Finally finished up modding for what will be my definitive playthrough. Ended up with 230+ plus mods. (Not really the number because I combined a good number but you get the point)
I have to say Skyrim as an experience is just insanely impressive. I feel like I understand video games better after doing all the fucking research to get the mods I wanted. I ended up going with nearly everything I thought was cool except the survival stuff like Frostfall and the stuff where you have to eat and you can get diseases and such. I debated getting those things but ultimately I just want the experience to be fun rather than necessarily grueling so I passed on those.
Also passed on installing the enb's. I mean some of them look freaking gorgeous and add amazing effects and just make the colors pop beautifully, but in the end the performance hit was so great that I preferred to just go with non-enb stuff to improve the look. Although its the first time, I've wanted to upgrade and get a top of the line video card just so I could see some of this stuff in its full glory.
I would say my favorites graphical mods were the 2k/4k hd texture stuff, Pure Weather which I much preferred over climates of Tamriel which I didn't really care for even though its incredibly popular. And Enhanced Lights and FX. Those three things alone improve the base look of the game over the vanilla experience and give it just a terrific outdoor and indoor contrast.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
(http://i58.tinypic.com/2u57qz4.jpg)
(http://i58.tinypic.com/2cibsew.jpg)
The good gameplay mods are too many to mention. From very minor things to things that really improve the experience. Really fun experience. I would highly recommend anyone falling down the modding skyrim rabbit hole if you've never given it a try.