If you’re like most people, your home is likely to be one of the most expensive and important things you and your family own. There are many reasons why you might want to increase it in value, ranging from personal satisfaction to selling it sometime down the line.

Regardless of your motivation, you would be best served by improvements that give you the most bang for your buck, increasing the value of the house much higher relative to what they cost to implement. Here a few suggestions on how to do just that:

1. Make a Plan

Having a plan should be the first step when you want to make changes to your home, for many reasons. The first reason is that it’ll help you stay focused and prioritize the renovations to embark on instead of making knee jerk decisions that you might regret later. In addition, some projects affect one another, so you’ll be best served by planning them in a sequence that’ll ensure you don’t have to pay additional costs.

2. A New Coat of Paint

There’s nothing that affects the first impression of a property like the condition and quality of its paint job. You could be looking at a home of impressive size and design but get turned off by its blotchy paint. Painting is less expensive than it used to be, and there are a wide variety of colors and textures available, including some types that are eco-friendly and much healthier in the long term.

3. Switch up the Windows

Windows are a very important aspect of the overall aesthetic of your home so getting newer and better-looking ones will definitely take the value of your home up a notch. You can maximize this benefit by going for Energy Efficient Windows which do not only look good but also help to reduce the energy consumption of your home. You’ll save significant amounts of money in the long term and any person making a valuation will definitely see the benefits and factor them in as well.

4. Light Things Up

If you’ve ever compared a picture taking in a well-lighted area to one taken in low light, you’ll know that old, dim lighting fixtures in your home are likely having the effect of making it look dull and unappealing, regardless of how much time, effort and money you’ve spent making your home look good. Get new, brighter fixtures so they’ll highlight the different elements in your home that’ll intrigue anyone appraising it.

5. Make the Outdoors Great

Visitors will have to pass through the exterior to get to the interior of your home, and while it’s possible for a spectacular interior to change their impression of what a house is worth, it’ll be much more difficult. Clean things up outside, beginning with simple tasks like trimming hedges, cutting the grass and raking leaves out of sight. If you have time and space, planting flowers or other decorative plants would do even more to increase your home’s value.