All sounds good to meI love inverted boxpleat. Would suggest you stick with pleats for your main curtains but try not to get too busy with the sheers and keep them plain if possible. Examples of what you are thinking about would hel;p

Any rod will work that does not have decorative finials. A U shaped rod. I would prefer sheers and drapery that go to the floor. But you can use what you have also. A roman shade can take the place of the sheers and mounted inside the frame. You can use ring clips for the drapes for easy opening and closing. Thank you for the new photos.

also have uploaded a photo of our piano and mirror which I love. and I photo of our dining room light which I would also like to keep there.

Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!