9 simple, stress-free ways to renovate your home

The end results of home renovation can be thrilling, but the process itself is often full of extra costs and lots of stress. Here are quick and easy ways to minimize the headaches and make your next reno job a breeze.

Whether you're having an entire room painted or just crown moulding, be sure to ask your painter to give you the leftover paint. You can use it for touchups later, as well as for matching the colour further down the road.

Though redoing your house may give you great satisfaction, not every home renovation will give you a good return on your money.

• Maximize resale value by focusing your spending on where you find water in your house — the kitchen and bathrooms. You'll get a 75 to 100 per cent return on your money if you concentrate on these rooms.

To make your renovation pay off when you sell your house and to help you enjoy your changes for years to come, steer clear of trends that come and go. Instead, pick classic, neutral colours for appliances and avoid trends.

No, you don't want them to do the actual work, but you do need to know what the older generation wants in their houses.

• These types of renovations will work to your advantage when you're ready to sell.
• Think wider doorways and hallways for wheelchairs and handrails in bathrooms.

Updating your bathroom doesn't have to be complicated or costly. You can change the look of your bathroom simply by replacing your faucets.

• Other cost-effective and easy bathroom renovations include replacing a shower head, changing shower curtains or doors and mounting new towel racks.

Don't just assess your skill level, although it's vital to any home renovation project, don't assess just your skill level before taking on a task. Ask yourself:

• Do I have the motivation to follow through on a substantial project?
• Do I have the time to commit to the task?
• Am I willing to have workers in my house (and manage them)?
• Do I  have the funds to hire a pro to take on an unpleasant job?

You know that renovating a bathroom or kitchen has the potential to pay for itself by increasing the value of your home, but what other projects are worth taking on for the same reason?

• Try interior and exterior painting, replacing roof shingles, updating a heating system, adding a recreation room, building a deck or renovating a basement.

Invest in window treatments if you want to completely change the look of a room for a relatively small cost.

• Don't just think about drapes; add patterned shades, shutters and panels to enliven any room in your house.
• Even adding new (and maybe unusual) curtain rods to a stodgy room will give it a boost.

Intensify the beauty of any room by adding light. The room will benefit from the additional brightness as well as from the decorative aspect of the lamp or lighting fixture. If you already own lamps that you love, look for new lampshades to give them a little pizzazz.

Home renovation doesn't have to be a daunting task. With a plan and a few simple tips, you'll be able to get started on your new, beautiful home.