Most home improvements are so overwhelming. We look at the task and take it all in. We very often look at the whole picture and rarely take it in stride to start small and move on.
Identifying what needs to be done is the easy part. Take a clip board and jot down what you need to do to the area that you wish to improve. For example you want to replace the floor, cabinets, counter tops if you were working in the kitchen. Most people would start and work from the bottom up. Never on a sunny day do you start with the floor. You start with the floor and then you will have to replace at the very end also. You might also want to check out on articles that shows you how to make your home comfy with design ideas.
Starting at your highest point and working your way to the floor is your smartest bet. Dropping a counter top on your new floor would definitely be a devastating time. Most homeowners now a days love the wooden floors. It would be just awful to but a dent and ruin it.
By starting slow you can evaluate money versus the area you wish to improve. If all you want to improve are the counter tops at this time, you may be smart by covering the floor with cardboard, rather thick at that so that if anything falls you will not ruin what you wish to keep for a while.
Starting slow on any home improvement is a start, slow at that in the right direction. By taking your home improvements and putting them in order according to which you want to have done or do first is wise, however make sure that you include your cost estimates in this list as well. By having cost and the type of home improvement you wish to do, in front of you, will help you decide where to start.