The idea of home renovations can be exciting, as visions of creating a dream home abound. New bathrooms, open-plan kitchens, enclosed porches, basement dens — the options are limitless of ways to turn a house into an ideal home.

But few home renovation projects go from start to finish without experiencing a few bumps in the road along the way. For first-time renovators , those bumps can feel more like earthquakes. There are, however, a few ways to navigate the sometimes murky waters of home improvement projects and come out relatively unscathed on the other end, where a newly renovated home awaits.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is, quite simply, actual costs and the time a project will take.

“The homeowner needs to be realistic when they get into (a remodel),” said Matt Sopher, owner of Turning Point Renovations and Remodeling, Inc., in Washington.

Remodeling is often not as simple as it looks, especially when a design calls for tasks like rearranging plumbing lines or wiring electricity where it’s never been wired before. Sopher said, it’s called the ripple effect in remodeling: “You go to do one thing, but that one thing results in several other things that end up adding more work. You think it’s just going to involve a pile of lumber some nails and a little paint and that’s usually way further than the truth.”

Here are a few tips, with Sopher’s insight, as to how to make a remodeling job a little less stressful, both for the homeowner and their budget.

· Plan well and know what to expect. When working with contractors, homeowners should have all agreements in writing and spell out exactly what they desire in a home renovation.

“Usually, I tell them, ‘Go ahead and find the look you think you want and do some research ahead of time,’” Sopher said.

That could be what type of flooring they want in a bathroom or kitchen, what type of countertops or lighting. Luckily, there are plenty of sources when it comes to design ideas.

“With the Internet, it’s one of the best resources we’ve got. Thanks to the Internet and home shows, usually they’ve got an idea of what direction they want to head in,” Sopher said.

· Have reasonable expectations. A renovation project may exceed its budget and take longer than initially expected. Understanding that these potential setbacks might be part of the process will make it easier to handle when any issues come up. Sopher said it happens all the time: “You go to do a ‘quickie’ bathroom remodel and even a quickie bathroom remodel can take up to a month. … It’s never as simple as going in and changing a couple of fixtures.”

Sopher said remodeling TV shows sometimes don’t do real contractors any favors — they make it look like it takes no time at all, when in reality, lining up subcontractors’ schedules, waiting for one piece of the project to get done before the next can be started can eat up time.

Budgeting can be equally as surprising: remodeling can actually be more expensive than the same project in a new house, depending on whether the original footprint of the house falls in line with new design concepts.

“The homeowner has no idea what to budget unless they have done remodels in the past,” Sopher said. “You can’t say ‘I want to redo my kitchen for $5,000, when your cabinets are going to cost you $15,000.’”

· Accept the mess because there’s no way to maintain a pristine house when contractors are entering and exiting all day.

“One thing that customers need to realize is it’s usually a very messy process,” Sopher said. “It doesn’t matter how much you tape things off, vacuum and sweep. When they start finishing off drywall, they’re going to get dust everywhere.”

Sopher said most people try to live through the remodel, as uncomfortable as it may be, but if the home is a new purchase, homeowners are much better off getting the renovation work done before they move in.

A home in disarray can be stressful, but contingency plans like getting out of the house and vacationing in the midst of remodel, speaking with family members about using some of their home amenities, and preparing and freezing meals in advance so you can reheat them later on when you don’t have access to your stove can help ease the discomfort. And for peace of mind, continuing to visualize the end result and the mess won’t bother you so much.