Fall is the time when kids go back to school and people begin to look forward to the holidays. With the onset of winter weather, you’ll be spending a lot more time indoors.

Everyone has their usual list of fall home maintenance needs — cleaning the gutters, clearing the patio, adding insulation where needed — but this year, you might think big and consider expanding the space where you’ll be spending all of those winter days and nights. Here are some ideas.

Skylights are a great addition for the winter. They bring in natural light, reducing the need for electricity. They also bring in heat, reducing heating costs. More light can also make a house appear larger, giving a facelift to your existing home at minimal cost.

If you are having major roof repairs done or a whole new roof installed, this is the perfect time to install those skylights. Because they are already there, many roofing companies will cut their installation price in half to install skylights.

Finish the basement. Most homes have unfinished basements which are often used for laundry and a place to collect stuff that doesn’t belong anywhere else in the house. Really, the basement is a blank slate in most homes.

You could create a game room with a pool table, a music room to bring your band together or a playroom to send the kids to when it gets cold and wet outside. One benefit to refinishing a basement is that you can do a lot of the work yourself if you have the tools and the technical know-how. Refinishing a basement adds value and can help update an older home, giving it a modern feel.

In older homes, the kitchen was often overlooked and treated as a purely functional space. In modern American homes, however, the kitchen is often the centerpiece of the home, and remodeling your old, stodgy kitchen into a warm, welcoming space can provide you with loads of benefits.

People spend more time in their kitchens in the cold winter months, and a remodel can make it a place you want to be. Winter is the perfect time for a remodel if you have kids because they will be back in school and not underfoot.

Additions can be expensive and keeping the budget in mind is essential as you prepare. If you are planning on staying in the home for a while, you can think of these as investments in your quality of life.

If you are planning on selling your home soon, you can think of these as ways to make your home stand out from the crowd. While it may be too late this year to get on a contractor’s schedule, it’s never too late to start putting your planning into high gear.