Go for a 5km walk around Carine Open Space with my weighted backpack, hiking poles and Snowee, whilst mentally planning about my next hiking adventure. Problems disappear.

Cute house, these little cottages are really great little homes mostly. They are just little. For best value for money I think you could make gains here.... Remove the awning. Change the verandah roof so it's more sympathetic to the house. If budget allows change out the carport skillion roof for a nice low gable. Paint the trims the same colour as the rest of the house. In a house this small keeping trims neutral will help it appear more substantial rather than pokey. Put a new rear deck on that goes all the way across the back of the house and is at least 3.6m wide. That will increase your living space dramatically in summer. Use a cafe blind or louvre roof to allow full sun in winter. The cafe blind will be cheaper overall as you may not need a DA for the deck without a hard roof structure. Depends on your area and council but in general certain decks without solid roof can be exempt development. Of course if it's a high wind area louvres will be better. Use freeform and oval garden beds in the front yard with a path that winds in between them to the front door. Adding informal interest to the garden will make the house appear more substantial and add interest and detail. The home is fairly plain. Use any style of planting that appeals, architectural foliage, floral, low maintenance etc. Just ensure you have nice varying heights and interesting foliage colour. A tall shrub or two would be good. The backyard is already quite shaded so either create a woodland garden or perhaps have some of the tree's out the back pruned to enable more light. Plan out your outdoor spaces, veggie patch, relaxation zone, fire pit etc and define them with plantings. Gravel paths are cheap and effective. I would also be inclined to create a euro laundry and steal the existing laundry space for your kitchen.

don't paint the bricks or window frames ..check with council to confirm that you can add a pergola or covered verandah across the front including the carport and add the roller door on the outside of the new verandah so that you will have more carport space with a covered walk to the front door (keep in mind that you usually need to retain access for the metre box) add an awning over the front window and use light colours for the roller door, guttering and trim eg similar (not the same) colours to the windows eg Colourbond paperbark? invest in a new security door without the grills and make sure that you offer all the unwanted plants for sale.. you may even find a local nursery could be interested in a swap

Actually, your style isn't really very scandi in my opinion. It's industrial and rustic. I'd match recycled and chunky timbers with the concrete, a timber with rich reds. There is a company near me that makes plywood panels with recycled wood veneer attached. They're too far for you but might give you some ideas for a feature wall. I'd start with a few tins of paint and some colour actually. you'd be surprised what that can do! I'm fixing, well technically my second home but with our first we figured fairly quick it wasn't a forever home and didn't do anything personal with it. So this is our first "home" if not our first house. i getya! I know everyone seems to love white walls, but after years of bland rentals the first thing I wanted to do was paint colours all over the walls! Anything but white! Paint is cheap and a safe place to start testing your design flair. Go and paint a bunch of sample tins onto the walls and don't stress too much about the perfect look. start with what you like and find what suits that. A colour that makes you smile when you see it. I've paid about $10 a sample tin. like others said, don't do anything with the carpets yet, you can throw a rug over it if its too boring and it will look fine. There are so many things that I first thought I needed to completely change, then as I painted and freshened and tidied up I realised were not needed a huge reno. Our house was a bit of a wreck though, not a nice new apartment so things just literally needed cleaning and fixing. Put up some pictures, art, photos you like too. Honestly, I know everyone's being funny about getting a girlfriend and getting her to decorate, but actually I think it's great you've got your own taste and want to decorate. I think anyone you bring home would love seeing more of your personality around the place. Check out some garage sales and buyswap sell and auctions for rustic timber pieces for your home. Maybe a nice pipe and timber bookshelf in the lounge instead of an entertainment unit? https://www.northernriverstimber.com.au/