Escape to the Chateau: Make Do and Mend (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Episode #1.2 - full transcript
- Five years ago, Angel
and I fell in love
with a derelict 45 room chateau.
This is truly beautiful.
And since then, we've spent
every spare moment
bringing it back to life.
- This is beyond better
than what I'd imagined.
(laughing)
(cheering)
Now it's a time when so many
of us are tackling jobs at home.
- We want to use
Angel's creativity.
- See the vision?
- And Dick's ingenuity.
- That is the basis of a bed.
To solve your design
and DIY dilemmas.
- We want your help
sorting out our front door.
- From crafty conundrums-
Magazines great to use;
the ink is waterproof.
- To entire room renovations.
- We've all got our power tools.
(tools whirring)
- We'll be on hand to help.
We're going to be drinks
trolleys partners in this.
- Amazing.
(laughing)
- You got your bus, too!
- Yeah, bus the bus.
- Because if we can do it-
I am an average crafter.
I've just got the
mindset of having a go.
So can you.
- Stage four complete.
(gasping)
(laughing)
- That's just giving
me goosebumps.
- Look at that smoker,
that's phenomenal.
And because we're stuck at home,
we're filming it ourselves.
I'm filming me filming you
being cross with me, I love it.
- Make sure you press record.
Now that really is
Make Do and Mend.
(lighthearted music)
- When the chateau was
built 150 years ago,
there would have been at
least half a dozen gardeners
tending it's 2000 square
meters of walled garden.
Today it's looked after by
a slightly smaller team.
- Okie dokie, we'll
put this down here.
- We've loved being in
daddy's garden, haven't we?
- Our garden.
- I know it's our garden.
- It is our garden,
Arthur Donald.
If you hold it like this,
then it will go in that way.
Little mind, you need to put
it in the end to your mommy.
How many seeds we got?
- Oh, it's quite a few.
- It's enough to spread
along the whole line?
These are rainbow chard,
which means they're
all different colors.
Now, you're going to spread
those seeds out in the line.
Get off there, Dot.
There you go, Dorothy,
spread them out,
every couple of fingers,
every finger or so, really.
Just put them in,
drop them there.
Great job, Dorothy, spread them
all the way along the line.
Brilliant, brilliant,
brilliant, brilliant.
Ladies and gentlemen,
hello, Swiss chard
for the whole of the autumn.
(clapping)
- Now the seeds are in,
we're ready to help you
with your project,
or we will be,
once I've got myself sorted.
Okay, how you doing?
- Okay, good.
- How am I doing?
- Looking lovely.
- Okay.
- All right?
- All right.
- Hey, Dick and
Angel, Rachel here.
A bit about me, I've always
loved vintage, and giving things
a new lease of life, and with
drinks trolley, I found it
one day in a treasure
shop in Edinburgh,
and it just needs a lot of love.
- It's a drinks trolley,
I love a drinks trolley.
- I know you do, darling.
I used to have to
carry them back
from wherever you buy them.
- Well, they're very,
very in vogue right now.
- My Aunt Mary had a little
gold edged one with that sort
of, you know, that sort
of red gloss metalwork?
- It sounds lovely.
- It might've been lovely.
I was very young, and all I
knew it's cake was coming.
- All I've done is
sand it down, and take
the old varnish
off, and paint over
just a plain white primer, so
don't know where else to go
from here, really, and
things like the wheels.
I had this vision of
spraying them gold.
One of my favorite things
to do is to host parties,
make food, I love cooking.
If I can do that with my
little trolley by my side,
that would be cool.
- She can make that beautiful,
I can already see it.
- The other thing that would
be quite interesting is
she's sort of happy to
go down the gold route.
(indistinct)
- I did know that. (giggling)
(whimsical music)
And when I say I love a drinks
trolley, I'm not joking.
Hopefully some photos of my
collection will give Rachel
a bit of inspiration.
Haven't really thought about
it, but actually I think
I am possibly a bit obsessed
with drink trolleys.
This one, though,
has me worried.
- There's at least.
- 8007 No.
Do you remember when
we got this one, Dick?
- No, I have no idea
where it came from.
This is the Potosury
Suite one, is it?
-Itis.
That's good.
When we have people staying
over, I put croissants,
and fresh orange
juice, so that's why
there's nothing on it.
It gets filled up.
- It's just undressed.
- Undressed.
Ready?
- Yeah, (indistinct).
- This is a drinks
one, actually.
- It's a proper drinks
trolley drinks trolley, is it?
- Yeah, they all
are, but this one is-
- No, it's got drinks on
it, that's the difference.
- Right, lovely.
- Oh, there you go.
There's one over here.
- This is lovely, because
it's faux bamboo, I guess,
or trying to be.
- What's happening now?
- We are going up, there's
more drinks trolleys.
- In the attic? Okay.
How many more up there?
- Three.
- What?
What have you got there?
- It is a drinks
trolley cemetery,
or hospital, should I say?
Rachel has got me thinking
that this little bad boy
I paid, what, seven euros for,
look, is actually, look at that.
It's really, really
good quality.
I don't particularly like
the one that much in Mom
and Dad's kitchen, so I
think I'm going to give them
this one, and then I'll also
be giving Rachel a little bit
of company while she's
doing her drinks trolley.
That'd be nice, right?
- Absolutely.
- It's got a couple
of things missing,
i.e. there's no
tray at the bottom.
Do do do do.
I like that it's practical.
You can actually put
bottles in there.
You can wiz me up a tray.
I'd quite like to have
some decoupage on the tray
that you're going to do me.
- Oh, no fresh lemonade?
(whimsical music)
- In our downstairs
loo, I've decoupaged,
or decorated with paper cutouts,
all the doors with pictures
from old magazines.
It's a craft that originated
in France in the 17th century,
and now I'd like to
do the same thing
with our drinks trolleys.
First though, I need to
find out what sort of bits
and bobs Rachel has at home.
Rachel, hi. (chuckles)
- Hi.
- How are you?
- Yeah, great.
Lovely to see you.
- Yeah, lovely to
see you as well.
So I bought you to my
boudoir, because I don't know
if you can see in
the background here,
I love a drinks trolley.
I have, well, I have
eight on the go.
- Oh wow.
- What have you exactly done
to a drink trolley so far?
- Sanded it down,
and just painted it
with a kind of
white, just primer.
- The exciting thing
is it's a blank canvas,
and at the end of it is
going to look lovely,
and you have inspired me
to get my old ones out.
So we're going to be drinks
trolleys partners in this.
- Amazing. (chuckles)
- So you've got some
supplies around the house?
You don't mind just having a go?
- Yeah, I actually already have
some gold like, spray paint.
- Great.
I wonder if you've got a color
of paint around the house
that you quite like to
paint over the frame,
a little sand, and the lick
of paint can just transform
an item, and then if
you've got your gold paint,
if you then spray it and then
sand it back a little bit
so the color comes through.
Now, have you got anything
that you could potentially
decoupage onto the trays?
- What kind of thing?
- Like, an old magazine.
Thing is with decoupage is that
you could do
absolutely anything.
I mean, it could
even be a photograph.
- Really, really close
with my granny, Peggy,
and she just used to always
tell me all these stories
of her life, and I work in
the theater in Edinburgh,
and my gran passed
away a few years ago,
found some brochures
from when she had been
at that theater in the fifties,
which was just so cool.
- Oh, I love that, that
is absolutely perfect.
It's always nice to
up cycle something
with something that
means something to you.
And you know, every
time you serve a drink,
that's just a gorgeous
story to tell.
Honestly, just made,
it's given me goosebumps.
I absolutely love that.
- Perfect, thank
you. I can't wait.
- Take care, Rachel, bye.
- Bye.
- I think she's going to
really enjoy having a G&T,
and sort of, you
know, cheers on Peggy
every time she has it.
It's nice, keep memories alive.
(whimsical music)
While we wait for Rachel to dig
out the old theater programs
and choose a paint
color for the frame,
we're going to get on
with our own projects.
- And on the far side
of the walled garden,
I'm in the middle of
converting an old stable
into a lovely
little potting shed.
Once I'd cleared away
the nettles and logs,
I knocked a new entrance into
it from the walled garden.
(drill whirring)
There you go.
Boom, boom, boom, oops.
Here we go.
Now outside my new door,
I've just discovered
something rather useful.
And that sound is the sound
of the fork going through
all the grass and turf
that's grown over it
to the original path.
(shovel scraping)
It's exactly what I was after.
It's seriously gritty.
150 years ago, it's the
gardener who would have used
a waste product,
packed it down, huh?
We're doing exactly
the same thing again,
and this is the waste grit
that comes from a quarry,
and it's nearly the same color.
they did that 150 years ago.
