11 Home Improvements We Can't Recommend Enough

Whether you're looking to list your house or investment property for sale or just want to make your home a more enjoyable place to spend time with your family, the right renovations have the power to transform the entire feel of the place. But assuming you don't have an infinite budget, you'll want to make sure the improvements you choose to make are truly worthwhile. With that in mind, here are a few improvements we strongly recommend for your consideration.

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Let's begin outside with the first things you and everyone else see when pulling up to your home. You've undoubtedly taken notice of the beautiful landscaping when driving past certain homes. You may have also noticed how odd it can look when a home has little to no landscaping at all.

Putting in some effort with your landscaping can go a long way toward giving your home a lush, inviting look. If yours consists of a few shrubs and a plant here and there, it may be time for an upgrade.

ALSO READ: 8 Common Landscaping Mistakes to Avoid

This probably sounds like an oddly specific home update, but hear me out. If your front door could use a refresh, you may want to give some serious consideration to the color black. That's because a survey from Zillow revealed a very surprising fact: Homes with black front doors sold for around $6,000 more than those without, all other things being equal.

That's an incredible price boost for such a small detail. Even if you're not looking to sell right now, this may be well worth considering if a black door would go well with your home's exterior.

The front door isn't the only door to think about when considering your home's curb appeal. The perfect garage doors can have a major impact. Old garage doors falling into disrepair can also present a safety, security, or energy-efficiency problem.

So, it makes sense that this upgrade also has an amazing return on investment (ROI) of over 90%. That means -- if you have it in your budget -- you can spring for the extra-fancy ones, guilt-free.

ALSO READ: 9 Surefire Ways to Add Value to Your Home

A stone exterior can give a truly opulent look to a home. It generally has an earthier, more weathered appearance than brick and costs about half of what you might pay for natural stone. The best part is that it looks so realistic that no one will ever know the difference. It comes in a wide array of designs and colors, too.

It's not cheap. It can cost around $10,000 to replace part of the front of your home's siding with manufactured stone veneer. But if you love the look and can afford to go for it, the 92% ROI could make it worth considering.

If your family likes to spend plenty of time outdoors and lives in your yard like it's an extension of your home, a wood deck could be just the home improvement for you. It could encourage you all to spend even more time outside together enjoying the fresh air. It will likely cost several thousand dollars, depending on just how big you want to go. But the ROI of just under 90% makes it a home improvement unlikely to leave you with buyer's remorse.

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Moving now to the inside of your home, let's begin with one of the simplest, most affordable home improvements you can make -- paint. Whether you choose to go soft and neutral and let your décor stand out or go bold and dramatic, it's impressive how much paint can transform a room. New paint also tends to make everything look fresher and cleaner.

And if you've been putting it off because of the smells and chemicals, there's now a wide array of zero-VOC paint to choose from, with much more subtle smells and fewer questionable chemicals to breathe.

ALSO READ: Are Credit Cards a Good Way to Finance Home Improvements?

The standard flooring options used to be carpet, wood, or tile. Now, the array of options is nearly endless. But hardwood flooring is truly timeless. Its beauty is tough to beat, and so is the unique look and feel of each piece.

With so many styles, colors, and finishes to choose from, there's a hardwood for almost any décor imaginable. They also offer about a 75% ROI, which is quite high for flooring. These floors are easy to clean, but you may need to refinish them about every 10 years.

Closets seem like an awfully tiny detail of a home -- until you find yourself frustrated as you waste time digging for something in one. It's a scenario that repeats itself far too often if your closets aren't well laid out. Springing for a nice closet organization system to lay everything out nicely can be a worthwhile investment.

This applies to every closet and closet-like area of your home, from bedrooms and bathrooms to the pantry. Potential buyers like to see closets that look easy to organize, too, so you can use that thought to justify the purchase if you need to.

ALSO READ: 15 Ways to Make Home Renovations More Affordable

Cabinets can have a huge impact on the look and feel of your kitchen. And if yours have seen better days, you would probably love to know that cabinets have one of the best ROIs of anything you could do in your home, sometimes up to 100%!

So, whether you decide to refinish, update the hardware, or go big with all new kitchen cabinets, this is a home improvement you should enjoy guilt-free.

And while we're on the topic of kitchens, countertops have it pretty rough. Depending on the material and the amount of wear, sometimes even incredibly clean countertops look like they need a good cleaning. New countertops can make the whole kitchen feel new. They can also be a wonderful complement to those new cabinets we just discussed.

High-end countertops like quartz or granite won't come cheap. You can expect to pay several thousand, depending on the size of your space. But knowing you could recoup around 70% of that investment at sale might make it sting a little less.

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For many, a bathroom is a bit of a retreat, a place to bathe in solitude away from the sounds and stresses of the day. So, it can be worth it to make it a room you look forward to spending a little time in. And while major bath remodels don't have the best ROI, the same doesn't apply to midrange remodels.

If you're thinking of dressing up your bathroom with things like upgraded fixtures, high-end countertops, or beautiful new tile, you could enjoy around a 70% ROI.

ALSO READ: How to Finance a Bathroom Remodel

If you've grown tired of your home but are being kept away from the market by high interest rates and prices, look around and think about what renovations it would take to give your own home the look and feel you're after. Something as simple as paint and closet organizers or as involved as new cabinets and a wood deck could be just the change you've been seeking. And most of these options can increase your home's value in the process.

Nell McPherson has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Zillow Group (A shares) and Zillow Group (C shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.