Dreaming of a fresh, updated look for your home sometime in the new year? Then a home renovation project may be in your future.

But before you think about ripping up old flooring or splashing fresh paint on your walls, check out these five home renovation tips.

1. Start with a Budget

Whether you’re planning on flipping your home or remodeling a room or two, before you start tearing out appliances or painting any walls, you’ll need to set a budget. Remodeling projects can be quite expensive, but your costs will largely depend on the number of specific rooms you plan to remodel and the scope of your project.

For instance, you can easily apply new paint on the walls of your bedroom and add a new comforter or accent piece for just a couple hundred dollars, while an entire kitchen remodel project will likely set you back between $25,000 and $50,000.

When setting your budget, be sure to consider all aspects of a project, from the costs of new flooring and paint to furniture and finishing touches. Don’t forget to include the cost of labor for anything you can’t do yourself, as well as any permits you might need to get the job done.

2. Make a Vision Board

Much like starting a home remodel project without a set budget can lead to overspending, trying to purchase new appliances and furniture or pick paint colors and flooring options without an overall design in mind will ultimately lead to an overall disjointed look.

To prevent this, make a vision board long before you start buying or picking out new items for your home. You can create a digital board using an app like Pinterest, or even cut photos from a magazine or print them from online. Use your vision board to hone in on a color scheme, as well as the style of accents and furniture that would best suit your style.

3. Keep Some Things Timeless

Creating a vision board, or a collage of images, ideas, affirmations, desires and more, can more clearly illustrate and bring ideas to light. And when you create a vision board and keep it in plain sight, you essentially end up doing short visualization exercises throughout the day.

Indeed, as you create your vision board and start shopping around for items for your remodel, it can be tempting to go with the latest trends. While this is great for accents or paint colors, think twice before making any major changes based on a passing trend.

Unless you plan to remodel your home within a year or two, know that trends come and go. The trend you love today might be replaced by something new within just a few months, and you’ll be left deciding whether to remodel your room all over again.

4. Leave Some Things to the Professionals

Of course, you can take greater ownership and, more importantly, save a lot of money by taking a DIY approach to some of your home remodel projects. With a little practice, anyone can paint a wall and achieve a smooth finish. You may even be able to learn how to lay your own tile floor with the help of some YouTube videos.

Then again, certain projects are best left to the professionals if you don’t have real, hands-on experience. For instance, sanding down wood floors and re-staining them requires some advanced skills. And without the proper know how, you may wind up ruining your hardwood. It’s also best to leave all electrical work or any projects that might affect the structural integrity of your home to a professional who can make sure everything is safe and up to code.

5. Shop In-Person

Shopping online can be great for those hard-to-find items. However, it can be tough to choose between different big-ticket items like furniture or appliances when comparing different makes and models. Even with dimensions in mind, it’s hard to imagine what a piece will look like in-person.

While it may technically fit a room, a couch that’s taller than most or darker in color may look bigger, and in a tight space might be too much. In the same way, textures and colors may look completely different in-person.

But if you enjoy online shopping because of the many options available to you, head to a nearby furniture retailer like Jerome’s, where you’ll have plenty of inventory to choose from without sacrificing the in-person experience.

Starting Your Home Renovation Project

A home renovation project is a great way to make a new space yours, refresh an old look, or make your home more functional for your family. And with these simple tips in mind, you can take on a project of any size with ease and, most importantly, without blowing through your budget.