150 years from now, this will
still be here looking good.
Yeah, it's all about
putting something down
that's going to last.
Right.
The new path will
take some time,
so I'll be coming
back to it later.
In the meantime, we're going
to watch another request,
and this one is
all about creating
an eco-friendly
bedroom for a teenager.
Let's have a look.
- Hi, Dick and Angel,
my name's Andeen.
We do have a project for you,
which we would like
to do as a family,
but I'm going to let
Iola tell you about it.
- So my idea is to get
old pallets, and turn them
into furniture, such
as beds and storage.
So when I have my friends
round, I would like to have
a nice, mature, relaxing
room for them to stay over,
and for us to chillax
and to hang out in.
(laughing)
- I want to chillax.
This is Dorothy when she's 13.
- Iola would like to have the
room in more of a boho style.
- I have to say I don't
know what boho is.
I have no idea what
you're talking about
when people say that.
- It's bohemian like. (giggles)
I know, I think
when I was thirteen,
I don't remember that
word even existed.
- When I was 60, I don't
remember it existing, what?
- So when you come in, this
is first what you kind of see,
I've got this tapestry thing,
which TI really do want to keep
in my room, because
I like the pink.
I don't really like these
curtains, it doesn't really go,
and it won't go with like,
the vibe that I'm going for
for my new room.
- This is a room of a little
girl, and Iola's turning in
to a young lady, and
it is a room that
she's sort of saying-
Oh, she's not a
little girl any more.
- That's a girl with a vision.
There's a lot there.
- There is a lot there,
but it is a family job,
and actually, I reckon they
could all do their part
in creating something
quite gorgeous.
- They're either going to
end up loving each other
to bits, or there'll be war.
(whimsical music)
(lighthearted music)
In the walled garden,
I've now uncovered
the original 19th
century path that runs
outside my potting shed.
But to make sure it stays
clear, I need to give it
a bit of 21st century love.
There we go.
Overlap it, so the weeds
don't grow up through the gap.
This is
recycled rubber
that car tires that's
been turned into edging.
It just gives us a
border for our pathway.
That's a lovely edge.
Put it into place, perfect.
Every bit of preparation
I do now, it's going to
give dividends
for years to come.
(lighthearted music)
It's getting there.
I can see it, it's all
coming together now.
When I'm finished, T'll be
able to go from a bedroom
to a potting shed
in my slippers.
The path will be gorgeous.
(rooster crows)
(whimsical music)
- Personally, I would rather
think about gorgeous bedrooms,
and at the chateau, I've
designed 10 of them.
What I've learned is that it's
essential to combine beauty,
practicality, and personality,
especially if it's
for a teenager keen on
eco-friendly design.
So before we go any further,
I need a bit more info
from Iola and her mom, Andeen.
Hello!
- Hello.
- So having looking at
pallet furniture, okay?
Are you wanting it to look
like pallet furniture,
or are you looking for it
to be a little bit more
of a find and painted
a particular color?
- More like actually
looking like pallets,
I like that kind of thing.
I know there's one thing that
I definitely do want to be
in my room is shelving, because
I am a massive bookworm,
and I have tons, and tons, and
tons of murder mystery books.
- Absolutely.
Have you ever just put
together mood boards?
- I made one of them
to convince my parent
to let me do my room.
- Oh my God, I
love, I love that.
I'd love to see what
you're thinking.
- It's so exciting.
- It is so exciting.
I totally get it.
You know, it's a new part of
your life really, isn't it?
So will you send me your
mood board, and then I think
we're going to quickly
work out the bits
that we're going
to concentrate on.
I'm going to love this project.
Take care, and I'll speak
to you very soon, bye.
- Good to see you, bye.
- This is quite a special
project. (laughing)
It's so sweet, and
do you know the bit
that melted my heart was that
essentially she pitched it
to her mom and dad with a board?
(laughing) Love it.
(whimsical music)
While I'm waiting for Iola
to send me her mood board,
I'm going to start work on
my trolley transformation.
Oh, I do love a
bit of a clean day.
To get rid of dust
is so satisfying.
Can you see it yet?
Can you see the vision?
- No.
- Oh, you can never
see the vision.
I think secretly you do.
(whimsical music)
Hopefully he will
once I've decoupaged
my trolley's new tray.
This is a surprise for my
dad, and I've got a magazine
that was from the
year he was born.
Oh, I quite like this
crossword being done.
Oh, that's quite good, that one,
1949, people having a drink,
seems quite appropriate.
Right, let's go,
let's start cutting.
(whimsical music)
Magazines are great to
use a couple of reasons.
Actually the paper
is super, super thin,
which does really help,
and the second thing is
all the ink is waterproof.
This is my glue.
It's 50% PVA, and 50% water.
You've got to have the right
equipment, an old credit card.
Well, this is actually
my old baby trump card.
Now I don't have
babies any more.
I'm not throwing
it away, though,
and I'm going to use
this as my spreader,
because what I'm doing,
I'm taking air bubbles,
glue, everything out.
Again, I want that to be a
tiny, little bit of overlap,
and then just going
to get my credit card.
There we go, lovely.
(whimsical music)
Great.
Next, the big one.
(whimsical music)
The kids have done
some Papi's Bar art.
You're not going to
believe what that is.
That is the I from
Papi that's been made
into a martini glass, and the
dots is an olive on a stick.
They must really take in
every little thing that we do.
And that's it.
When it's dry, I'm going to
give it a varnish or two,
because it is going
on the drinks trolley.
- In the walled garden,
the reclaimed path is
now looking pretty good.
The new entrance in the
potting shed, though,
could do with a bit of a tidy.
Everything in here
between is going to be
filled up with stone.
What I don't want is I don't
want it quite past the line
of my bits of wood, because
otherwise that would be ugly.
I have my pile of
rocks to work with.
We're making up a lime-based
mortar, so it's mask time.
So here we go.
We're going to
cheat a little bit.
I'm going to put a
little bit of cement in
just to make it a bit harder.
So we have about half
a cement in there.
I need a bit water in here now.
It sort of sticks
together quite nicely.
That's what I want.
(water pouring)
That gives my mortar in the pug
something to stick to, right?
There are people who build
stone walls for a living.
They are masters of
this, I am not that.
I am a chap who will put rocks
in to his heart's content,
liking it, that sort of
fits, and the bit there,
that doesn't fit
around will be okay,
because I've got some water
to stick in that hole.
That's nicely put in there.
I've done some
dry stone walling.
It's all about
choosing the stones
to get in the right place.
This isn't quite as
critical, because we're using
the mortar, the pug to
hold it all together,
but it's still lots of fun.
See, I knew that stone
was meant for there, look.
I'll put it in that.
Then I had it.
There we go.
(whimsical music)
- I've gone up to my work room,
because Iola has now
sent me her mood board,
and I can start design
in her new bedroom.
As soon as Iola said she wanted
something Bohemian, boho,
this is exactly
what I'd pictured.
You know, even the
McQuarry chair,
Iola wants the pallets
to be a big feature,
and actually if you're going
to start anywhere in a bedroom,
it's got to be functionality.
But at the end of it, she
can put those cushions out,
and she's going to
love it. (chuckles)
I've seen so many
lovely pictures
of sort of big shelving
units above beds.
I don't think they're that
practical, and I quite like,
I quite like these
ones that you've got,
are sort of hexagonal, and
then you build them up.
I don't know if
this is possible,
but I'd quite like to
suggest a bookcase on wheels.
Is that possible?
- Yes, it is.
- This is just the start of
something that is so exciting.
We've got all the elements
in here, the pallet bed,
which is going to be the
center point for everything,
hanging chair, the
shelves, the memory board,
bookcase on wheels.
I do not know whether
she's going to get it all,
but if you don't
ask you don't get.
(whimsical music)
And I don't have to
wait long to find out
if my design for the room is
cool enough for a teenager,
or just plain embarrassing.
Are you ready? Let's do it.
If you want to
open your eyes now.
- Oh, wow.
That is awesome.
It's really pretty.
Oh yeah.
- She's crying. (chuckles)
- Are you?
- No. (laughing)
- How did you get
water in your eyes?
(laughing)
Oh, I love it.
Let me get you
up there.
- Hil
(laughing)
- Is that a happy dance?
- Absolutely perfect.
- I don't know if ever I've
had to put something together
for a young lady, and
actually I really wanted
to get it right for you.
Thank you for liking it,
good luck with everything,
and we'll speak very, very soon.
Lots of love, bye.
- Bye.
- Blow a kiss, blow a kiss.
