I get a bonus every year from work. Today I find out if we owe anything on our taxes, and if we don’t, I’d like to spend the bonus on something for the house.
Last year we got new blinds, but I’d like to add some warmth to the rooms with some soft window treatments. However my husband and I agreed that if the bonus should go toward "home improvement", so we also talked about replacing the lighting. It’s a new construction home, and we didn’t get a choice on the lighting, so all the ceiling lights are the hideous shiny 80s brass things.
We plan to put the house on the market in a year or so, so we have tried to keep everything neutral. If I got drapes, I would want to add color and do something different in every room. Since color is such a personal thing, I imagine the drapes are not something that would "improve" the value of the home. We would leave the hardware (rods and brackets), but probably take the actual drapes with us when we move. Even if they don’t stay, I think the house will "show" better if we have soft treatments on the windows.
Lighting on the other hand would stay with the house and improve the value. We installed a bronze ceiling fan in the great room last year and I would like to carry that through the rest of the first floor lighting. I’d like something in stained glass in the foyer, but something more simple for the rest of the first floor (2-3 flush ceiling lights, pendant lights over the kitchen island and informal dining room and a chandelier over the formal dining room table).