If you post some pics of your rooms you'll get lots of ideas for budget friendly improvements!

It's a big house so if you don't use all the rooms it does not seem like a big deal. And don't worry about a remodel...you are doing what you need to do to make the house liveable and presentable.

The new buyers will do what they want anyway, they usually want something move-in ready....to live in the house a bit before they start the work. Continue to get it ready to show. 4 years will go by fast.

To answer your question, you need to determine the use for each room and how many people it needs to accomodate. But the minimum a living room needs is an area rug, a sofa/easy chair, coffee table, reading lamp and a piece of artwork on the wall. Same concept for the other rooms....start with the basics.

For color and style inspiration use a painting or area rug you like and choose colors from it.

Thanks for adding pics, but do you have any with your current decor? Difficult to suggest improvements when it's just a blank slate.

Beautiful home..

Now is the time to start taking of you. You need to make this place YOUR place. A place that feels fresh, new, inviting and happy. You deserve this.

What is your favorite color?

What is your favorite hobby?

How do you want to use and define the space?

Do you want TV? Where would that go? The wall behind the kitchen?

Would you rather have an office than an dining room?

Once we know some of these things we can help come up with a plan.

My first suggestion is

1. paint. Find a paint that you love and paint the entire place. If you like a bold red or yellow maybe we chose one wall for that bold color and the other walls more neutral.

2. Light fixtures, light bullbs, lights everywhere. You need to create more brightness in the space. The highest LED bulbs you can afford. And floor, table and accent lights.

3. Furniture. If you don't have some you will need to find a few peices from garage sales, consignment, flea markets or bite the bullet and buy new

4 Art. Do you have children? Grandchildren? Frame their photos or their artwork in all size for walls and tables.

5. Find a favorite color and chose two others that can work with it. From there find any and every little thing that has those colors to accent your space. Pillow, Curtains, Dishes, Flower pot, Pasta bowl ...

6. Plants, trees and green. If you have no green thumb you can find fake trees at Ikea or Target. The heigh and green color can add movement and life to a space.

7. Lastly....If you can afford it, rip out the carpet and put in wood floors in a soft medium oak brown. Note the photos below have beautiful wood floors that look inviting. Money a problem.. No worries everything else can come together with the current floors you have.

Okay still not sure of your favorite color? How about hobby? Do you golf, fish, read books, play cards, horse back ride, motorcycles... Then accent with images of that.

A few ideas...

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Do you see any chair, painting, rug, pillow lamp tree... that you like from above?

Now go on to Houzz and search Bachelor Pad.

Start saving with the little heart your favorites..

You got this. Make the next 5 years full of fun and place to unwind with those memories in your new home.

For me, it’s the popcorn ceiling and the builder grade, skimpy trim.

I’d also look into painting the space.

Replace the kitchen flooring?
New appliances?

Otherwise, you’re planning to sell pretty soon so I wouldn’t invest All that much.

Nice spacious house. Please show current photos. Is your budget, say, about $1000 a year for four years or something different? Is your current budget for things to take with you or will it go toward redoing the new paint inside and out, cleaning, repairing and staging during the year before you sell? Here is a popular-on-Houzz living room that is comfortable, attractive, and not fussy. Something similar could be done at various price points.

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The best way to furnish on a budget, IMO, is to go to consignment furniture stores, flea markets, etc. and fill in with accessories. I would also pull up the carpet and put down hardwood floors, as well as paint as others have suggested.

There are several design books out there that focus on flea market finds. In general, buy what you love, then use the inspiration photos to help guide groupings and furniture placement.

P.S. Keep an eye on Facebook Marketplace and Next Door for furnishings that others in your neighborhood might want to offload.

As you can see I have it minimally decorated. I just want it to look nicer than it does.

Remove popcorn.

Replace lighting fixtures.

Paint.

New furniture.

FIRST? too hard to see! Re post the pictures as Jpegs that can be enlarged with a click, and BEFORE you do that? Tidy up every single thing just lying around- on kitchen counter, on side tables, the overloaded coat rack. Doing that? Makes it easier for us to see what is THERE. Also ? You will instantly feel better, as will the space.

