Old School lifestyle shop in Beauly features in BBC TV's Money For Nothing
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A Beauly shop has featured on the popular BBC TV programme Money For Nothing.
The Old School was filmed for the show presented by upcycling expert Sarah Moore who saves items from being dumped and transforms them into valuable pieces – making money for people who had no idea there was cash to be made from their trash.
The item acquired by the Beauly fashion and homeware shop was previously a chest of drab and dated retro drawers destined for a skip in Surrey.
But it has been transformed into a unique one-off piece by artist and designer Chloe Kempster who is based in Leicestershire.
Ms Kempster –whose motto is 'you can never have too many paintbrushes' – was inspired to decorate the drawers with a colourful abstract landscape.
"It could be lots of things," she said.
"It could be the sea. It could be fields. It could be the city.
"I think it will appeal to lots of different people."
Presenter Sarah Moore who commissioned its transformation was impressed by the end result as was Helen Crawford, who co-owns the Old School with husband, William.
When she first saw the piece after being contacted by the programme to see if she was interested in it, she thought it was "absolutely gorgeous" and it is currently taking pride of place in the shop.
She described it as a work of art.
"Chloe has reimagined it again," Mrs Crawford said.
"I feel I am looking at an abstract of Highland landscape."
After taking labour and sale costs into account, it has made a profit of £155 for the man who was throwing it away. He is giving the money to his local church.
It is the Old School's second appearance on Money For Nothing.
In its first appearance, the shop bought a refurbished sofa after being contacted by the programme makers.
"The programme had come across our shop online and contacted us to ask if we would be interested in buying a piece which would appear in the show," Mrs Crawford said.
"We looked at what they had at that time and fell in love with the sofa.
"It was in the shop for about three weeks and it was then bought – it went really quickly.
"It was an absolutely gorgeous piece."
She said the shop had carefully considered the items.
"We look for something which offers sustainability, value for money and quality," she said.
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