(kissing sounds)
(chuckling)
- Now the design's been
approved, I need to work out
how to actually build a
bed out of old pallets.
Wonderful thing about pallets
is you tend to get them
for free, but you have to know
where your pallets come from.
If a pallet has got MB on it,
move it away and go
do something else.
That's methyl bromide, that
means chemically treated,
and you don't want to have
that around your family,
and around your home.
If it's clean, and you know
where it comes from, use it.
If you're not a hundred
percent sure, don't use it.
It's common sense.
Processing pallets is all
about getting the best ones,
and making them as
nice as possible, it's
as simple as that.
Very first thing we
have to do is make sure
that every single nail
is below the surface.
See this nail here?
That nail is sitting a little
bit proud for my liking.
I'll get rid of anything
that's sticking up.
(hammer tapping)
All of the nails and things
that were sticking up have
either been taken
out, or punched in,
so it's time to sand it.
This is what we're going to use.
This is a belt sander.
Oh, here we go.
(sander whirring)
Suffice to say, inside every
rough plank on a pallet is
a lovely piece of wood.
You know, to be fair,
it's a bit of hard work,
but at the end,
that's nice wood now.
Of course, every pallet
is different, but I know
for the bed, it's one pallet
wide, by two pallets deep,
and these two pallets
are exactly the same.
How do you join them together?
Well, the principles are simple.
You find out where they touch,
and you make them stick.
Look at that.
It looks like they were
meant to go together.
If we screw these together,
that's going to hold as a bed.
If I put a piece of wood
in there like this, yeah?
Front to back,
that piece of wood
along there is going
to hold them together.
It's as simple as that, but
it's going to be like a divan.
It's going to be
two pallets deep.
So I'll take this one,
and I set it on top there.
(pallets banging)
Look at these, where they
touch, you stick them.
See, look, see that
piece of wood sitting
on top of that piece of wood?
If I screw that
together, the top layer
and the bottom are
stuck together.
That is the basis of a bed.
Pallets are not only robust,
but also very versatile.
We got pallets, we
can do anything.
And with a bit of imagination,
can easily be adapted
into shelving, picture
frames, chairs, tables.
And all we have to do is
just put this together,
stick two middles to the bottom.
It's mobile, but
there's a bookshelf.
So if you'd like to make
something out of pallets,
first check they're okay to use,
and haven't been
covered in chemicals.
Remove or hammer in all the
nails, then sand the wood down,
and varnish, wax, or
paint for a lovely finish.
- It's now time
for me to catch up
with Rachel's trolley
transformation,
and watch her very first
attempt at decoupage.
- So I've got my layout
of my bits and bobs
from the program and flier.
- Right.
(lighthearted music)
Straighten it with your
credit card in the middle.
- Now I've got a credit card.
- Great.
Oh, and it's lovely.
I'm just looking
at the decoupage.
Getting younger every day,
on sale in the theaters,
five-past eight, oh, lovely.
We'll meet in the
bar. (chuckles)
That's made me so happy.
And as soon as all the
varnish and paint has dried,
it's my favorite moment,
the finishing touches.
- Very important gin
glasses my sister gave me.
- I am there with Rachel.
I'm feeling so excited
for her, as she's putting
the books on and the little
geranium, and the gin glasses,
a nice piece of furniture is
now really coming into its own.
It's great.
Oh, perfect.
Oh, lovely.
- Lamp, which is
also from my sister.
Just want to plug it in.
Just need this,
photo of my granny.
- Oh. (laughing)
- She inspired this project.
- It's so goed.
I love it.
Seriously, it looked amazing.
Oh, and to you,
congratulations, well done.
- Thank you so much.
Yeah, it was so fun to do.
Yeah, I was really proud of it.
- What a gorgeous photograph.
It's from the glamor era.
It's so, so stylish, honestly.
What a special thing
to have, and how lovely
that you've got that
on your drinks trolley.
- Yeah, I know, I think it
had to be on there somewhere,
so I'm glad I got it on.
- It's been so lovely.
Thank you for allowing me
to be part of this as well.
- Thank you so much.
- Bye, bye, Rachel.
(lighthearted music)
Life at the chateau
is always busy,
but we try and make the
simplest of tasks lots of fun.
(calling the chickens)
- Chuck it to the cockle,
chuck it to the cockle,
so he gets some.
They're loving that.
Right, okay, they're all,
they've got lots to eat now,
and that means they're
going to lay us more eggs.
(chickens clucking)
Now the chickens
are fed, it's time
to watch another request.
- Hi, Dick and Angel,
my name's Chris.
The garden for me
is a real sanctuary.
I've turned it from what
was a space with an old shed
and some bikes, to a
small place that I can sit
and enjoy some peace and
quiet when I'm not working.
One of the jobs that
I'm really struggling
with at the moment
is my garden slabs.
My garden slabs are much like
myself, old and a bit broken,
and in thorough
need of a facelift.
It's just in between the
slabs that are needing
some attention, and a miracle
to be worked on them, I think.
- The gaps in between there,
that's not the major problem.
If there's any wobbly ones,
that has to be fixed first.
- Okay.
- It's going to be
really hard to make
that look neater,
because it's a mishmash
of different slabs.
- But if the point is
all the same, it kind of
might nearly bring it together.
It will I think, I think it
would make a big difference.
- I think it's fair to say
it's probably my
project, this one.
(laughing)
- A hundred percent, I
will get the guest log.
(whimsical music)
- I, on the other hand, will put
my summer seasons
builder's hat on.
- Hello.
- How are you doing?
- I'm good. I'm very good.
- Your patio needs some love.
- It's definitely a project
that needs some tender,
loving care, that's for sure.
Over the last four years,
it became this century
for myself and my mom.
We lost my dad about four
years ago from cancer.
and every time we sort of
come out to the garden,
it was just a really
disappointing place
to kind of visit.
- Sorry to hear that, mate.
So the first thing
is you want to stop
rocking ones rocking,
because they need to be even
for your mom, don't they?
We need to make sure
they're nice and level.
And then we can address
the sort of the gaps.
So you're going to find those,
and if you can get them up,
get them up, okay?
Then you're going to be
looking to say, right,
this mortar needs to be
replaced, and reappointed.
And it's a matter of
scraping some of that away,
just scraping it away.
- You're making it
sound really easy,
which is a great thing.
- The prep is the vast
majority of the work.
When it comes to putting
it back together again,
(scoffs) We'll do
that in no time.
- I'love that, I
absolutely love that, Dick.
Thank you very much.
And tell me, when doing the
big belly builders arrive?
- I think you're
going to have it done
before they arrive,
Chris, sorry, but true.
Take care, sir.
Lovely talking to you, Chris.
- Cheers, mate.
- Cheers, matey.
Cheers. Bye.
Luckily for Chris, I
knew a bit about paving,
because last year, Angel
decided we needed some
outside the front
of the chateau.
There's 25 tons
of stones to move,
and there's no part of it
that's making me smile.
(lighthearted music)
And so far, we've laid
nearly 200 square meters,
but with more to do.
- My strong man.
- Now, as it's still an ongoing
project, I'm going to use it
to show how to relay
wobbly patio stones.
So basically, you're cleaning
the bottom of it out,
and just getting yourself
ready, preparation, preparation,
preparation, preparation,
and preparation.
Okay, that's where all
the work goes into it.
The big thing is it's all
about the mix for your mortar,
and for us, we're
using five to one.
I am doing two
cement to ten sand,
which is the same
as five to one.
Now, look at that, just
like baking a cake,
only doing it with cement.
I don't want it too wet,
and I don't want it too dry.
I just want it perfect,
s0 I need a little,
tiny taste more water.
Well, this is now wetter.
I like it.
Okay, so I'll take
a decent dollop.
There you go.
One,
another one, two.
Because we've got
the five spots there,
it shouldn't rock, you see?
So I'm going to take my
slab, and then it's a matter
of nice, little, gentle
taps to get it to sit.
So that it's sitting
there nice and solid,
and when it dries, there we go.
Because Chris has to get rid
of some of his old mortar,
I'm going to show you
two ways of doing it.
Ha, ha, the sensible way.
(saw whirring)
Don't cut it too shy,
little cool chisel.
(hammer tapping)
Once you get to this
stage, it's a brush job,
because we don't want any
of that rubbish in there.
Now, time to make good.
One.
- Yep.
-51,2,3,4,5,
5 are in there now.
So here we go, we've
got some water.
See what that looks like.
This is really
quite dry, isn't it?
-Itis.
- But if you pick
it up like this,
and actually just squeeze it,
see the way it's
holding its shape?
That means that would be
good for actually pointing,
putting between the slabs.
What we're going to do with
our mix that holds shape.
