Changing your new house into a home is making it a welcoming reflection of who you are. With all the costs involved in the move you may be on a budget, so here are some ideas to help you personalise your home in your first few weeks.

• Work with the furniture you have as much as possible and choose paint and fabric to match
• Check your local paper for weekend garage and car boot sales - remember one persons trash is another ones treasure
• If you've chosen a vintage or retro theme, haunt your local secondhand and op shops - turnover is fairly rapid, so the more you visit, the more chance you'll find what you're looking for

If space is limited, here are some ideas for using it effectively:

• Look around at your walls and consider mounting shelves for storing crockery and glassware, toiletries and towels, CDs, DVDs and videos
• Lost space such as alcoves and under the stairs can be turned into effective storage areas with the addition of cupboards and shelving
• Choose multi-functional furniture that doubles as storage space