The first step in planning a bathroom makeover is to collect information. Lots of information. It's a good idea to spend several weeks or even months exploring bathroom design. There are many new materials and products available that you might want to use in your makeover, and you need to find out what they are.

Visit home improvement stores, and big box stores, and bathroom stores. Look at home design books and magazines. Watch the TV shows and check out the web. This kind of information gathering opens your mind to new possibilities.

The next two steps are interchangeable, but they form the basis for your bathroom makeover. You need to decide on your budget and make a scale drawing of your bathroom. Computer software is available to help you make drawings and even to help you plan the design, and it's very helpful. Some home improvement web sites have similar tools.

Next you'll need to make decisions about overall design and color. Are there special things you want to include in your makeover? Are there certain features of your current bathroom that you will keep, or are you going rip everything out down to the studs and start over? How do you want the new bathroom to feel? What kind of look are you going for? How will it flow with the rest of the house? Think through those questions and begin to make decisions about the design.

At some point, you need to decide how much of the project you will do yourself, and what you will contract out. If you hire a contractor, plumber or electrician, you'll want time to check references, and you'll have to schedule the work you need done.

Then it's time to choose materials and products. If you are replacing or adding a tub, shower, sink or toilet, you'll need to choose those. Flooring, countertops, tile, paint colors, furnishings...there are more decisions to make in planning a bathroom makeover than with most rooms.

Once you've made all the decisions-at least for now-it's time to get started. There will probably be more decisions to make along the way. The cabinets you ordered will be mysteriously unavailable, or the bathtub won't fit through the door. There are always things that must be finessed and compromised on.

Which brings up another point. Before you begin planning your bathroom makeover, it might be helpful to take a stress management class, so that, when the contractor breaks the custom mirror you bought you can take a deep breath, calm yourself, and decide what to do next.