What am I doing? I'm
sticking it in, okay?
So that's all being
pushed well down
into the gaps all the way down.
Want to do a bit
of a finisher-off.
You can buy something called
a pointing iron, all right?
This is not a pointing iron,
this is a piece of pipe, okay?
But what it does
is the same thing.
- Oh.
- We just take that,
and we push it down,
all the way down
there and like that.
- I want a go.
- You like it?
-Ilove it.
(whimsical music)
I also love Iowa's ideas
for her boho bedroom, which
as well as using pallets
for the bed and shelving,
also included a
hanging macram chair,
and it's not even
that hard to make.
I had loads of hula hoops from
a couple of Christmases ago,
and this is going to be my base
for creating something
quite beautiful.
So as well as a hula
hoop, you'll also
need about 300 meters
of six millimeter macram
cord, and for the seat,
a half circle of
inch-thick plywood,
with holes drilled
around the edge.
The only two knots that
you'll need to know is
the larks head knot to
attach the cord to the hoop,
and the square knot
to make the mesh.
You ready for the magic?
To show you the knots, I'm going
to use an extra thick cord.
I fold it in half, and I
get the loop, fold it over,
and pull it through.
Wait for it.
Boom.
(whimsical music)
I'm gonna use this to show
you how to do a square knot.
So you've got your
four cords here.
I go left, and then I take
this cord on the right,
and I go over,
and I go behind.
(indistinct)
Okay, so I, okay, I go
left, and then take the one
on the end, and go over,
and then I feed it around
underneath, and pull it through.
And I have got the
start of my knot,
and then I go,
I go right (chuckles) over,
and then I go
through here, right?
But then I've got what
I call a square knot.
My next stage is that I need
to create a pattern, or a mesh.
Now, to create this
mesh, you take two
from each square knot,
because you need four cords
to do a square knot.
This allows me to start
building up my mesh.
It's very therapeutic, and
you'll find yourself getting
into a real rhythm, you
know, it's like knitting.
Now shoo, that,
this is all done.
So you've got to get the bottom
of the threads
through the holes,
and it can be a little
bit sort of fiddly.
Get a little bit of electricity
wire, bend it in half.
Then if you come up,
okay?
I can put my ends through here,
and then give it a big tug,
and they're through.
Do a really big knot
underneath, all right?
And it's not going to
go anywhere, trust me.
- I'm keen though,
to see how far Iola,
her dad, Paul, her little
brother Falen have got
with her homemade pallet bed.
- We've all got our power tools.
(tools whirring)
It's the first state
of the base complete.
Braced the middle, top, and
bottom, got six wheels on it.
So it's new before, so
I can get through them.
- As far as I can see, it
seems to be going to plan.
- Stage four complete.
(sander whirring)
- Sanding down the headboard.
(sander whirring)
- We brought some renovating
wax, so we're giving it
all a coat before we fix it,
and it will more than likely
have another coat again.
All right, you can drill
that hole for me there.
I'll hold the drill for you.
(drill whirring)
- I can see the workers,
how you doing, Falen?
Yeah, good man.
Oh, hold on, hold on,
I've just noticed where
you're sitting, fella.
That took me a moment or two.
Whoo, whoo, whoo, love it!
That looks exactly like I
thought Angel and Iola wanted.
- It's very much, isn't it?
- Wow.
Yeah, that's a
well-deserved high five.
Well done, you.
- Thank you very much.
- Listen, men, it's time
to get back to work.
There's more to be done.
- Yes.
- Keep smiling.
Good to see ya.
- Good to see you too.
- Take care.
- Cheers, thank you.
- Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye.
- Bye-bye.
- They're loving it.
It's, they're doing
a family thing.
This to me is a great
project, and what's more,
the raw materials are
eco-sound, I love it.
(lighthearted music)
- And talking of families,
Arthur and Dorothy have
a little surprise for
my dad, happy Steve.
Dorothy, I need one
of these bamboo things
in each of those, please.
Yeah, lovely, so
put that in there.
Well done, Dorothy, come
on, come out, come out,
take granddad, that's it.
- Three, two, one, look.
- Oh, (chuckles)
oh, look at that.
(all laughing)
Oh, just leave me
here for the day.
- Dad, we decoupaged this tray
with old magazines from
the year of your birthday,
but the kids drew
Papi's Bar for you.
- Your B is your sunrise.
- Arthur and Dorothy insisted
on doing most things orange,
because Granddad likes
a tequila sunrise.
(laughing)
Thank you, I'll pass mine
to Dick, there we go.
- See this?
- Does it?
- What are drinks made with?
- Love.
(laughing)
(indistinct chatting)
- Cheers, everybody.
(lighthearted music)
- Since we did the
chateau's paving last year,
everyone's enjoyed using it.
Come on, Dolo, oh, lucky.
The patios eventually
have to be maintained,
and I'm really pleased to see
that Chris is doing just that.
- So, so far, take a
look around the garden,
all of the big slabs not moving,
which is really good news,
because I didn't fancy
lifting all of those out.
However, in the other part
of the garden, there's
about seven or eight of
the little ones that are
actually moving, so they're
going to need some attention.
- God bless.
- I'm now mixing two
parts sand to ten parts,
no, two parts cement
to ten parts sand.
I got that right, and
hopefully this works.
I feel like a proper
builder boy, mate.
(lighthearted music)
- And it doesn't take
Chris long to turn
what was once an
ugly trip hazard
into something both he
and his mom can enjoy.
Looks lovely, the whole
thing looks lovely.
That's a neat little garden.
It looks good, that looks
very, very good, well done.
- It is now all complete,
although on camera,
it looks like
they're not joining,
if you look carefully, you'll
actually find they are.
I have to admit, if you
asked me to do this before,
probably would have
said no, I'll get
a professional
bloke in to do it,
but actually it's
surprisingly easy.
It's made a massive difference,
and mom can actually enjoy
the garden now
without tripping over.
And there's not so many ants,
which is always a
good sign as well.
- Well, cheers.
- Cheers.
- It's good to come out here,
and see it nice and very even.
- Dick and Angel, thank you
very much for all your help
in getting this
sorted so that Mom
and I can sit out and enjoy it.
I owe you a lot, so
thank you very much,
and cheers from
Mom and I, cheers.
- Absolute pleasure,
there you go.
- Andeen and Paul have also
been working very hard to finish
Iola's bedroom, because
tonight is grand opening
when Iola's dream will
hopefully become reality.
I felt quite emotional,
because I just know
this is going to
be Dorothy one day.
- Scary.
That's as it was.
- Yep.
- I'm really excited.
Okay.
(laughing)
- Come on, girl.
- Okay.
(knocking on door)
Wow!
It's awesome.
It's utterly awesome.
- Wow.
- This is awesome.
- Twinkling lights,
very grown up.
- Oh, that's come
out brilliantly.
- The bed, what do you think?
- Awesome.
Just better than I
expected, you know?
- Go on then, try your seat.
- That's a very big
smile, bless her.
- And the shelves, they're
exactly what I wanted.
- That is just so heartwarming.
- So you're happy?
- Yeah, beyond.
- I brought a tissue, because
I knew I was going to cry.
- Oh.
Hello!
Hiya.
- Oh, wow.
- Well done, family.
- Thank you, team effort.
- It looked like it,
it looked like it.
- It looks fantastic.
You have done a job
that you should just
all feel so, so, so proud of.
Have you enjoyed it?
- Yeah.
- But, Iola, come
on, did you get
all the things you
were dreaming of?
- I got more than I even
thought I would, thank you.
- Brilliant, thanks for your
motivation and inspiration.
- Yeah, thank you.
- Take care.
Lovely to see you.
- Bye.
- What age is Iola?
- Thirteen.
- Thirteen,
so we've got how long?
- Dorothy's six, and
a couple of years?
But before Arthur and
Dorothy get too old,
I have a couple of surprises
I think they'll quite like.
Okay, all right,
close your eyes.
(laughing)
He's very funny.
Our little boy's walking off,
because you're
closing your eyes.
Wait, stop, stop, stop, you
will actually have an accident.
Okay, here we go, here we go.
Wait a second, keep
your eyes shut.
Three, two, one, open your eyes.
- Thank you, Mom!
(laughing)
Thank you, Mommy!
Thank you!
- Come to me.
(laughing)
- No that pinches,
that pinches, Mommy.
- Again in this one.
- Did you ever leave
your childhood?
(laughing)
You still have a
giant imagination.
- I love you for that.
You know what?
I actually am still a big kid,
but who doesn't love a swing?
- You know what, though,
you have to get older,
but you don't have to grow up.
- Very true.
- Kiss, kiss.
