Inexpensive / portable ways to cheer up / revamp my house

[NoFitStateMum]

We're about to pull the plug on house move plans after a full year of looking (70 plus houses viewed, many offers thousands over asking made and no onward purchase secured) and are resigned to staying put for at least 6 more months.

We need more space which we cannot achieve without moving. But I want to revamp my house so it feels fresher and I feel less crap about being stuck here. Don't want to spend loads and ideally want to do things that I can take with me when we do hopefully finally move.
Would love your ideas please!
3 bed semi with average size garden.Thanks

Rearrange the lounge if you can, makes it feel like a new room.
get new throws and cushions for the sofas that you can take with you .
new bedding.
nice picture hanging somewhere there’s a blank wall
new garden furniture, or plant up some tubs of flowers that will look lovely through the summer.
paint the front door.
declutter as much as possible which will help in the long run of a house move but will also create more space.

Serious declutter
make more storage for the things you decide to keep - loft , basement, shed?
better lighting -brighter bulbs or new multi bulb fittings
redecorate -painting walls is easy and cheap
new blinds or curtain poles that pull right back off the windows to maximise light
sheet vinyl flooring is cheap to buy and lay and comes in great patterns now

A plug in electric’wood burner’. I got one for less than £100 wayfair. It’s black and plain, looks very realistic and cosy with just the light on!!

Indoor large exotic plants?

Buy some beautiful mirrors. They add light.

Paint the house the same colour, so it flows.

Add some plants.

Declutter. Lamps. Nice throws. Oil burners, aromatherapy diffusers. Matching colours if possible in the lampshades/throws. House plants - plastic from Ikea if you don't want real ones (though spider plants are dead easy to look after as are aloe vera). Painting, fablon, hooks on doors to get stuff off the floor. Nice music, digital photo frame/tablet app for photos.

If you have Netflix take a look at Home Edit, they are two American ladies and their team who go into all kinds of spaces and make them clearer and prettier and easier to use. They're not Marie Kondo - they don't advise people to just chuck stuff out if it's going to be needed. And they are brilliant at finding containers. It is US-based so some things need to be adapted, but the principles are great.

Don't be put off by the fact they do a lot of celebrity stuff, they also do loads of ordinary homes as well, and all kinds of spaces from tour buses to garages.

So disappointing and assuming you probably have a disappointed buyer to deal with as well! If I was you (and I have been!) I would:

Agree with pp's that the first step is a big de-clutter, I'd invest in getting a skip as it makes getting rid of things so much more straightforward. Donate any old toys/clothes etc that are in good condition then get rid of everything else that you don't need. Try to be as ruthless as possible as you'll only be paying someone to move it in 6 months time anyway.

You don't say if you have kids but my 3 DC are complete hoarders (eg. small bits of cut up paper seem to hold massive sentimental value) so if you can do their rooms when they're out that's always easiest. Or if it can't be helped a compromise where things "go into the loft" for a few months then get binned when they've forgotten about them.

The next stages I'd do room by room rather than all in one go...en once you've done that assess what storage you're lacking so that you can feel like everything has a place and it makes tidying up much easier and makes everything feel more spacious. Cabin/storage/high sleeper (depending on age) beds can make kids rooms a lot easier to manage and give more floor space. You can also take them with you to your next house.

I'm assuming you might not want to decorate but if you think you might be up for painting it's definitely the cheapest/easiest way to give a room a refresh. If not can you revamp any of your furniture, I've seen some amazing transformations of basic IKEA stuff, there was a programme on Channel 4 Recently, I think it was called something like The Great Interiors Transformation or something with Emma Willis, that had lots of good ideas.

If you don't want to revamp anything (or once you have) then take a look at your furniture's position , is it in the best positions for how you use the room or more importantly how you'd like to use the room? Even if you can't envisage it (I'm not always great at this) you can try moving it around to different positions. It can make a massive difference.

Finally soft furnishings and finishing touches, I always find a new set of cushions and a rug can really make a difference. There's loads of great ones for reasonable prices, I like H&M Home and M&S for cushions and George at Asda do very reasonable priced rugs.

I have just painted my mahogany ( dark brown UPVC) front door. Bought some Valspar water based eggshell paint, had it colour matched in a shade I wanted. I am really pleased with the result. Just need the door to last another year or so until all the trades have finished ( we are renovating) . Had lots of positive comments. Definately recommend if you are wanting to up the kerb appeal.

Houseplants. I used to be anti-houseplants but DH insisted on a load when we moved to our current house and now I love them. They make a huge difference to a room, even smallish ones, can be moved around easily, replaced, re-potted in colourful containers etc. And they're good for you too (air quality etc).

Aside from that, get a skip. There is nothing quite as liberating as filling a skip.

We have been stuck in our house for six long, painful months longer than we expected.

I started decluttering with n October and my whole house is cleaner and easier to keep tidy.

I only kept stuff we love, use regularly or absolutely need. It looks so much better, I absolutely love it!!