To ask how do you keep your house looking and feeling "nice".

[BishBashBoshy]

I know "nice" is a meaningless word but I guess I mean just pleasant and welcoming. Not neceessarily tidy or freshly decorated and there may be a dust but the type of house where you walk in and it feels... homely and comfortable.

My house doesn't feel like that and I don't know why. There is a bit more "stuff" than I'd like but it's not excessive and it's all got a place and we try to keep it neat. Our furniture is a bit mismatched but I'm not one for everything being the same. Besides, we can't replace it at the moment.

We live in a small 2 bed. Our main room is a large through living room, dining room. The stairs are in the dining room bit and there is a computer desk in the large area under the stairs.

Not really knick knack people and don't have anywhere to put them anyway. Also, prefer to open a window than use smelly stuff.

Any easy (cheap!) tips?

As above. Minimal clutter, put things in cupboards if you can't get rid. Add cosy cushions, throws etc. Try to coordinate colours in each room - not necessarily everything the same colour but two or three that go together. If you have objects that don't fit the scheme, move them somewhere else. No bare walls, paint them, put pictures or mirrors up, whatever. Little lamps rather than one main light.

For me it does mean everything being clean and tidy. I’m never happier than when I’ve properly cleaned the house top to bottom. As sad as that is- that’s my happy place I like things in order. I’m not a ‘minimalist’, in that I don’t want everything white and empty, but I do prefer less stuff sitting around. If something isn’t an ornament and isn’t being used I don’t want to see it. Put it away. It’s visually distracting when I’m wanting to relax. If the piano isn’t being used- put the lid down and push the stool in. If the footstool isn’t being used push it back against the wall. Right now there is a lipstick and half a chocolate bar on my mantle piece. They’re bothering me. like an itch. And I do like furniture/furnishings to match if possible. Like someone upthread said- pick a colour palette.

Hoover and dust every day

Paint all the walls white

Clutter free

Then when you fancy a change or you need a refresh just touch up the white and add different cushions/rugs etc as you feel the need. And open the windows- air it out! Makes it feel brand new.

You say about clutter, get rid or put it away.
Clutter unless artfully arranged in a maximalist way, makes rooms looks fusty, dusty and uncared for.

Mismatched furniture looks great but if it's a case of too many different wood tones, then choose the ones that go together to stay wood and paint the rest.

Good blinds and curtains, nice painted walls or wallpaper, clean floors and skirting, these are the basics and need to be clean.

Unless you can artfully mismatch your colours and patterns then make sure you stick to plains with some colour and pattern injected somewhere.

But airing rooms on waking up, clean rooms, good lighting which is available everywhere and cheap.

All these things make a house nice to me, I don't care if the colours or decoration are not my taste as it would still be a nice house.

If your sofas/ armchairs are flat against the walls, try moving them. It can feel a bit like a waiting room otherwise. I have the sofa against the wall, and we have three chairs that are at an angle near the other walls. Flowers, even a jam jar with wild flowers, make a house look homely. My room is a real mix. A light colour coffee table. a 40s china cabinet, three pieces of furniture that are foreign wood, if you know what I mean, a DVD cabinet. We have three chairs with footstools. Two are the same, the third a different colour. It feels very homely. lamps as well, never use the overhead lights.

See I disagree with a few people here. For me a nice welcoming house needs to be clean enough but not immaculate. It needs lots of books and photos and art on the walls and bits and pieces that have been collected on your travels. I also like a plant or two, nice rugs and cushions. And a dog, ideally a whippet for they are very ornamental.

Lots of people have given you ideas of what to do...less so on what to avoid! I have a friend who often says she wishes her house was like mine - welcoming, grown-up, well put-together. So where are the differences...

Wrong furniture: she doesn't want to spend money on furniture, so she makes do with clashing 2nd hand sofas that don't fit in her living room. They have throws on them to hide the covers - but that just screams "student flat" at me. My sofas are also second hand - but they are in good colours that work with our overall palette - and they fit well in our room. She doesn't have a tv stand - instead her telly, wifi box and all the cables are jumbled up on the mantlepiece - gathering dust, looking out of place and totally spoiling what should be the focal point of the room. We've got a horrible shiny black glass tv stand - but at least it keeps the tv / wifi / router / PS4 / phone box in one neat place, and all the cables are hidden in a box behind it.

Bare walls - except for some really dodgy home made artwork of her DPs, there's nothing interesting on the walls. I have probably too many landscape-type prints / paintings but they are gradually getting replaced by other things.

Clutter... I am an avid Kondo-er. My key rule is: if there isn't storage space for it, out it goes. The only exception are books, which I rather like. And my DH is on board, and the DC are fine with it - so our whole house is pretty much clutter-free. My friend is trying her best, but fighting a losing battle with her DP and DC being clutter collectors and the fact that she works from home, at the kitchen table. Unless you have a really good eye for matching random "stuff", it just looks crap - especially if you can't close drawers. I'm looking around me now, at home, and there isn't a single thing lying on a surface that shouldn't be there, bar some books our dc were reading before bed and an iron (left out as I'm using it first thing tomorrow). DH also works from home - so we have created him a small study in the corner of our bedroom, which stops him spreading through the house.

She doesn't have a tv stand - instead her telly, wifi box and all the cables are jumbled up on the mantlepiece

Cannot express just how much I hate this. I’m on a diy group on FB and lots of people post photos of what would be lovely rooms if they just took the sodding TV and all it’s accessories off the wall above the mantle and put it on a stand! It looks horrific.