When considering all of the various investment options available, most people don't think of the home they already live in as an option. However, there are several things you can do to your own home that can not only increase its value, but make it more appealing and easier to sell, should you decide to.

Here are some of the best ways to add value to your home that will give you the best bang for your buck in property value (as well as a nicer house to live in).

Source: Grey World

Windows and doorsA general rule is you will get more added value for your money with replacement projects as opposed to remodeling. So, things like new windows (especially the energy-efficient type), a shiny new front door, or replacing that tired siding should be pretty high on your priority list, if they haven't been done in a while.

According to RealEstate.com, you can expect a 72% return on investment for these types of replacement projects, and more if the existing windows or doors are in bad shape.

Finish that attic! (Or basement)According to Remodeling magazine, the number one project you can do is to finish an unfinished attic or basement. Converting an attic into a bedroom will cost you around $50,000 and about 72.5% should be recouped when selling the home. A basement can be converted into a sports den (aka a "man cave"), a game room, play room, or extra bedrooms. An in-law apartment is one of the more popular conversions for an unfinished basement. In the meantime, you will have extra useable space to enjoy!

Source: Posh Living, LLC

A bathroom can pay for itself and moreNow, if you decide to build an over-the-top bathroom suite, remember one thing: while it will certainly be appealing to prospective buyers, it will not raise your home's value by anywhere near the amount it cost to put in.

On the other hand, a modest bathroom can be a good idea. According to the National Association of Home Builders, adding a half bathroom could raise a home's value by 10.5% and a full bathroom by 20%.

The price of adding a new bathroom can be very high or very low, depending on where you live and how difficult it is to put in the necessary plumbing. For instance, if there is easy access to sewage lines right under where you want your new bathroom, it can make the job cost thousands less than it otherwise would.

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The 5 Best Ways to Invest in Your Own Home

MILWAUKEE -- Newly-released legal documents indicate a long-serving Milwaukee County employee may have been using side businesses to funnel money intended for county projects into work done on his personal property.

Milwaukee County prosecutors could soon charge 53-year-old Dennis Dietscher with misconduct in public office. Dietscher has worked for the county for 27 years, awarding restoration contracts.

Legal documents say in 2011, Dietscher approached a worker contracted by the county to do work on a relative's private property. Dietscher later paid the worker $2,500 with money from a project assigned by Milwaukee County to Belfor Restoration for work at McCarty park. But the project manager told police Belfor never did any work on that project.

A later instance shows a Belfor employee did remodeling work on Dietscher's basement and kitchen. Belfor does not do work on private homes. That led Belfor management to look into activity between an unnamed sales employee and Dietscher. The company found several instances of money for county jobs going from Belfor to work done on properties Dietscher owns.

Police used a search warrant to go through Dietscher's home earlier this week. They found work materials from the basement project with markings indicating it had been sold to Belfor.

CBS-58 went to Dietscher's home in Hales Corners Friday, but no one answered the door.

Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele's office issued a statement Thursday announcing Dietscher's suspension. The County Executive declined an interview pending charges, but said in that statement: "Taxpayers should know that we take their trust seriously anyone who works for me who violates that trust will face appropriate consequences."

The district attorney's office hasn't charged Dietscher yet. They tell CBS-58 any charges would come Monday at the earliest.

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Documents accuse Milwaukee Co. employee of funneling county cash for personal projects

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THU 20

Dance and Dessert Regional choreographers, including DanceWorks, Meghan Pilling and Christopher K. Morgan & Artists, share their latest works and receive audience feedback. 7:30 p.m. Old Firehouse Teen Center, 1440 Old Chain Bridge Rd., McLean. 703-448-8336. http://www.aldentheatre.org. Free.

(Fredde Lieberman/Fredde Lieberman) - More than 600 home, garden, remodeling and home-improvement exhibitors will be at the Dulles Expo Center Friday-Sunday as part of the Capital Home & Garden Show.

La Vida Que Me Das ... y No Me Alcanza (Such a Life Youve Given Me ... and Its Not Enough) Teatro de la Lunas winter production features three women discussing their pursuit of balance as mothers and individuals. Performed in Spanish with English surtitles. Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., through March 9. Gunston Arts Center Theater II, 2700 S. Lang St., Arlington. 703-548-3092. http://www.teatrodelaluna.org. $15-$35.

Chad and Jeremy The British pop duo first performed together in the 60s. After a 26-year break, theyre back together with an album, Rien Ne Va Plus, released in 2013. 8 p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Rd., Vienna. 703-938-2404. http://www.wolftrap.org. $30.

FRI 21

Capital Home and Garden Show HGTVs Curb Appeal host John Gidding and Design Star Jennifer Bertrand headline the three-day home remodeling expo, which will also include more than 375 vendors. Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Dulles Expo Center, 4320 Chantilly Shopping Ctr., Chantilly. 703-378-0910. http://www.capitalhomeandgardenshow.com. $10.

SingStrong A Cappella Festival The weekend includes high school and collegiate singing competitions as well as concerts by professional groups such as Ten, which finished second in this years Sing-Off on NBC. Friday-Sunday, see Web site for schedule. South Lakes High School, 11400 South Lakes Dr., Reston. 888-893-4323. http://www.singstrong.org. $15-$35.

Toss the Feathers The ensemble performs traditional Irish and Scottish music as part of the Passport to the World series presented by Creative Cauldron and the Folklore Society of Greater Washington. 7:30 p.m. ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church. 703-593-5697. http://www.creativecauldron.org. $10.

