BBC’s Money for Nothing – that’s a wrap!

Do you want to know my best bit about my work being on the BBC’s Money for Nothing tv show? Apart from working with presenters Sarah Moore, Jay and Co and E J Osborne from Hatchet + Bear, it’s getting to see people’s reactions to all those transformations. It makes all the late nights in our new Reloved Works studio so worthwhile.

As series 5 of BBC’s Money for Nothing comes to an end (don’t worry, filming is well underway for series 6), I was thinking about the items I worked on. I always have such a sense of pride of saving an item, destined for the scrapheap and giving it a new lease of life.

A little too ambitious

My favourite item from the last series was upcycling the two car seats into two striking rocking-chairs. The chairs were covered in black and white Vanguard Vibe fabric from BlackpopUK.

Now, I am not joking. As Gypsy my French bulldog will testify, these chairs caused me a lot of sleepless nights and possibly the odd grey hair, but was it worth it? Absolutely. The initial idea of turning them into a double-rocker proved slightly too ambitious on this occasion.

Trial and error

As every project is bespoke, there is no prototype. It comes down to trial and error and seeing what works and what doesn’t. We really lucked out with these two though. Not only does the fabric pop, underneath there is some great wizardry from M3 Industries. They produced the unique frame to convert the seats into rocking-chairs.

I’ll let you into another secret. These chairs were sold after filming had taken place. The first time I got to see the buyer’s reaction was watching the episode on the BBC. It was wonderful seeing them in their new surroundings and knowing that they will be enjoyed in their new guise.

So next time you put something in your car boot to take it to the tip, have a think. Look online for some inspiration, and maybe you can give an item  a new life and gain a sense of pride over what you have achieved.