I hate to say it, but nothing screams PHOTOSHOP more than appling a filter to the entire image. Think of a painting; there are sharp and detailed areas and there are fuzzy, nebulous ones. The artist uses them to control the viewer's interest and focus in the image.
Make some layered copies of the image, add filter effects to various layers, but use a large feathered selection and delete some areas to vary the effects on the original image. Different opacities of those layers with create something really special. When it starts getting complicated, save it, merge some layers and do some more work. Keep the original image as the background so you can always come back to it.
Photoshop is about playfully creating a mood difficult to achieve with straight photography: a brilliant tool able to create immense ugliness in a single mouse click! Beware.
Alisa,thanks for the comment!The reason this shot isn't sharp is becos I softened it in Photoshop,I was aiming for a dreamy,mysterious feel to this pic.as that is how I remember the place.It's changed since then,a motorway has been built behind the cottage!
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