NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - There's a short-term and a long-term question to ask before renovating your home.

The short-term one is easy: What changes will make your house a better place to live?

But the long-term one is equally - if not more - important: What renovations will add value to your home and help increase its selling price?

In today's market, with talk of bubbles and peaks, getting the most renovation bang for your buck is as important as ever. The top projects are kitchen and bath remodels. They pack the biggest financial punch because they are the rooms that age fastest in both style and technology.

Outdoor improvements are further down on the list but are growing in popularity: Nearly half of the respondents to an American Institute of Architects' study reported designing more porches and patios last year.

To see these ideas in action, we looked at two homes in similar semirural markets on the East Coast. As you'll notice, it's important that the project suit the property.

A 1948 Cape Cod in New York's Hudson Valley needed simple touches to bring it up to date.

The gut renovation of a circa- 1770 farmhouse in Bucks County, Pa. was a larger endeavor.

No matter what your place requires, each project offers wallet-friendly ideas every remodeler can use.

See the projects, what they cost and how much value they added.