Inspired by a load of old rubbish

10th April 2012: It’s funny what can inspire us. Whether it’s a painting in an art gallery, the shape of the froth on your cappuccino (can’t stand the stuff, personally) or an a-mazing song, inspiration can come from the most unexpected places.

But from a load of old rubbish? Really?!

It would seem so. Not only are you a thrifty bunch, but you’re also very creative judging by this morning’s show.

We showed you our station producer’s lunchbox. I say lunchbox, but it’s actually two empty marg tubs with a sandwich in each one. Beautiful.

Anyway, it would seem he’s not the only one to take what – on the surface – is something that should just get thrown in the bin.

While Jez thought he was being pretty clever, using his old takeaway pots as Tupperware containers for leftovers, he hasn’t got anything on some of you!

Ally tweeted us and said she uses old orange netting as scourers, empty crisp tubs as pencil tidies and old gravy pots as money boxes. Genius!

And it doesn’t stop there. What followed was something all journalists working for those glossy interior design magazines should take note of. Check out some of these fabulous ideas for turning old stuff into something useful!

• We turned our kids’ old wendy house into a vegetable plot. We cut it down to 3ft high, filled it with soil and grew some potatoes in it. – Lesley and Tony, Oakhurst

• I buy small jars of cockles and mussels and put tealight candles in them. The indentations on the glass are really pretty. – Kathy

• I turned an old wall unit into a play kitchen for my 3 year old, complete with a sink, tap and pretend oven. – Tom, Royal Wootton Bassett

And some of the ideas on our Facebook page were also pretty creative, from using old wood pallets to make a fence the neighbours were all jealous of, to turning a bin into a radio and a hanging shelf display unit out of an old wine box.

You lot have inspired me to get rooting through my old rubbish. Keep your ideas coming!