The bathroom has become the most popular room in the house to remodel mainly because it is smaller and less expensive to remodel than the kitchen. However, like with any construction project, making sure that you have a solid plan with a ToFixIt professional, remodeling contractor, beforehand will help ensure a successful updated remodel.

To help you prepare for a bathroom remodel, consider these five tips before starting your project.

Have everything on site, or on hold locally. The most important aspect of a remodel is starting and finishing on schedule. Some materials such as bathroom cabinets and special order items can take weeks to arrive and if that is not considered prior to starting the project, your bathroom can sit idle and unusable while you wait for those materials. Some items such as granite slab bathroom counter tops are too large to house on site, so the next best approach is to have them on hold at a local supply house. By ensuring that the material is local, minimizes delivery time, thus keeping your bathroom redesign project on time and moving smoothly.

Plan for storage. Whether it is in the bathroom shower or at the new vanity, storage in bathrooms always seems to be an issue.

When it comes to your new shower, be sure to plan for tall and wide shampoo niches to house your beauty products. Sometimes more than one niche is necessary. Double sink vanities are almost always seen in master bathrooms, yet the additional sink is rarely ever used. By omitting one of these bathroom sinks, you allow yourself more useable countertop space and the space under the sink that was once occupied by plumbing can now be used for storage.

Use accent tile to "tie" the room together. Although they can be a little pricey, ceramic, granite, or marble bathroom accent tiles are necessary to really provide pizzazz to a bathroom remodel; however, the key is to use them in a manner that ties the whole bathroom together. Having accent tiles as a ribbon around the shower is nice, but integrating them into the shower, shampoo niches and as part of the bathroom vanity backsplash makes the bathroom feel unified and complete. On occasions, and in the right space, even highlighting accent tiles throughout the bathroom floor design can look stunning.

Delete the tub. For years we have looked at the large Jacuzzi tub as the focal point of the bathroom, but with our fast-paced world, we never seem to find time to use them. In the grand scheme of things, the bathroom tub becomes a space invader and one more thing to collect dust. Imagine if that space was used to make the shower area or enclosure larger or provide an area to build a linen closet. If you make the Snail or glass shower larger, the water supply lines from the bathroom tub can be used in the shower allowing for two shower heads, a hand shower, or perhaps a high tech body sprayer system.

Get three bids and check references. Obtaining three bids for your bathroom, remodel or addition has been the stereotypical norm for years, but what does that really mean? Are you getting three bids from a Phoenix expert professional, because you want to go with the lowest priced one? If that is the reason, then you should be prepared for potential disaster. A higher bid from a bathroom contractor does not always mean that the bidding contractor is trying to rip you off, but rather the higher bid may reflect quality, which in turn reflects experience. Compare the content within the three bids rather than just the price. The purpose of getting three bids should be used as a tool to measure the bidding contractor's attention to detail and to see what materials are being used. The lower bid from an expert, may be missing some pertinent details that will end up costing you greatly in the end by the way of addendums. Additionally, the materials being suggested by one ToFixIt, Phoenix contractor may be of less quality than the materials being suggested by the other professional contractors. As the old adage goes "you get what you pay for". If you really want to be confident in the contractor you hire, ask for references. These references should be from past clients who have had similar sized projects and have been living with the completed work for at least a year. But don't stop there; ask to see completed pictures of bathroom countertops, vanities, sinks, faucets, tile, flooring, tubs, showers, lighting, mirrors, and bathroom fixtures to verify that the scope of work is comparable to yours. When you are equipped with all of this information you should then be able to make an educated decision on which contractor to hire.

A bathroom remodel should be a fun experience overall. At times it can be trying, but hopefully the more knowledge that you have before starting the project, the less challenges you face during the process. Remember to be prepared, be open minded, and do your homework, before selecting a contractor...and upon completion, your bathroom project will have been a success!