Yeah, get your budget and professionals in order first. I don't have experience to tell you if hiring separate contractors or one remodeling service is better for a whole house remodel. But after knowing about some nightmare stories I can say look for licensed, bonded, insured. Contracts, orders, and paperwork is important to keep in order and up on.

Check with your local building inspector/s and develop a relationship with their office, ask them who is good or not. Don't just trust your contractor, also keep "in the know" with your building inspector/s as much as you would with choosing your kitchen counters or wall paint. And yes, check for references and reviews too, but don't rely on those exclusively- they are great for the customer perspective. But asking your building inspector/s is good because these folks work and inspect those professionals work on a regular basis.

If you don't already have some sort of a plan for the house.. develop one before approaching contractors. You gave a nice short list for your OP. But be prepared with a much more detailed list and even floor plans for your house when you start sitting down with contractors. Some rooms may only need a new floor, lights, and paint, other rooms like kitchen or baths more extensive work.

And I would imagine some things just make sense for the order.. Like the popcorn ceiling should be done before new floors or interior painting. Or exterior doors installedafter some of the big stuff inside so if the doors get pinged or dinged during the remodel, it's the old doors getting pinged or dinged.

Some of your timeline might depend on how special-order you want things to be. Like if you want the kitchen cabinets or bath tub that takes the extra couple weeks on the order time compared to off the shelf stuff, you might want to get that kitchen or bathroom planned in for ordering sooner rather than later.

Some of your timeline might also depend on where in the house it is too. Like it might logistically work better for the professionals to do an upstairs bathroom at the same time as the kitchen because of the way the house is set up the plumbing and electrical is better to work on all at once rather than in any sort of room order.

Your professionals should already be aware of this kind of stuff- and be
able to tell you some timeline and order to things too.

Forgive me, but it sounds way over the top.

What room to do want to do first? The kitchen - it's the most expensive. Next are the bathrooms. You also need a budget.

Thanks for all the advice and inputs to help me.

I've just started with yelp.com, sent request to some kitchen/bath remodelers. The highly rated companies are very busy, some can't start until mid-July. For the popcorn ceiling and interior paint, I'll meet some painters next week for estimates. I was thinking three months for all work, but now it's like six months. Licensed companies are important as you noted.

My budget is about $70K, don't know if it's more or less than needed until I see estimates for each area.

You want to redo everything there is that is expensive. Try a 200K budget on for size for your wish list. More in some areas.

You start with a priority list and a realistic assessment of what can actually be accomplish mushed.

A single good GC will cost less doing everything at once rather than you playing contractor hopscotch and costing yourself more.

You need professional design help after you figure out what your realistic budget might be.

http://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2018/

https://www.curbed.com/2018/3/7/17087588/home-renovation-unnecessary-mcmansion-hell-wagner

https://nkba.org/info/why-hire-a-designer

http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/bath.design.rules.htm#.Wvy5Xv9OnYX

http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/kitchen.design.rules.htm#.WvYPH_9OnYX

https://www.ceramictilefoundation.org/homeowners-guide-to-hiring-qualified-tile-installer

Well if you want to 'gut' the kitchen - new cabinets / floors / counter tops / appliances / sink / hood / lighting / etc - depending upon where you live, you might be able to do that for low-middle quality - however I'd guess more like $100,000.

My question is: If all this is not to your liking, why don't you find another home? Unless the house is WAY undervalued, you will never recoup your remodeling investment.

A bathroom addition can easily eat up 70k... Your budget is not conducive to your wish list. Do you already own this house? If you do not love this house as is walk away. Hgtv is not reality tv. I did a 103 sq ft bath addition for just a bit less than your budget and it is only midrange finishes.

Start calling contractors and get their input.

I recently did a renovation to a similar type house that had water damage from a broken pipe. We redid the kitchen (same footprint, new cabinetry, countertops and appliances), all flooring (hardwood downstairs, carpet upstairs, and travertine in the bathrooms), three bathrooms, added a shower, removed the popcorn ceiling, refinished the built ins bookcases, changed out light fixtures/outlets/switches and replaced drywall and paint. All-in cost about $125,000 using a GC. We were happy and the house looked great. First step is to clear the house, then demo, then any electrical or plumbing work, replace drywall/texture, install the tile and wood flooring and the cabinetry, paint, and then carpet. Final steps are the countertops, appliances, touch up paint and window treatments.