No, they are not tax deductible. I have them in several rooms and since I'm in Florida I had to go with faux wood. I actually like the look of the faux, but maybe that's because it's the only kind you ever see in this state, thanks to the humidity. Whether or not you use draperies with them is your choice and depends on the look you want. They don't have to be treated, and give a nice clean, finished look to windows on their own. But for a more formal room where you need something extra or a punch of color, you could do stationary panels on either side.

We also haven’t quite figured out how to decorate so if we go with Roman shades, these shades probably won’t get picked out for another year, probably. It's hard to tell from just one photo, but at least some of your windows are very close to the wall, which would make curtains an odd-looking, difficult choice without adequate room for stacking back the curtains on the side so that they don't cover up too much of the window when the curtains are open. I'd probably go with Roman shades, but definitely decorate the room and live in the house for at least a few months before you decide. Window coverings of any sort aren't cheap.

A lot of nicer window coverings are expensive, getting more so everyday. I spent $12k + on flat fold Roman shades for 4 bedrooms & master bath a few years ago. Nice fabric though, fairly large windows.

You have a black clock ? and the two art pieces; consider putting all three of them over the sofa in an informal grouping in the center.....clock on one half with the clock center going through the middle of the pictures one on top of the other with 2-3 inches between the pics. This would fill your wall. Like the suggestions for the fireplace mantle. Bring the sofa arms to where they are almost touching and put a large round type table in the new square place. Put the end tables on either end of the two sofas. Find some brass, silver, gold pair of big lamps for each end table...At least 27 - 29 inches tall, and fat to balance out your very large furniture. Find a pretty table runner in a bright pattern or turquoise, blue, green and put on your ottoman and secure the ends underneath so it fits tight and will add color and not fall off. Add basket for TV remote, etc. And I think an accent wall of paint in some shade of turquoise would warm up the room..... I have suggested turquoise because that is the color you have in the room, but everything is so neutral you could do any one color and add an accent color that works with the new color for more joy in the room.