(kissing sound)
(lighthearted music)
(no audio)
and I fell in love
with a derelict 45 room chateau.
This is truly beautiful.
And since then, we've spent
every spare moment
bringing it back to life.
- This is beyond better
than what I'd imagined.
(laughing)
(cheering)
Now it's a time when so many
of us are tackling jobs at home.
- We want to use
Angel's creativity.
- See the vision?
- And Dick's ingenuity.
- That is the basis of a bed.
To solve your design
and DIY dilemmas.
- We want your help
sorting out our front door.
- From crafty conundrums-
Magazines great to use;
the ink is waterproof.
- To entire room renovations.
- We've all got our power tools.
(tools whirring)
- We'll be on hand to help.
We're going to be drinks
trolleys partners in this.
- Amazing.
(laughing)
- You got your bus, too!
- Yeah, bus the bus.
- Because if we can do it-
I am an average crafter.
I've just got the
mindset of having a go.
So can you.
- Stage four complete.
(gasping)
(laughing)
- That's just giving
me goosebumps.
- Look at that smoker,
that's phenomenal.
And because we're stuck at home,
we're filming it ourselves.
I'm filming me filming you
being cross with me, I love it.
- Make sure you press record.
Now that really is
Make Do and Mend.
(lighthearted music)
- When the chateau was
built 150 years ago,
there would have been at
least half a dozen gardeners
tending it's 2000 square
meters of walled garden.
Today it's looked after by
a slightly smaller team.
- Okie dokie, we'll
put this down here.
- We've loved being in
daddy's garden, haven't we?
- Our garden.
- I know it's our garden.
- It is our garden,
Arthur Donald.
If you hold it like this,
then it will go in that way.
Little mind, you need to put
it in the end to your mommy.
How many seeds we got?
- Oh, it's quite a few.
- It's enough to spread
along the whole line?
These are rainbow chard,
which means they're
all different colors.
Now, you're going to spread
those seeds out in the line.
Get off there, Dot.
There you go, Dorothy,
spread them out,
every couple of fingers,
every finger or so, really.
Just put them in,
drop them there.
Great job, Dorothy, spread them
all the way along the line.
Brilliant, brilliant,
brilliant, brilliant.
Ladies and gentlemen,
hello, Swiss chard
for the whole of the autumn.
(clapping)
- Now the seeds are in,
we're ready to help you
with your project,
or we will be,
once I've got myself sorted.
Okay, how you doing?
- Okay, good.
- How am I doing?
- Looking lovely.
- Okay.
- All right?
- All right.
- Hey, Dick and
Angel, Rachel here.
A bit about me, I've always
loved vintage, and giving things
a new lease of life, and with
drinks trolley, I found it
one day in a treasure
shop in Edinburgh,
and it just needs a lot of love.
- It's a drinks trolley,
I love a drinks trolley.
- I know you do, darling.
I used to have to
carry them back
from wherever you buy them.
- Well, they're very,
very in vogue right now.
- My Aunt Mary had a little
gold edged one with that sort
of, you know, that sort
of red gloss metalwork?
- It sounds lovely.
- It might've been lovely.
I was very young, and all I
knew it's cake was coming.
- All I've done is
sand it down, and take
the old varnish
off, and paint over
just a plain white primer, so
don't know where else to go
from here, really, and
things like the wheels.
I had this vision of
spraying them gold.
One of my favorite things
to do is to host parties,
make food, I love cooking.
If I can do that with my
little trolley by my side,
that would be cool.
- She can make that beautiful,
I can already see it.
- The other thing that would
be quite interesting is
she's sort of happy to
go down the gold route.
(indistinct)
- I did know that. (giggling)
(whimsical music)
And when I say I love a drinks
trolley, I'm not joking.
Hopefully some photos of my
collection will give Rachel
a bit of inspiration.
Haven't really thought about
it, but actually I think
I am possibly a bit obsessed
with drink trolleys.
This one, though,
has me worried.
- There's at least.
- 8007 No.
Do you remember when
we got this one, Dick?
- No, I have no idea
where it came from.
This is the Potosury
Suite one, is it?
-Itis.
That's good.
When we have people staying
over, I put croissants,
and fresh orange
juice, so that's why
there's nothing on it.
It gets filled up.
- It's just undressed.
- Undressed.
Ready?
- Yeah, (indistinct).
- This is a drinks
one, actually.
- It's a proper drinks
trolley drinks trolley, is it?
- Yeah, they all
are, but this one is-
- No, it's got drinks on
it, that's the difference.
- Right, lovely.
- Oh, there you go.
There's one over here.
- This is lovely, because
it's faux bamboo, I guess,
or trying to be.
- What's happening now?
- We are going up, there's
more drinks trolleys.
- In the attic? Okay.
How many more up there?
- Three.
- What?
What have you got there?
- It is a drinks
trolley cemetery,
or hospital, should I say?
Rachel has got me thinking
that this little bad boy
I paid, what, seven euros for,
look, is actually, look at that.
It's really, really
good quality.
I don't particularly like
the one that much in Mom
and Dad's kitchen, so I
think I'm going to give them
this one, and then I'll also
be giving Rachel a little bit
of company while she's
doing her drinks trolley.
That'd be nice, right?
- Absolutely.
- It's got a couple
of things missing,
i.e. there's no
tray at the bottom.
Do do do do.
I like that it's practical.
You can actually put
bottles in there.
You can wiz me up a tray.
I'd quite like to have
some decoupage on the tray
that you're going to do me.
- Oh, no fresh lemonade?
(whimsical music)
- In our downstairs
loo, I've decoupaged,
or decorated with paper cutouts,
all the doors with pictures
from old magazines.
It's a craft that originated
in France in the 17th century,
and now I'd like to
do the same thing
with our drinks trolleys.
First though, I need to
find out what sort of bits
and bobs Rachel has at home.
Rachel, hi. (chuckles)
- Hi.
- How are you?
- Yeah, great.
Lovely to see you.
- Yeah, lovely to
see you as well.
So I bought you to my
boudoir, because I don't know
if you can see in
the background here,
I love a drinks trolley.
I have, well, I have
eight on the go.
- Oh wow.
- What have you exactly done
to a drink trolley so far?
- Sanded it down,
and just painted it
with a kind of
white, just primer.
- The exciting thing
is it's a blank canvas,
and at the end of it is
going to look lovely,
and you have inspired me
to get my old ones out.
So we're going to be drinks
trolleys partners in this.
- Amazing. (chuckles)
- So you've got some
supplies around the house?
You don't mind just having a go?
- Yeah, I actually already have
some gold like, spray paint.
- Great.
I wonder if you've got a color
of paint around the house
that you quite like to
paint over the frame,
a little sand, and the lick
of paint can just transform
an item, and then if
you've got your gold paint,
if you then spray it and then
sand it back a little bit
so the color comes through.
Now, have you got anything
that you could potentially
decoupage onto the trays?
- What kind of thing?
- Like, an old magazine.
Thing is with decoupage is that
you could do
absolutely anything.
I mean, it could
even be a photograph.
- Really, really close
with my granny, Peggy,
and she just used to always
tell me all these stories
of her life, and I work in
the theater in Edinburgh,
and my gran passed
away a few years ago,
found some brochures
from when she had been
at that theater in the fifties,
which was just so cool.
- Oh, I love that, that
is absolutely perfect.
It's always nice to
up cycle something
with something that
means something to you.
And you know, every
time you serve a drink,
that's just a gorgeous
story to tell.
Honestly, just made,
it's given me goosebumps.
I absolutely love that.
- Perfect, thank
you. I can't wait.
- Take care, Rachel, bye.
- Bye.
- I think she's going to
really enjoy having a G&T,
and sort of, you
know, cheers on Peggy
every time she has it.
It's nice, keep memories alive.
(whimsical music)
While we wait for Rachel to dig
out the old theater programs
and choose a paint
color for the frame,
we're going to get on
with our own projects.
- And on the far side
of the walled garden,
I'm in the middle of
converting an old stable
into a lovely
little potting shed.
Once I'd cleared away
the nettles and logs,
I knocked a new entrance into
it from the walled garden.
(drill whirring)
There you go.
Boom, boom, boom, oops.
Here we go.
Now outside my new door,
I've just discovered
something rather useful.
And that sound is the sound
of the fork going through
all the grass and turf
that's grown over it
to the original path.
(shovel scraping)
It's exactly what I was after.
It's seriously gritty.
150 years ago, it's the
gardener who would have used
a waste product,
packed it down, huh?
We're doing exactly
the same thing again,
and this is the waste grit
that comes from a quarry,
and it's nearly the same color.
they did that 150 years ago.
