For a quick, easy and cheap facelift you'll be amazed how far a clean-up alone will go. Jet wash the wall and the driveway setts. Put a lick of paint on the ironwork, black would definitely be good. Brush in fresh kiln-dried sand between the setts. Prune back those sad looking shrubs before they get back into growth, which will be any time now. Don't cut back those firs, they will not grow back and are likely to just die. If you do anything at all with them, get rid and plant something which grows more happily in this country. It's a low definition photo so I can't see the state of the lawn or whether the wall needs re-pointing. Look yourself and treat accordingly. That alone will lift the place sufficiently to give you breathing space. Then you can think through what budget you have left and which of the many ideas available you prefer and can prioritise accordingly. On the other hand, whatever you do will not look good while all that looks scruffy and unloved.

Rachel: Very nice, but you could've just bought glitter wallpaper y'know? Yeah I know that, but where's the fun in that? Also, my niece has glitter wallpaper in her room and I personally think that it looks awful. It's totally not the same. Also, I'm a man - So I want/have to spend loads more time, loads more money, and loads more effort on doing something that £25's wallpaper would achieve. I wouldn't have been doing it for my brothers out there if I did anything easy. I want to do a job that I can constantly moan about, make a big fuss over, make loads of unnecessary mess, and come across as a total hero to everyone that I tell. What I did was a million times better story than "I put up a few strips of wallpaper" :) AS: Valspar at B and Q do glitter ..... This is actually where I started. Talk about a massive con. It's just paint, with a tiny sachet of really fine glitter (like the old salt'n'shake crisps) that you need to open, pour in, and mix yourself. I would definitely not call it 'glitter paint' by any stretch, more 'standard paint with the odd random piece of glitter'. Now I've purchased the furniture, and put up a few shelves it's actually starting to become a really nice room. It just needs sorting out then it's pretty much complete:

No problem in that case providing none of the paint is flaking or loose you should be able to use a specialist primer. Obviously the paint isn't going to make everything smooth so it's worth sanding down any lumps and bumps but the primer eliminates the need for sanding every surface, multiple times. The primer is called bin sealer and it's really personal preference whether you use the water based version or the shellac version. I personally don't feel that positive towards the water based version and swear by shellac which is usually more expensive, dries in about 15 minutes and blocks all stains, knots and pretty much every decorating problem known to man. The downside is because it's shellac if it's knocked it can chip but my argument is if it's knocked your Going to have to fill it anyway so makes no difference. I'm not sure on the amount of items you need to paint or even the colour - the darker meaning you need more coats but I would say 2.5l zinnser bin sealer 2.5l top coat Is a very good starting point. Start from one corner in the room, Paint everything in the sealed and by the time you get to the other side your probably find it's dry enough for a 2nd coat. Then apply your top coat. Depending on your plan you may well need to apply a 2nd top coat but it doesn't need that very often so I doubt it. Sand problem areas Hoover Apply 1 bin sealer Check all painted surfaces for problems Apply 2nd bin sealer Check for problems Apply gloss/satinwood

@pma - yes I thought about the silver side and although it looked better (guess because of all the silver in the room) it kind of drained the wall? Made it feel colder? Weird. I got a bronzed brass sample from the metal sheet company and before I painted the wall, you couldn’t really see all the colours in it (just looked black) Then after painting, all the bronze and colours popped out of it so I’m getting a price. Will be something we will have to save for as it will be super expensive ie probably over £600 so we are going to live with the painted wall for now and add the shelves etc then see what we think :0) Going to get some gold toned hanging lights as they might just lift that area without it being too much.