I see this is a very old thread , with lots of comments . I've just skim read them , but I haven't seen anyone suggest anything like my 'top-of-my-head' idea -- I love the wood , and the white contrast , but pretty boring . Whats your favourite colour , or what ties in with the other rooms ? It might be blue or red or yellow or orange or green , as examples . So paint the skirting board and around the door a pastel shade of your choice , and add a small 30cm x 30cm abstract painting featuring that colour as the primary dominant one , above ( or possibly below , or maybe even get 2 matching/complementary ones ) the control panel . One lighting crowd suggested glass shades -- I'd actually go for someothing large but wooden , in much the same shade as your floors and steps , with LED bulbs -- you can get some stunning ones around 80-100 cm in diameter ( sort of a star ball shape ) for $300-400 . Total budget then $500 plus a painter and maybe electrician , unless you DIY .

hehehe how2girl ..I just do it now..if he doesn't want to help I just outsource it.. like my court yard he thought it was a stupid idea..because he didn't want to go outside in the cold at night to go to the loo lucky for him I found a Reno mag..must have been from the home show or something and that's how we got our sunroof .. I'm still waiting for my privacy screen here is hoping it's done by Summer

having owned and rented out a house for over 20 years before recently moving in our experience includes..you do not have rights to access property while the tenants are in residence and don't add anything that would need to be looked after by tenants...Talk to your accountant about the difference between capital works, repairs and maintenance especially about the best timing for anything for your own aesthetics (like rendering) and doesn't effect the safety and rentability of the house, make sure all electrical and plumbing is in cleaned excellent working order including air conditioning, heaters, exhaust fans, power points, light fittings, hot water service, taps (inside and out) gutters, downpipes, sewerage and drainage so you will know the condition of the home before the tenants move in and better identify any subsequent damage (compared to normal wear and tear) and also helps avoid expensive emergency repairs..Improvements worth considering include adding security screen doors, repairing and/or replacing hinges, knobs handles and locks every cabinet and door, replacing old fences and anything not in good working order. Have at least two sets of keys for every lock and a written means of identifying every key for every lock, clean exhaust fans and chimneys and ensure there are enough required smoke alarms, including in the garage. Talk to your insurance company about Landlords insurance and ask about anything you can do to reduce their premiums..We had many happy years with happy tenants because we made sure the house worked properly, when we wanted to do major improvements we made specific changes to the lease and tenants received rent discount in return..So many essential boring things to think about before there needs to be any cosmetic changes to what looks like a really good house.

I really feel for you. I had a similar experience when a neighbour recommended someone she knew who was 'really good'! He was extremely lazy and, apparently, suffering from depression and he had split up with his girlfriend! He did a dreadful job which took a week - because he was too depressed to work on some days - he only did about half the job and I wasn't impressed. It has ruined my relationship with my neighbour because she knew him to be really good. She won't even come into my place - I assume she doesn't want to see the mess he created! To top it all off (I had paid him cash - fortunately only half of what he 'wanted' (not 'earned') so he wouldn't be paying tax on it )- I didn't get a receipt. He also took my house keys so I had to have the locks replaced. Such a mess and then, I had some tradies through a couple of weeks later for an unrelated job and they asked me when I was getting the place painted? When I told them it had just been done, they really didn't know where to look. I seem to constantly get ripped off, so I'm not getting much done any more - too expensive and depressing.