Please help and give me advice. We are a young married couple, who got married in November. I had a prem baby in December and we live in a rented property because we can't get onto the property ladder as I am not returning to work, so I can spend time with my baby. We have a lovely house, its 2 bedrooms, front and back garden, garage, big kitchen breakfast room. Its everything we need apart from it doesn't feel like its home even though we've lived here a year and 2 months. Its all mismatch furniture and we can't paint the walls . We don't have much money to spare but we would like to be able to sit in the lounge and feel comfortable, which we can't at the moment. Any ideas on how to make it feel homely??

How to make it 'yours'? Easy, and much less than you might think- because it is not your money that puts your stamp on a home, it is the investment of your time and the display of your skill. That's why you want to paint the walls- not because you necessarily want them a different colour, but to say 'I painted that'.

This is why an expensive throw is less satisfactory than some cushions you make yourself, some prints straight out of Argos not so much fun as a canvas boxart you painted from Works. Look for something fairly large as a first project, so that your visitors are sure to notice your handiwork.

Thank you very much for your reply to my post. You made a lot of sense. You've given me a good idea, now that I do have some spare time being a housewife and mother why not make something special for the house and get the reward of knowing that I did it myself.

Thank you again.