SAT 22

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Going Out Guide, Northern Virginia

NASHVILLE The Pence administration has overseen the six-figure renovation of a Brown County cabin that one political observer calls Indianas Camp David.

Gov. Mike Pence and his family will be the first since former Gov. Evan Bayh to make regular use of Aynes House, a gubernatorial vacation home in Brown County State Park. The five-bedroom cabin received $162,000 in major maintenance work, interior remodeling and new furnishings last fall and has already hosted a gubernatorial staff retreat.

We love family time and the outdoors, so being together in an Indiana state park is one of our favorite things to do, first lady Karen Pence said through a governors spokeswoman.

The Pences, whose three children are in college, havent planned any events or gatherings for the cabin since the remodeling, governors spokeswoman Kara Brooks said, but the first lady made it clear they plan to take advantage of it.

We are proud of the work that was done at Aynes House, and we love going down there, she said through Brooks.

Both Mike and Karen Pence have been visiting Brown County since their childhoods and have spent several nights at various state parks since the 2012 election, Brooks said.

I like the concept that Indiana governors have a retreat, and this in the states flagship park, said Brian Howey, publisher of Howey Politics Indiana. Its like a state version of Camp David.

Named for the family that built it, Aynes House dates to the late 1920s or early 1930s and became a state asset in 1939, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

Theres little recorded history on the house, said Dan Bortner, director of the Division of State Parks and Reservoirs.

My belief is, this thing was acquired to be a governors retreat, Bortner said. He noted that another gubernatorial vacation home at Indiana Dunes was torn down in the 1930s.

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State's Camp David' gets a makeover

The Beatrice City Council has approved plans for the proposed city hall remodeling.

City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer said the proposed design would increase safety for city hall employees.

"Under the proposed remodel, the north door would become closed and accessible by employees only," he explained. "All the public would then come in the south door... The public would not be allowed to roam throughout the building as they currently are. If they needed to get access to the rest of the building, they'd have to be brought in or buzzed in by an employee."

The new design would also increase accessibility to disabled persons in compliance with standards established by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

"The current stairway that we have in the building don't meet ADA requirements, and they don't meet fire code," Tempelmeyer said. "In order to meet those, we had to put in some new stairways. The stairway on the north side led to the conference room being moved south a little bit and enlarged slightly. This facilitated the need to move the restrooms that are currently in the building."

The biggest changes to the basement of the building are in order to meet fire code. These changes include moving a stairway and adding a corridor to the area.

The council voted 6-0 in favor of approving the proposed plans and advertisement of bids for the project, but not without some concern from council members. Ward 2 Council Member Ted Fairbanks said he would have liked the chance to review the plans prior to Monday's meeting.

"I wish that we would have had and opportunity to discuss this at committee," Fairbanks said. "I look at these plans, and they're dated the 23rd of April, last year. I understand this was on the list of things we'd like to see completed for the city, but the first time I really knew about it was when I read in the paper the BPW board had talked about it."

Fairbanks also expressed the issue of public perception. He said with the council recently voting to add a one-half percent sales tax to the May ballot, some residents may have problems with the city spending an estimated $175,000 on building renovations.

"People in the community just don't really understand that this isn't just one huge pot of money," Fairbanks said. "We're in the process of trying to convince the voters of the community to pass this (sales tax) issue because we don't have enough money to do our street department. Most of them just look at this and say 'If you have $175,000 to redo this building, you ought to be putting it into your infrastructure.'"

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Council approves City Hall renovation plans

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The Beatrice City Council will hear an update on the proposed one-half percent sales tax increase. The Council voted Feb. 3 to add the sales tax increase to the upcoming May 13 election ballot.

The Council estimates an additional $666,000 would be generated annually from the tax increase and the funds would be used for city street projects.

The Council will also review plans and specification of the proposed Beatrice City Hall remodeling.

The remodeling plans focus on increased access and safety in and around the building. The building currently does not meet fire or building code requirements.

The City Hall structure currently lacks a sprinkler system, handrails on multiple staircases and emergency exits in the basement. The total cost of the renovation is estimated at $175,000.

The Council will discuss the expenditure of funds to the Omaha-based Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center to restore three historic plaques in relation to the Carnegie Building, located at 106 N. 6th Street.

The city will also discuss entering into an agreement with Carnegie Centers, Inc., regarding reimbursement to the city for the restoration of the plaques.

Mondays meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Beatrice Public Schools administration building.

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Council to review City Hall remodeling plans

WAGA's coverage of the 1973 storm shows ice-covered trees on power lines; much of Atlanta was in the dark for a week.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Atlanta (CNN) -- All through the night, limbs fell and transformers blew. Each sent a sharp crack that echoed across the neighborhood.

When dawn broke, we could see the culprit -- and the damage: Pines in the park across the street stood naked like telephone poles, stripped of their branches under the weight of ice.

Elsewhere, whole trees were felled. And across the city, the power was out, overhead lines brought down by ice, trees and boughs.

The city in a forest was in the dark. And so were we.

I was 12 when that happened -- in 1973 -- and I spent much of Wednesday waiting for another "storm of the century" to hit Atlanta.

Snow, sleet and ice pummeled the Southeast, and hundreds of thousands lost power. But it was nothing like the ice storm that walloped the city 41 years ago and plunged the Capital of the New South into seven days of survival.

This time, fortunately, most of the area dodged the bullet. That's not to say the storm didn't take a toll. At least two people's deaths were attributed to the weather, and others experienced close calls. But it could have been so much worse.

This is the storm that forecasters feared: trees laden with ice bringing a city of 6 million to its knees for a week.

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It could have been worse: Storm of '73

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