Also in US...Have gas heat in a well-insulated/well-built condo apartment on the second floor...We keep the thermostat at 67 and this past winter, the cost was $30! Of course, we wear wool sweaters and socks and are not uncomfortably cold or warm.

Shades/curtains closed from early in the morning! No using the oven!

@Karen Hodge, I hear you!! Sometimes I think the estate agent should carry quite a bit of the blame actually. If they do their job correctly like you see in the adds on TV, they should bring these discrepancies to the attention of the sellers, stand on their morals and say if you can't get it better than this, then you'll have to find someone else to sell your home!! I know you can't make everybody "house proud" but the saying "do unto others" springs to mind. I bet if these same people bought a house not up to scratch, "a current affair" would hear about it but they don't think it wrong to simply walk out on a house that isn't being left nicely for the next family!! I have some friends that recently sold a house in Essendon, Melb and whilst the buyers were back and forth selling their own home, my friends kept watering the plants and even did things like painted out the wardrobes because of the scuff marks made over time!! They cleaned the entire two storey house from top to bottom and finished by mopping the floors as they were exiting. The buyers were so taken by the entire home, they bought it with almost all the furniture that my friends had in it!!

I love to change soft furnishings and some decorative items in our family room and master bedroom for summer/winter. In summer I have a lot of white/sand/soft blues with a beachy theme: blue glass, seashells - light and bright. Winter brings out the reds/orange/fuchsias etc. Some of the wall artwork is also changed. I just change the cushion covers, and things like bed linen/bedspread etc. Also the wall decoration behind the bed to tone with the new theme. I don't go out and buy new stuff as I find this method very refreshing ... and it seems 'new' each season! I should add that I have neutral backgrounds and furnishings so that I can do this easily. Even greenery and different floral arrangements enhance the respective themes.