Sure, you have plenty of family and friends who have renovated their places, so you’re pretty sure you know the drill, but what’s a little plaster dust, if it gets you the home of your dreams, right? Well, maybe.

To make the right decision, now’s the time when you need to start to qualify that maybe. Are you basically looking for a 50K kitchen remodel? A new bath with a Jacuzzi? Or will rearranging the space you have give you what you want and need? These are all very different questions with very different lived realities during the renovation itself. Can the work be done while you’re away? Or are you looking at months when you’ll need to make a mad dash up the street to Bareburger when you need to use a bathroom?