150 years from now, this will
still be here looking good.
Yeah, it's all about
putting something down
that's going to last.
Right.
The new path will
take some time,
so I'll be coming
back to it later.
In the meantime, we're going
to watch another request,
and this one is
all about creating
an eco-friendly
bedroom for a teenager.
Let's have a look.
- Hi, Dick and Angel,
my name's Andeen.
We do have a project for you,
which we would like
to do as a family,
but I'm going to let
Iola tell you about it.
- So my idea is to get
old pallets, and turn them
into furniture, such
as beds and storage.
So when I have my friends
round, I would like to have
a nice, mature, relaxing
room for them to stay over,
and for us to chillax
and to hang out in.
(laughing)
- I want to chillax.
This is Dorothy when she's 13.
- Iola would like to have the
room in more of a boho style.
- I have to say I don't
know what boho is.
I have no idea what
you're talking about
when people say that.
- It's bohemian like. (giggles)
I know, I think
when I was thirteen,
I don't remember that
word even existed.
- When I was 60, I don't
remember it existing, what?
- So when you come in, this
is first what you kind of see,
I've got this tapestry thing,
which TI really do want to keep
in my room, because
I like the pink.
I don't really like these
curtains, it doesn't really go,
and it won't go with like,
the vibe that I'm going for
for my new room.
- This is a room of a little
girl, and Iola's turning in
to a young lady, and
it is a room that
she's sort of saying-
Oh, she's not a
little girl any more.
- That's a girl with a vision.
There's a lot there.
- There is a lot there,
but it is a family job,
and actually, I reckon they
could all do their part
in creating something
quite gorgeous.
- They're either going to
end up loving each other
to bits, or there'll be war.
(whimsical music)
(lighthearted music)
In the walled garden,
I've now uncovered
the original 19th
century path that runs
outside my potting shed.
But to make sure it stays
clear, I need to give it
a bit of 21st century love.
There we go.
Overlap it, so the weeds
don't grow up through the gap.
This is
recycled rubber
that car tires that's
been turned into edging.
It just gives us a
border for our pathway.
That's a lovely edge.
Put it into place, perfect.
Every bit of preparation
I do now, it's going to
give dividends
for years to come.
(lighthearted music)
It's getting there.
I can see it, it's all
coming together now.
When I'm finished, T'll be
able to go from a bedroom
to a potting shed
in my slippers.
The path will be gorgeous.
(rooster crows)
(whimsical music)
- Personally, I would rather
think about gorgeous bedrooms,
and at the chateau, I've
designed 10 of them.
What I've learned is that it's
essential to combine beauty,
practicality, and personality,
especially if it's
for a teenager keen on
eco-friendly design.
So before we go any further,
I need a bit more info
from Iola and her mom, Andeen.
Hello!
- Hello.
- So having looking at
pallet furniture, okay?
Are you wanting it to look
like pallet furniture,
or are you looking for it
to be a little bit more
of a find and painted
a particular color?
- More like actually
looking like pallets,
I like that kind of thing.
I know there's one thing that
I definitely do want to be
in my room is shelving, because
I am a massive bookworm,
and I have tons, and tons, and
tons of murder mystery books.
- Absolutely.
Have you ever just put
together mood boards?
- I made one of them
to convince my parent
to let me do my room.
- Oh my God, I
love, I love that.
I'd love to see what
you're thinking.
- It's so exciting.
- It is so exciting.
I totally get it.
You know, it's a new part of
your life really, isn't it?
So will you send me your
mood board, and then I think
we're going to quickly
work out the bits
that we're going
to concentrate on.
I'm going to love this project.
Take care, and I'll speak
to you very soon, bye.
- Good to see you, bye.
- This is quite a special
project. (laughing)
It's so sweet, and
do you know the bit
that melted my heart was that
essentially she pitched it
to her mom and dad with a board?
(laughing) Love it.
(whimsical music)
While I'm waiting for Iola
to send me her mood board,
I'm going to start work on
my trolley transformation.
Oh, I do love a
bit of a clean day.
To get rid of dust
is so satisfying.
Can you see it yet?
Can you see the vision?
- No.
- Oh, you can never
see the vision.
I think secretly you do.
(whimsical music)
Hopefully he will
once I've decoupaged
my trolley's new tray.
This is a surprise for my
dad, and I've got a magazine
that was from the
year he was born.
Oh, I quite like this
crossword being done.
Oh, that's quite good, that one,
1949, people having a drink,
seems quite appropriate.
Right, let's go,
let's start cutting.
(whimsical music)
Magazines are great to
use a couple of reasons.
Actually the paper
is super, super thin,
which does really help,
and the second thing is
all the ink is waterproof.
This is my glue.
It's 50% PVA, and 50% water.
You've got to have the right
equipment, an old credit card.
Well, this is actually
my old baby trump card.
Now I don't have
babies any more.
I'm not throwing
it away, though,
and I'm going to use
this as my spreader,
because what I'm doing,
I'm taking air bubbles,
glue, everything out.
Again, I want that to be a
tiny, little bit of overlap,
and then just going
to get my credit card.
There we go, lovely.
(whimsical music)
Great.
Next, the big one.
(whimsical music)
The kids have done
some Papi's Bar art.
You're not going to
believe what that is.
That is the I from
Papi that's been made
into a martini glass, and the
dots is an olive on a stick.
They must really take in
every little thing that we do.
And that's it.
When it's dry, I'm going to
give it a varnish or two,
because it is going
on the drinks trolley.
- In the walled garden,
the reclaimed path is
now looking pretty good.
The new entrance in the
potting shed, though,
could do with a bit of a tidy.
Everything in here
between is going to be
filled up with stone.
What I don't want is I don't
want it quite past the line
of my bits of wood, because
otherwise that would be ugly.
I have my pile of
rocks to work with.
We're making up a lime-based
mortar, so it's mask time.
So here we go.
We're going to
cheat a little bit.
I'm going to put a
little bit of cement in
just to make it a bit harder.
So we have about half
a cement in there.
I need a bit water in here now.
It sort of sticks
together quite nicely.
That's what I want.
(water pouring)
That gives my mortar in the pug
something to stick to, right?
There are people who build
stone walls for a living.
They are masters of
this, I am not that.
I am a chap who will put rocks
in to his heart's content,
liking it, that sort of
fits, and the bit there,
that doesn't fit
around will be okay,
because I've got some water
to stick in that hole.
That's nicely put in there.
I've done some
dry stone walling.
It's all about
choosing the stones
to get in the right place.
This isn't quite as
critical, because we're using
the mortar, the pug to
hold it all together,
but it's still lots of fun.
See, I knew that stone
was meant for there, look.
I'll put it in that.
Then I had it.
There we go.
(whimsical music)
- I've gone up to my work room,
because Iola has now
sent me her mood board,
and I can start design
in her new bedroom.
As soon as Iola said she wanted
something Bohemian, boho,
this is exactly
what I'd pictured.
You know, even the
McQuarry chair,
Iola wants the pallets
to be a big feature,
and actually if you're going
to start anywhere in a bedroom,
it's got to be functionality.
But at the end of it, she
can put those cushions out,
and she's going to
love it. (chuckles)
I've seen so many
lovely pictures
of sort of big shelving
units above beds.
I don't think they're that
practical, and I quite like,
I quite like these
ones that you've got,
are sort of hexagonal, and
then you build them up.
I don't know if
this is possible,
but I'd quite like to
suggest a bookcase on wheels.
Is that possible?
- Yes, it is.
- This is just the start of
something that is so exciting.
We've got all the elements
in here, the pallet bed,
which is going to be the
center point for everything,
hanging chair, the
shelves, the memory board,
bookcase on wheels.
I do not know whether
she's going to get it all,
but if you don't
ask you don't get.
(whimsical music)
And I don't have to
wait long to find out
if my design for the room is
cool enough for a teenager,
or just plain embarrassing.
Are you ready? Let's do it.
If you want to
open your eyes now.
- Oh, wow.
That is awesome.
It's really pretty.
Oh yeah.
- She's crying. (chuckles)
- Are you?
- No. (laughing)
- How did you get
water in your eyes?
(laughing)
Oh, I love it.
Let me get you
up there.
- Hil
(laughing)
- Is that a happy dance?
- Absolutely perfect.
- I don't know if ever I've
had to put something together
for a young lady, and
actually I really wanted
to get it right for you.
Thank you for liking it,
good luck with everything,
and we'll speak very, very soon.
Lots of love, bye.
- Bye.
- Blow a kiss, blow a kiss.
(kissing sounds)
(chuckling)
- Now the design's been
approved, I need to work out
how to actually build a
bed out of old pallets.
