Planning home improvements involves several steps. All have equal importance. You leave one step out or overlook something then we don’t have much of a plan.

When you are renovating your house it can be overwhelming. Even if you aren’t new at it. Never the less you still can’t leave anything out when planning the project. By far the most important part, we all agree I’m sure, is the budget. That is where we start.

The next obvious issue is what are we going to do with the money and how far can we stretch it? This can be a tough struggle – money pulling on one side and a wanting kitchen pulling on the other side of the rubber band dollar. The mighty dollar may think he is king of the ring. But we all know there is more where he came from.

Something has got to give, and in most cases the kitchen wins and the wallet goes back to his corner so the trainer can ice his bloody nose. Throughout the project trash talking can be heard between the wallet side and the soon to be new kitchen side. It’s a conflict as old as time. I’m sure the cave men had trouble finding enough new rocks and clean bones to keep their caves as modern as the next cave on the cliff. It’s all about balancing what you think you need and what you want to spend. I find myself in the middle of this battle almost every day and there are always options – good thing.

The real estate market is picking up fast and we appear to be gaining some ground again on home values. This is good because we need to know if the home improvements we are planning will hold their value if we ever want to list our house. This can help underwrite the expense of the renovation over the long haul.

The war between costs and improvements sooner or later gets resolved and we can continue on with the job at hand, piling the old bathroom up in a heap in the yard then starting the new one. Pick out the fixtures and elements of style in the room start to come together now. Things like what do we replace the old sink with and what type of shower do we want?

What materials are we planning on using to replace the floor and so on? The big stuff like toilets sinks and bathtubs can be easy to shop for in the style we want but don’t forget to take your tape measure along to the building supply store. Is may sound a little simple but this is the wrong place to be wrong.

If you special order a shower unit or refrigerator it better fit because you own it. Once already this winter I had to cut out a new counter top to make more room for a dishwasher because the new one was a little too tall. If you are just planning on adding a new floor to your kitchen make sure that the appliances will fit back into their spot after the floor is in.

Kitchen floors may need the addition of a sub-floor before the new tile or hardwood goes in. This can add an inch or more. Is that dishwasher or fridge going to fit afterward? I can’t tell you how important that is to know. If you’re planning to buy a new appliance after the kitchen is done then take careful measurements of the space available and match it with the dimensions of the new appliance.

Little things like new light fixtures can be important too. If you want a light to hang over the new medicine cabinet then be sure it will do just that and not be left to shine on the top of it. Bathrooms are the worst room to fit things into. Sometimes the tape measure tells you the new tub and shower combo will fit but when you get it home you find that you can’t even get it up the stairs and through the door.

I’m working on a full basement bath for a friend this week and after gutting the room out and even moving the wall a few inches out we are still having trouble getting a bathroom vanity to fit. With the room totally void of anything it sure looks big, from the concrete wall to the door it measures 106 inches.

But after we put in a couple of walls and a bathtub we are left with less than 30 inches so the 32 inch vanity doesn’t work. It sure looked like it would on day one. So forget about the war ragging between your wallet and the renovation. The tape measure is and will always be king.