Set the Budget

The first step on the path to interior design success is establishing a budget. If you've got unlimited resources, that's great, but most of us don't. Establishing a budget is crucial to setting the parameters for your project. How much you will spend is the single most important factor in how your project will turn out.

To establish a realistic budget, you need to know what your dollars will buy. Always an excellent resource for home projects, ImproveNet (www.improvenet.com) can be especially helpful with project planning. The ImproveNet Project Tools estimators, calculators and visualizers can be invaluable in helping you make smart decisions that will save you money and time.

Use the ImproveNet estimator tools to see how well your vision fits the reality of your budget. Based on the type of project, such as a bathroom or a kitchen, the estimators factor the cost of local labor and materials for you area, based on your ZIP code. Then it generates a cost range for your project and breaks down the numbers so you can see where the money is going. Plus, it's fully customizable. You can specify the number and kind of bathroom faucets, for example, or the style and square footage of the flooring.

Refine Your Design

Because you know every nook and cranny of your home, it can be challenging to envision a new space. Improve Net’s collection of visualizer tools allow you to try out designs and refine want to do with your home. You can view different room layouts, flooring materials, lighting, wall coverings, colors and furniture arrangements. It won’t cost you a dime.

Another great tool for planning your project is Plan3D (www.plan3d.com). This online application lets you arrange your space using nothing more than your computer mouse. The program features a gallery with more than 4,000 models of appliances, furniture and other design elements, and you just drag and drop them into your space. You can install a window to see how light and reflections affect the room, or add plants and paintings. Once you’ve arranged the room, you can print out your scene in full color, including elevation and blueprint views with measurements. One caveat: a subscription to the service costs $9.95.

Another standby for planning and ideas is the Do-It-Yourself Network site (www.diynetwork.com). The site’s interactive home-renovation models walk you through eight different rooms or areas. For example, there’s a section about master bedroom lighting that shows you how to evaluate your current lighting and then design a lighting solution that works for your space. The site is also one of the best places to learn how to complete projects. From sponge painting your bathroom to putting glass tiles on your kitchen backsplash, the site breaks down tasks into easy-to-follow steps, with pictures. For instance, the tutorial on replacing a kitchen faucet walks you through 10 steps illustrated with 23 images that show you exactly what to do.

Remember that helpful neighborhood hardware store where they explained everything, didn’t make you feel like an idiot, broke your project down into simple steps and then sold you just the right tools for the job. Well don’t walk down to the corner or back into the 1950s. Instead, point your browser to the Ace Hardware site (www.acehardware.com). Especially for the novice home improver, the Project How-Tos on the site are manna from heaven. You’ll find everything here, from seemingly simple topics like how to use a stepladder or sandpaper to more complex challenges like calculating how much grass seed you’ll need for your lawn, replacing a split-circuit electrical outlet or calculating the slope of your roof. There are more than 100 project guidelines and calculators in the Answers@Ace section of the site.

You’ve probably seen This Old House, one of the first home improvement shows on television. What you may not know is there’s also a This Old House site (www.thisoldhouse.com) brimming with helpful ideas and advice for your remodeling project. This site provides a healthy balance of how-to guidelines on topics such as replacing tile and bigger picture design questions, for instance landscaping your yard or adding a room. Because the site is a companion to the TV show and This Old House magazine, the content keeps pace with changing tastes. This keeps the site fresh and is helpful for learning about the latest trends for kitchens, satin nickel is out and rubbed bronze is in. You’ll also find a searchable Q&A database filled with advice that has helped other home improvers tackle their projects and discussion forums where you can interact directly with other site visitors about your projects.

Calculate Your Costs

After you design your room, it’s time to buy materials. But before you run out to the home center, check out an online materials calculator, because buying too much paint, wallpaper, tile or carpet can be just as bad as coming up short. Ideally, you want to buy only a little bit more than you need of any building material. That way you’ll have a margin for error in case you make a mistake. In the Know-How section of the Home Depot site (click Know-How on the horizontal navigation bar at www.homedepot.com) you’ll find several calculators that will help you create accurate estimates in both standard and metric measurements. Just punch in the specs and in a few clicks you will find out how much paint, carpet, ceramic tile, wallpaper, drywall and even grass seed you will need for your project. ImproveNet also offers calculators, which differ only slightly from Home Depot’s (if you need to estimate sheet vinyl, for example, you’ll have to go to ImproveNet).