The decisions seemed endless.

Hire a contractor. Arrange financing. Find a temporary home. Choose what stays and what goes. Switch the utilities. On and on.

Frank Niemeir / AJC (ENLARGE)

Kim and Mike Pascale will update their kitchen in the $350,000 renovation project.

Frank Niemeir / AJC (ENLARGE)

The home will grow from 2,000-square-feet to 2,800-square-feet when it's renovated.

Frank Niemeir / AJC (ENLARGE)

Planning the project required lots of meetings with project manager Mark Lomanto (center) and coordinator Jenny Rothman (back to camera).

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It took months of preparations for Mike and Kim Pascale to reach the point of beginning the remodel of their 60-year-old Decatur home. The couple and daughters Miller, 7, and Ella, 6, moved out of their 2,000-square-foot house last month. They will live in a townhome in Glenwood Park for a year, while they wait for a renovated kitchen and a new family room, bedroom, laundry room and wet bar.

"Honestly, we do feel a little displaced," Mike said. "But the timing of it with school ending, I think, has helped a little bit. We're not shuttling kids to school. It's a cool place to live — it wasn't depressing moving out."

The couple bought their three-bedroom, two-bath home as newlyweds in 1998, not realizing that it was close to a strong elementary school, Fernbank, and near family-friendly amenities like the Fernbank Museum of Natural History and Venetian Pools. Two kids later, they set out to find a bigger house and were disappointed to find what Kim labeled "re-muddled" houses that had updated, but odd, floor plans, or others that needed hundreds of thousands of dollars of work. They figured, "Why not go ahead and renovate what we have?"

Getting ready for a remodel can seem daunting, even to the most organized family. The Pascales' process can serve as a model for any family involved in redoing a home. Read on to see how they did it.

They started small

Kim and Mike had heard stories of people saving thousands of dollars by renovating their homes themselves, and decided to tackle the bathrooms that way. They worked in 2006 with a small contractor, but found themselves running to buy tile at the last minute and trying to handle disputes between the contractor and his employees. "It was really great that we did a small project like that. After we did that, we made the decision to go with a design-build firm or architect who can help manage the process, because we can't manage the process ourselves," said Mike, who works for Virtual Premise, an Atlanta-based software company.

Finding a contractor

The Pascales had a vision of updates that would offer more room for entertaining and everyday living. They met with three or four architects in various price ranges, but Mike said they just touched up his idea. The couple paid to have HammerSmith, a Decatur-based full-service design and renovation firm, create three concepts that incorporated their wish list in different ways and at different prices. "They were really able to take what we had in our budget, take a list of requirements and consolidate it together with cool concepts," Mike said.

HammerSmith owner Warner McConaughey said he recommends folks start with a broad scope. Talk to five different types of professionals, including an architect, design-build firm and general contractor.

"See all the different perspectives. Say, 'We're not making any decisions right now, we want to see what's out there,' " he said. "Everybody's got a different process."

Once it's narrowed down, he recommends checking the company or individual's industry affiliations. Groups such as the National Association of the Remodeling Industry have ethics boards that can safeguard against problems. If there is a problem and the client calls NARI, for example, "that person's going to jump through all kinds of hoops not to get kicked out of the organization in front of their peers."

References also can make a difference, but McConaughey said it's important not to talk just to old clients, but also to at least one person in the middle of a project and someone else whose project is being finished.

Finding a plan

People sometimes tell McConaughey, "If I tell you what my budget is, you'll spend it." He'll respond: "Well, yeah, starting with a budget is really good." McConaughey said his approach is opposite of what typically happens. He asks clients to know how much they can spend, then they will talk about changes to the house, not vice versa. "Go back to the roots. What are the goals of the whole project?" McConaughey said.

A design-build firm's fees may be perceived to be higher, but Mike said he learned from the Pascales' earlier project that they would prefer to have a set budget. They spent about 20 percent more than planned on the bathroom renovation. "I would rather go ahead and be realistic about budget, do the planning up front and not have any surprises," he said.

The Pascales got a handle on the financing for their project, then met with HammerSmith's design team to refine the plan. Those discussions also included everything down to selecting the appliances and tile for the kitchen. McConaughey said the planning could take as long as the construction.

"Everybody just wants to get started, but I think a four-month job can be two months if everything is picked out beforehand and planned right," he said. McConaughey said there are so many decisions that it's best to make them when it's possible to consider all options, not just items in stock that you can get in a hurry.

Finding a second home

With two kids, a dog and a cat and the scope of the project, the Pascales realized they couldn't live in their home while work progressed.

McConaughey said about half of his clients leave during renovations. People should consider the cost, which could reach $20,000 in living expenses for a six-month job. But moving out could result in the job going faster.

"It was a little stressful, just watching them move everything out," said Mike, but he added: "It was a great purging process, just to get rid of all the stuff."

Construction is expected to begin next month, and the project is slated to be complete by the first of the year. The home will increase from 2,000 to 2,800 square feet.

"We're basically renovating literally 50 percent of the house and adding on an additional 50 percent," Mike said. "The words that come to mind are 'start, new beginning,' really just [having] a new house and being very excited."

THE BIG PICTURE

• The size of the house will increase from 2,000 to 2,800 square feet. "We're basically renovating literally 50 percent of the house and adding on an additional 50 percent," Mike Pascale said.

• Construction is to begin next month and be completed by the first of the year.

• Overseeing design and construction is the Decatur firm HammerSmith. An earlier, smaller renovation taught the Pascales they didn't want to take on a project this size themselves.

Down to the details

Warner McConaughey owner of HammerSmith, suggests five other things to do before a remodeling project beings:

1. Determine your responsibilities.

Be upfront and make sure you understand — and even have in writing — what you and the contractor are each responsible for. That could include who will fix the driveway or landscaping if it's damaged by a truck, whose responsibility it is to protect wires, who is in charge of getting permits or neighborhood approval, and even who will put the trash on the curb.

2. Notify your insurance company.

You may need to get renters' insurance if moving out. If staying, it's important to tell them what is happening so they can adjust your insurance.

3. Get some proof.

Especially if applying for tax credits or certification through green building programs, it's important to find out what "before" evidence is needed, which might include pictures or tests done before construction begins.

4. Think about your routine.

If the door you use to enter the house is being removed, think about how you're going to get in temporarily and if a light needs to be added. Do water and gas lines need to be rerouted for a temporary kitchen or a new place for your gas grill?

5. Set the daily schedule.

Talk to the contractor about when workers will arrive. If you leave for work at a certain time, the start time may need to be later. If it's before you leave, there needs to be a discussion about parking so you aren't blocked.