I saw the chairs and I thought they were great, cos at the moment,

we've got a real William Morris and Arts and Crafts feel going on in the

shop and I thought they'd blend in perfectly.

Sarah's in Haslemere in Surrey to catch up with Lorraine

and hand over the profit.

-Hi, Lorraine.

-Good morning.

-How are you?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Nice to see you again.

-And you.

I was so pleased the first time we met to see those chairs coming

out of your boot, because you'd had them for quite awhile, haven't you?

That's right. They belonged to my mother.

They got them when they first moved into their house.

-A long time ago.

-Any ideas what we might have done with them?

No. I mean, just putting another cover on the seats, but no.

Well, I'm really lucky. I work with a lovely designer who is based in

Brighton, who specialises in using wallpaper to update things,

so I gave them to her and I've got some pictures here to show you of

how they've ended up. This is what she's done with them.

-Ooh!

-Glasses on, close inspection.

-She has used...

-Crikey!

..a William Morris print to pattern the backs of them and found

a lovely oil cloth to do the same on the seat,

and given them a complete new lease of life.

That's lovely with the birds.

-What do you think of them?

-I think they're fantastic.

But they don't look like the chairs. They do and they don't.

They look really good.

So they have gone off to a new home and I've got some profit for you.

So your chairs are delivering a £75 profit here.

My goodness. That is incredible.

Thank you very much.

We're coming up for the Poppy Appeal,

and I would actually like to put it in, cos normally,

I do a collection and I'd like to put it in my tin, if I may.

Lovely. Well, that's a great place to put that.

It was all Emma's hard work.

She did such a lovely job on them and the finish on them is amazing.

-Will you thank her, please?

-Of course.

-And thank you, too.

-That's wonderful.

-Well, it's an absolute pleasure.

Thank you very much for letting us have your chairs.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

Emma's costs came in at £110.

Sarah sold the chairs for £185,

giving Lorraine £75 to donate to the Poppy Appeal.

Great result.

Sarah saved three items from being thrown in the skip.

Instead of being lost forever, they've all been given a new lease

of life and a chance to be treasured again.

Well, I love nothing more than turning old into new and making

a profit along the way, so that's three more items reimagined

and off to new homes.