Plan the design and layout of your project ahead. Making decisions as you go may cause the outcome to look disjointed.

Make room in your plan for delays. Unexpected issues come up your remodel will go smoother is you take this into account when scheduling how your remodel will happen.

Budget

You need to decide before hand how much money you are going to spend. You need to do research to set realistic goals. Look on the internet find out how much materials cost, and what average renovations of a kitchen, bathroom, living room cost. You need to know your square footage of each room and how much the amount of material to cover that space will cost.

You need to decide what is most important to your remodeling project and assign the money there. If the kitchen is most important to you than the master bedroom budget the money accordingly. Get estimates from multiple contractors.

Plan for the unexpected. Set aside a portion of money ahead of time for unknown complications. You need to decide ahead of time how you are going to handle the unexpected costs when remodeling.

Use Caution in deciding what you can do yourself.
In the end it will cost more if you mess up and have to pay someone to come in and fix your mistakes. Be realistic do you have the skills, resources, materials, and tools to do the project on your own, or would it be safer to pay someone else. Don't take shortcuts.

Set guidelines with contractor and workers in your home

Set guidelines or rules before the project starts. Make sure your plans are understood. It is much easier and cheaper to avoid a problem ahead of time then after the fact. What days and hours do you want workers in your house? Figure out with your construction contractor the timeline of the remodel. How long is it going to take? Let workers know what bathroom to use, where to park their cars, where they are allowed in the house.

Set boundaries and then get out of the way, contractors are experts trust their judgment. When your not sure on things ask for tips and advise from your contractor. Remodeling can be stressful and tense staying out the way can help them do their job quicker and more efficiently.

Talk to people

Ask friends neighbor and family members who have remodeled their homes for tips or advice on your project. They can steer you clear of some big mistakes.

What were the mistakes they made? What things did they feel turned out most successful? If they were to do the project again what would they do differently? What would they do the same?

Who are you remodeling for?

How long are you planning on living in your house? If you are planning on moving in the next few years you need to consider what will bring more value to your home. Don't choose extreme design elements; go more mainstream so that you don't frighten away potential home buyers.

If you are planning on putting your home on the market you need to consider what buyer want, what materials are popular, what materials are not desirable. What rooms need to most updating? The kitchen and bathrooms are often the most important rooms to potential buyers. If you are planning on selling at some point you need to consider what would help add value and sell the home.

Finish
A remodeling project can be intense, stressful and time consuming. The bottom line is you need to push through and finish. Don't take on a project so large that you don't have the time or resources to commit to. You need to be realistic.