Good mods that make Skyrim simply better to play.

READ THIS: The mods are organized by Compatability/Universally better. At the top you'll see SkyUI, a must-have for most mod users.
Under that you'll see graphical/texture improvements below that, general gameplay (Combat, quality of life) then specific gameplay (races, merchants) finally you'll see stand-alone additions like items or locations (or both)

All mods are lore friendly and are compatible together and with almost all other mods. The exceptions would be: combat overhauls like duel, or textures for the respective object like fires.

Keep in mind SKSE is highly recommended and is available for download in the steam store for free, launch from SKSE once and you're good to go pretty much forever)