Wonderful thing about pallets
is you tend to get them
for free, but you have to know
where your pallets come from.
If a pallet has got MB on it,
move it away and go
do something else.
That's methyl bromide, that
means chemically treated,
and you don't want to have
that around your family,
and around your home.
If it's clean, and you know
where it comes from, use it.
If you're not a hundred
percent sure, don't use it.
It's common sense.
Processing pallets is all
about getting the best ones,
and making them as
nice as possible, it's
as simple as that.
Very first thing we
have to do is make sure
that every single nail
is below the surface.
See this nail here?
That nail is sitting a little
bit proud for my liking.
I'll get rid of anything
that's sticking up.
(hammer tapping)
All of the nails and things
that were sticking up have
either been taken
out, or punched in,
so it's time to sand it.
This is what we're going to use.
This is a belt sander.
Oh, here we go.
(sander whirring)
Suffice to say, inside every
rough plank on a pallet is
a lovely piece of wood.
You know, to be fair,
it's a bit of hard work,
but at the end,
that's nice wood now.
Of course, every pallet
is different, but I know
for the bed, it's one pallet
wide, by two pallets deep,
and these two pallets
are exactly the same.
How do you join them together?
Well, the principles are simple.
You find out where they touch,
and you make them stick.
Look at that.
It looks like they were
meant to go together.
If we screw these together,
that's going to hold as a bed.
If I put a piece of wood
in there like this, yeah?
Front to back,
that piece of wood
along there is going
to hold them together.
It's as simple as that, but
it's going to be like a divan.
It's going to be
two pallets deep.
So I'll take this one,
and I set it on top there.
(pallets banging)
Look at these, where they
touch, you stick them.
See, look, see that
piece of wood sitting
on top of that piece of wood?
If I screw that
together, the top layer
and the bottom are
stuck together.
That is the basis of a bed.
Pallets are not only robust,
but also very versatile.
We got pallets, we
can do anything.
And with a bit of imagination,
can easily be adapted
into shelving, picture
frames, chairs, tables.
And all we have to do is
just put this together,
stick two middles to the bottom.
It's mobile, but
there's a bookshelf.
So if you'd like to make
something out of pallets,
first check they're okay to use,
and haven't been
covered in chemicals.
Remove or hammer in all the
nails, then sand the wood down,
and varnish, wax, or
paint for a lovely finish.
- It's now time
for me to catch up
with Rachel's trolley
transformation,
and watch her very first
attempt at decoupage.
- So I've got my layout
of my bits and bobs
from the program and flier.
- Right.
(lighthearted music)
Straighten it with your
credit card in the middle.
- Now I've got a credit card.
- Great.
Oh, and it's lovely.
I'm just looking
at the decoupage.
Getting younger every day,
on sale in the theaters,
five-past eight, oh, lovely.
We'll meet in the
bar. (chuckles)
That's made me so happy.
And as soon as all the
varnish and paint has dried,
it's my favorite moment,
the finishing touches.
- Very important gin
glasses my sister gave me.
- I am there with Rachel.
I'm feeling so excited
for her, as she's putting
the books on and the little
geranium, and the gin glasses,
a nice piece of furniture is
now really coming into its own.
It's great.
Oh, perfect.
Oh, lovely.
- Lamp, which is
also from my sister.
Just want to plug it in.
Just need this,
photo of my granny.
- Oh. (laughing)
- She inspired this project.
- It's so goed.
I love it.
Seriously, it looked amazing.
Oh, and to you,
congratulations, well done.
- Thank you so much.
Yeah, it was so fun to do.
Yeah, I was really proud of it.
- What a gorgeous photograph.
It's from the glamor era.
It's so, so stylish, honestly.
What a special thing
to have, and how lovely
that you've got that
on your drinks trolley.
- Yeah, I know, I think it
had to be on there somewhere,
so I'm glad I got it on.
- It's been so lovely.
Thank you for allowing me
to be part of this as well.
- Thank you so much.
- Bye, bye, Rachel.
(lighthearted music)
Life at the chateau
is always busy,
but we try and make the
simplest of tasks lots of fun.
(calling the chickens)
- Chuck it to the cockle,
chuck it to the cockle,
so he gets some.
They're loving that.
Right, okay, they're all,
they've got lots to eat now,
and that means they're
going to lay us more eggs.
(chickens clucking)
Now the chickens
are fed, it's time
to watch another request.
- Hi, Dick and Angel,
my name's Chris.
The garden for me
is a real sanctuary.
I've turned it from what
was a space with an old shed
and some bikes, to a
small place that I can sit
and enjoy some peace and
quiet when I'm not working.
One of the jobs that
I'm really struggling
with at the moment
is my garden slabs.
My garden slabs are much like
myself, old and a bit broken,
and in thorough
need of a facelift.
It's just in between the
slabs that are needing
some attention, and a miracle
to be worked on them, I think.
- The gaps in between there,
that's not the major problem.
If there's any wobbly ones,
that has to be fixed first.
- Okay.
- It's going to be
really hard to make
that look neater,
because it's a mishmash
of different slabs.
- But if the point is
all the same, it kind of
might nearly bring it together.
It will I think, I think it
would make a big difference.
- I think it's fair to say
it's probably my
project, this one.
(laughing)
- A hundred percent, I
will get the guest log.
(whimsical music)
- I, on the other hand, will put
my summer seasons
builder's hat on.
- Hello.
- How are you doing?
- I'm good. I'm very good.
- Your patio needs some love.
- It's definitely a project
that needs some tender,
loving care, that's for sure.
Over the last four years,
it became this century
for myself and my mom.
We lost my dad about four
years ago from cancer.
and every time we sort of
come out to the garden,
it was just a really
disappointing place
to kind of visit.
- Sorry to hear that, mate.
So the first thing
is you want to stop
rocking ones rocking,
because they need to be even
for your mom, don't they?
We need to make sure
they're nice and level.
And then we can address
the sort of the gaps.
So you're going to find those,
and if you can get them up,
get them up, okay?
Then you're going to be
looking to say, right,
this mortar needs to be
replaced, and reappointed.
And it's a matter of
scraping some of that away,
just scraping it away.
- You're making it
sound really easy,
which is a great thing.
- The prep is the vast
majority of the work.
When it comes to putting
it back together again,
(scoffs) We'll do
that in no time.
- I'love that, I
absolutely love that, Dick.
Thank you very much.
And tell me, when doing the
big belly builders arrive?
- I think you're
going to have it done
before they arrive,
Chris, sorry, but true.
Take care, sir.
Lovely talking to you, Chris.
- Cheers, mate.
- Cheers, matey.
Cheers. Bye.
Luckily for Chris, I
knew a bit about paving,
because last year, Angel
decided we needed some
outside the front
of the chateau.
There's 25 tons
of stones to move,
and there's no part of it
that's making me smile.
(lighthearted music)
And so far, we've laid
nearly 200 square meters,
but with more to do.
- My strong man.
- Now, as it's still an ongoing
project, I'm going to use it
to show how to relay
wobbly patio stones.
So basically, you're cleaning
the bottom of it out,
and just getting yourself
ready, preparation, preparation,
preparation, preparation,
and preparation.
Okay, that's where all
the work goes into it.
The big thing is it's all
about the mix for your mortar,
and for us, we're
using five to one.
I am doing two
cement to ten sand,
which is the same
as five to one.
Now, look at that, just
like baking a cake,
only doing it with cement.
I don't want it too wet,
and I don't want it too dry.
I just want it perfect,
s0 I need a little,
tiny taste more water.
Well, this is now wetter.
I like it.
Okay, so I'll take
a decent dollop.
There you go.
One,
another one, two.
Because we've got
the five spots there,
it shouldn't rock, you see?
So I'm going to take my
slab, and then it's a matter
of nice, little, gentle
taps to get it to sit.
So that it's sitting
there nice and solid,
and when it dries, there we go.
Because Chris has to get rid
of some of his old mortar,
I'm going to show you
two ways of doing it.
Ha, ha, the sensible way.
(saw whirring)
Don't cut it too shy,
little cool chisel.
(hammer tapping)
Once you get to this
stage, it's a brush job,
because we don't want any
of that rubbish in there.
Now, time to make good.
One.
- Yep.
-51,2,3,4,5,
5 are in there now.
So here we go, we've
got some water.
See what that looks like.
This is really
quite dry, isn't it?
-Itis.
- But if you pick
it up like this,
and actually just squeeze it,
see the way it's
holding its shape?
That means that would be
good for actually pointing,
putting between the slabs.
What we're going to do with
our mix that holds shape.
What am I doing? I'm
sticking it in, okay?
