I’m currently renovating my new house, and I’ve been fortunate enough  to have the services of a local artist/auteur who moonlights as a jack-of-all-trades. This man  built his own home out of assorted second-hand materials - collected over a lifetime - and was in possession of several items that were surplus to requirements. He was kind enough to give me a two-tier 1940s timber mantelpiece that had been trumped by a more elaborate Victorian one, and he made me a multicoloured bathroom out of whatever tiles were sitting in his shed. He also tore up my old  hot water service to create copper splashbacks for the kitchen.