Having the possibility to make a thorough home improvement is amazing. It’s the chance to remodel the house you’re living (or the one you’ve just bought) to get the home you’ve always dreamed of. But as fantastic as that seems, a whole home improvement takes a lot of work and planning.

If you’re on the early stages of a general home remodeling, then you’ll soon find yourself confused as to where to start. You might feel like your current bathroom is a ruin and you’d want your home remodeling contractor to start there. Or perhaps you believe your bedroom is the place to begin with the work. But how can you be sure? Is there something to define which is the best room to start a complete home improvement? Well, there isn’t something. But there are some tips to help you with that!

Analyze your home entirely

Checking the conditions on which your home is in may seem like a fairly easy thing to do but it’s pretty far from that. When analyzing your home’s status, you’ll have to go room by room to see which repairs need to be done. Are they purely aesthetic? Or there are some major things to do (tiling, wiring, mold removal)? Try to look for anything that looks like trouble and write it down. After that, study your list and see what are the priorities, which things can you actually do yourself and which ones will need some professional help.

Consider the timing

A complete remodel will take some considerable time to be finished. So, you have to ask yourself if you are actually willing to wait that time. If you have been living in your house for a while, the anxiety might tempt you to say yes right off the bat but think it through. Depending on how big your home is, you’ll have people coming and going for months, doing some noisy and sometimes annoying work. Do you have that much time? This point is especially important if you have just moved in. A move always wears you out, so perhaps you should settle in before considering a remodel.

How does this help in deciding where to start? Because it will help you decide which things can wait and which can’t. If there’s something imperative, you can tackle it first and then take a break before proceeding to the next room remodel. Besides, breaking your remodel in different stages will let you think carefully about each project, focusing on one of them at a time.

Keep an eye on your budget

We know that thinking about money can take all the fun and excitement out of a remodel. But budget should always be in your considerations, because it will establish the limits on which you’ll be able to move and decide. A limited budget might only give you the possibility to make small changes or just focus on one room. However, think if doing that small change today is actually worth it. Perhaps is best to wait until you have the money to at least do an entire room.

One thing’s for sure – don’t pile up debt after debt just because you can’t wait to have your whole home remodeled. It’s better to remodel little by little and actually being there to see how your dream home comes true or spending it all in a general home improvement that will have you wondering how to pay for it in the future.

Make a decision

The 3 points above should be enough for you to decide what your plan is going to be. You can go one room at a time, starting with the one you can afford (both in terms of money and time) or you can wait for the perfect moment to go all in. There are lots of possible options here, all determined by your home’s needs, your desires and your budget.

Just be sure to be comfortable with your decision and stick to your plan. Like we’ve always said – plan first, act later!