Second....Do you have the floor plan with all the dimensions?

Post that as a jpeg as well.

Look here, I blew a couple up......

Lets pretend you've met an attractive, charming someone, and you are going to invite that person home ? It reads like someone who gave up, before he even began,.. So ? Begin ! Clean up first!

If only because 61 is not "older" or old. You might have an awful lot of years left, so don't live like you're already half dead : )

Do I see cat beds? A kitty? How many?

Thanks for photos.

Steps:

Free:

1- Kitchen: remove clutter from kitchen counters. Keep coffeepot and toaster out. Keep soap and dish brush out. Remove stuff from top of fridge. Remove half of the stuff on the fridge door. Hang the calendar on the wall, not tacked to the door.

2. Office area: Swap L-desk and console so you can see out the sliding doors. Put away everything on console, like you are going to run a dust cloth across with one fell swoop.

3. Bedroom. Pick up the stuff off the floor. Pick up the stuff next to the bed. Vacuum thoroughly.

4. Entry: Choose two jackets for the hall tree. Put the rest in the closet.

5. Living room: Pick one blanket for the sofa. Put the rest away. Make sure dog's toys are ready to play and the dog bed is fresh and where the dog wants it. Clean off the tabletop and polish with Lemon Pledge.

Inexpensive:

1. Kitchen: nothing needed.

2. Office area: add thriving live plant such as a philodendron for $25 that will do well with low light. If it doesn't look great in a few months, replace it.

3. Coffee table: add a big beautiful live orchid for $25-$35. No dinky orchids, you need a statement. When it stops blooming in a few months, replace it.

4. Bedroom: find two nightstands and a headboard on Facebook Marketplace or similar. There are nice things for under $100 total. They should look substantial, not like flimsy lightweight things from Ikea. Buy two matching 24" high (or larger) table lamps from Home Goods or Target for $100 or less. Facebook Marketplace may or may not have current-looking lamps, but Home Goods and Target certainly do. Add curtains with rods to the two windows for $100.

On new bedding: replace the old comforter with something light and cheerful or light and sophisticated casual, not college style. Replace the black/brown sheets with crisp white. Bedding should look as clean and fresh as a luxury hotel's. Target's Threshold cotton bedding is a good buy. Get four standard or queen size new bed pillows with zippered cotton pillow protectors and white pillow cases. You don't need a set with 6 little pillows that will just end up on the floor.

https://www.target.com/c/bedding-home/threshold/-/N-5xtv4Z56digZg8grc?moveTo=product-list-grid

I loveeeee that you posted here! And it will be fun to decorate with you because you’re handy so you can make a lot happen!

Once we get to know you more, there will be so many good ideas!

Welcome to the fam bam! 😍

Steve, I wanted to say that I’m on same page as @JAN MOYER - 61 is not ’older’. Great that you’re reaching out to this site for suggestions. Pick through them for the ones that make sense to you and don’t think you need to do them overnight. Your dogs - I think you have 2 dogs, no cats - may be upset at too much change too fast. It is easier to see possibilites with a clean slate so the suggestions of clearing counters and putting things away or finding a place to store things makes a lot of sense. I wondered about that stand in bedroom on left side - is that a music stand? Do you play an instrument? Asking because sounds like you have the space for a music room.

Thanks for all the good tips everyone. As for more info...I have one dog and one cat. The dog has a bed in the room by the L-desk. I do have two guitars and a keyboard in my bedroom (to the right in the pic; can't really see them). I don't really play them and probably should sell them but I just can't bring myself to do that yet. Feels like giving up. The only tip I don't think would work is the orchid on the coffee table as it would block my view of the tv. I've been wanting to get a taller tv stand so it's up about 12 inches higher. I really really want to have another window put in next to the sliding door so I can have more view of the lake. Maybe I could get a home loan for that. Guessing it'd cost about $2K. I hate the floors in the house. All old worn carpet in the living and bedrooms. Cheap linoleum that shows it's age in the kitchen and bathrooms. And all of the coats on the coat rack are my daughters. I just fussed at her about that the other day. Guess I'll just have to hang them up in her closet myself. Maybe I'll start a new thread called "One room at a time" and get yall's feedback room by room?