So that's all being
pushed well down
into the gaps all the way down.
Want to do a bit
of a finisher-off.
You can buy something called
a pointing iron, all right?
This is not a pointing iron,
this is a piece of pipe, okay?
But what it does
is the same thing.
- Oh.
- We just take that,
and we push it down,
all the way down
there and like that.
- I want a go.
- You like it?
-Ilove it.
(whimsical music)
I also love Iowa's ideas
for her boho bedroom, which
as well as using pallets
for the bed and shelving,
also included a
hanging macram chair,
and it's not even
that hard to make.
I had loads of hula hoops from
a couple of Christmases ago,
and this is going to be my base
for creating something
quite beautiful.
So as well as a hula
hoop, you'll also
need about 300 meters
of six millimeter macram
cord, and for the seat,
a half circle of
inch-thick plywood,
with holes drilled
around the edge.
The only two knots that
you'll need to know is
the larks head knot to
attach the cord to the hoop,
and the square knot
to make the mesh.
You ready for the magic?
To show you the knots, I'm going
to use an extra thick cord.
I fold it in half, and I
get the loop, fold it over,
and pull it through.
Wait for it.
Boom.
(whimsical music)
I'm gonna use this to show
you how to do a square knot.
So you've got your
four cords here.
I go left, and then I take
this cord on the right,
and I go over,
and I go behind.
(indistinct)
Okay, so I, okay, I go
left, and then take the one
on the end, and go over,
and then I feed it around
underneath, and pull it through.
And I have got the
start of my knot,
and then I go,
I go right (chuckles) over,
and then I go
through here, right?
But then I've got what
I call a square knot.
My next stage is that I need
to create a pattern, or a mesh.
Now, to create this
mesh, you take two
from each square knot,
because you need four cords
to do a square knot.
This allows me to start
building up my mesh.
It's very therapeutic, and
you'll find yourself getting
into a real rhythm, you
know, it's like knitting.
Now shoo, that,
this is all done.
So you've got to get the bottom
of the threads
through the holes,
and it can be a little
bit sort of fiddly.
Get a little bit of electricity
wire, bend it in half.
Then if you come up,
okay?
I can put my ends through here,
and then give it a big tug,
and they're through.
Do a really big knot
underneath, all right?
And it's not going to
go anywhere, trust me.
- I'm keen though,
to see how far Iola,
her dad, Paul, her little
brother Falen have got
with her homemade pallet bed.
- We've all got our power tools.
(tools whirring)
It's the first state
of the base complete.
Braced the middle, top, and
bottom, got six wheels on it.
So it's new before, so
I can get through them.
- As far as I can see, it
seems to be going to plan.
- Stage four complete.
(sander whirring)
- Sanding down the headboard.
(sander whirring)
- We brought some renovating
wax, so we're giving it
all a coat before we fix it,
and it will more than likely
have another coat again.
All right, you can drill
that hole for me there.
I'll hold the drill for you.
(drill whirring)
- I can see the workers,
how you doing, Falen?
Yeah, good man.
Oh, hold on, hold on,
I've just noticed where
you're sitting, fella.
That took me a moment or two.
Whoo, whoo, whoo, love it!
That looks exactly like I
thought Angel and Iola wanted.
- It's very much, isn't it?
- Wow.
Yeah, that's a
well-deserved high five.
Well done, you.
- Thank you very much.
- Listen, men, it's time
to get back to work.
There's more to be done.
- Yes.
- Keep smiling.
Good to see ya.
- Good to see you too.
- Take care.
- Cheers, thank you.
- Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye.
- Bye-bye.
- They're loving it.
It's, they're doing
a family thing.
This to me is a great
project, and what's more,
the raw materials are
eco-sound, I love it.
(lighthearted music)
- And talking of families,
Arthur and Dorothy have
a little surprise for
my dad, happy Steve.
Dorothy, I need one
of these bamboo things
in each of those, please.
Yeah, lovely, so
put that in there.
Well done, Dorothy, come
on, come out, come out,
take granddad, that's it.
- Three, two, one, look.
- Oh, (chuckles)
oh, look at that.
(all laughing)
Oh, just leave me
here for the day.
- Dad, we decoupaged this tray
with old magazines from
the year of your birthday,
but the kids drew
Papi's Bar for you.
- Your B is your sunrise.
- Arthur and Dorothy insisted
on doing most things orange,
because Granddad likes
a tequila sunrise.
(laughing)
Thank you, I'll pass mine
to Dick, there we go.
- See this?
- Does it?
- What are drinks made with?
- Love.
(laughing)
(indistinct chatting)
- Cheers, everybody.
(lighthearted music)
- Since we did the
chateau's paving last year,
everyone's enjoyed using it.
Come on, Dolo, oh, lucky.
The patios eventually
have to be maintained,
and I'm really pleased to see
that Chris is doing just that.
- So, so far, take a
look around the garden,
all of the big slabs not moving,
which is really good news,
because I didn't fancy
lifting all of those out.
However, in the other part
of the garden, there's
about seven or eight of
the little ones that are
actually moving, so they're
going to need some attention.
- God bless.
- I'm now mixing two
parts sand to ten parts,
no, two parts cement
to ten parts sand.
I got that right, and
hopefully this works.
I feel like a proper
builder boy, mate.
(lighthearted music)
- And it doesn't take
Chris long to turn
what was once an
ugly trip hazard
into something both he
and his mom can enjoy.
Looks lovely, the whole
thing looks lovely.
That's a neat little garden.
It looks good, that looks
very, very good, well done.
- It is now all complete,
although on camera,
it looks like
they're not joining,
if you look carefully, you'll
actually find they are.
I have to admit, if you
asked me to do this before,
probably would have
said no, I'll get
a professional
bloke in to do it,
but actually it's
surprisingly easy.
It's made a massive difference,
and mom can actually enjoy
the garden now
without tripping over.
And there's not so many ants,
which is always a
good sign as well.
- Well, cheers.
- Cheers.
- It's good to come out here,
and see it nice and very even.
- Dick and Angel, thank you
very much for all your help
in getting this
sorted so that Mom
and I can sit out and enjoy it.
I owe you a lot, so
thank you very much,
and cheers from
Mom and I, cheers.
- Absolute pleasure,
there you go.
- Andeen and Paul have also
been working very hard to finish
Iola's bedroom, because
tonight is grand opening
when Iola's dream will
hopefully become reality.
I felt quite emotional,
because I just know
this is going to
be Dorothy one day.
- Scary.
That's as it was.
- Yep.
- I'm really excited.
Okay.
(laughing)
- Come on, girl.
- Okay.
(knocking on door)
Wow!
It's awesome.
It's utterly awesome.
- Wow.
- This is awesome.
- Twinkling lights,
very grown up.
- Oh, that's come
out brilliantly.
- The bed, what do you think?
- Awesome.
Just better than I
expected, you know?
- Go on then, try your seat.
- That's a very big
smile, bless her.
- And the shelves, they're
exactly what I wanted.
- That is just so heartwarming.
- So you're happy?
- Yeah, beyond.
- I brought a tissue, because
I knew I was going to cry.
- Oh.
Hello!
Hiya.
- Oh, wow.
- Well done, family.
- Thank you, team effort.
- It looked like it,
it looked like it.
- It looks fantastic.
You have done a job
that you should just
all feel so, so, so proud of.
Have you enjoyed it?
- Yeah.
- But, Iola, come
on, did you get
all the things you
were dreaming of?
- I got more than I even
thought I would, thank you.
- Brilliant, thanks for your
motivation and inspiration.
- Yeah, thank you.
- Take care.
Lovely to see you.
- Bye.
- What age is Iola?
- Thirteen.
- Thirteen,
so we've got how long?
- Dorothy's six, and
a couple of years?
But before Arthur and
Dorothy get too old,
I have a couple of surprises
I think they'll quite like.
Okay, all right,
close your eyes.
(laughing)
He's very funny.
Our little boy's walking off,
because you're
closing your eyes.
Wait, stop, stop, stop, you
will actually have an accident.
Okay, here we go, here we go.
Wait a second, keep
your eyes shut.
Three, two, one, open your eyes.
- Thank you, Mom!
(laughing)
Thank you, Mommy!
Thank you!
- Come to me.
(laughing)
- No that pinches,
that pinches, Mommy.
- Again in this one.
- Did you ever leave
your childhood?
(laughing)
You still have a
giant imagination.
- I love you for that.
You know what?
I actually am still a big kid,
but who doesn't love a swing?
- You know what, though,
you have to get older,
but you don't have to grow up.
- Very true.
- Kiss, kiss.
(kissing sound)
(lighthearted music)
(no audio)