Yesterday, I had that 'find a tenner in your pocket' feeling.

We needed a new chest of drawers for our bedroom to replace a rather cheap and cheerful flatpack one I bought on a tight budget seven years ago when I first stepped on to the housing ladder.

Now we are both slightly older and wiser, we decided to follow our policy of inveting in something more expensive, which would last a lifetime.

When it arrived, our first job was to dismatle the old one - although most of it had already collapsed in a heap on the floor.

It was then I had a brainwave. Could we recycle materials from the old chest to make a tallboy - something we needed to get anyway before the arrival of baby number two in seven months.

An hour later, we had achieved our goal. A beautiful homemade tallboy is now sitting in the nursery.

As a result, only two pieces of wood were taken to the tip - and even they won't go into the landfill as laminated wood can be recycled for chipboard. Leftover handles and screws have been put in the shed for a rainy day.

Definitely better than finding a tenner!