Use your guitars again: Sign up for weekly half-hour guitar lessons. Many teachers will work with you by Zoom or Facetime.

You can move your furniture to get a better view of the lake (see L-desk swap above). No need to borrow money to put in a window for the next owner.

Worn vinyl flooring can often be improved in appearance by cleaning thoroughly, using vinyl repair glue to fix seams and peeling areas ($7 obtain at hardware stores, online, flooring stores), and then giving a couple coats of an acrylic floor polish (do this when you can keep the windows open in the spring). If you can't find acrylic floor polish, good old Mop N Glo will work well after the floor has been thoroughly scrubbed. Worn vinyl flooring is a piece of cake to wash clean after it gets a couple coats of polish.

More here than meets the eye.

" feels like giving up"

Giving up what? Giving up a dream of being a musician? Giving up actually using them? enjoying them? And if you're not doing either? Why are they there to trip on?

Is there a daughter living there? "They're her coats" Etc.....She has a closet? A bedroom?

You! are setting the example by way of clutter, the tendency to put nothing away, all in arms reach. "An orchid on a table will block the tv view" . Seriously? : )

But you want it better ? You start with the simple, the obvious as if 2 k is a problem It's a problem to last a while.

Unless the little miss is under the age of five? Clean it up together: ) it is depressing you, or I am insane, or you have a bit of the "lazy" going on.

Steve - I was sure that was a small dog laying in bed by your bed! Rather than go room by room for the planning part of your project, taking ’areas’ at same time makes more sense to me. I mean, take your main bed & bath as one project & your daytime / community living areas as the other. And, I’d start with the biggest impact area - daytime living. So, do you have a floorplan you can post or will you draw out a simple one & post it? What’s needed to get usable suggestions is the layout of your kiitchen / TV room / Office room which are all connected. The wall lengths, doors, windows,hallway points all need to be shown. The rooms don’t need to be used for their original built purpose but the layout is important. It looks like your dining room is the TV room & family room is your office. You mention 2 living rooms so there must be a formal living room at front of house. One thing I do suggest is move that keyboard & music out of your bedroom & put it in office area by sliding door where you can gaze at the lake while playing. Maybe that will spark your desire to play! I also wonder if there’s room in the kitchen for the kitchen island you said is against a window - can’t tell without a flooplan. Another suggestion to help stay on budget - find the better used furniture sellers in your area & start checking them out. They are great places to find wooden furniture that has lots of life left & can be very solid & good stuff that just wasn’t the prior owners style anymore. That’s a great place to find TV consoles, bedroom sets or pieces etc.

Thanks KW PNW Z8 for the helpful suggestions. Unlike some rude other person who knows nothing about me and makes inaccurae assumptions. Totally unhelpful and arrogant. I will draw up a floor plan and post it.

Keep everything in one thread :) we can get a lot done and you’ll have a team who stays with you throughout.

Also don’t be offended by folks…lots of different personalities here. Houzz is the rat pack of design 😊

If doing it room by room feels most supportive to you I think you should do that.
This is for you and we’re all here to help in any way we can

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@Steve A

This is very helpful... You must love music and of course your guitars. Don't sell them and don't borrow money. Don't worry about the floors. Together the gang on Houzz can give you tips and help you fix everything else and the floors will be background noise. You want your space to be about creating memories and comfort for you, your daughter, your dog and your cat.

One fun idea for color is to take your guitar and use it as a template. Take a pencil and have your daughter hold the guitar on the wall while you take a pencil and trace the guitar. Later find some paint and paint the inside of the drawing shape of the guitar on the wall.

No need to paint the wall.. Just the inside of the guitar shape would add some art to your space

Or hang your guitars on the wall.

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And yes start with one room at a time if that feels easier. But.. I recommend you choose two colors to focus on.

Wishing you luck on your space