How do you determine how far to normalize a database?

Question

When creating a database structure, what are good guidelines to follow or good ways to determine how far a database should be normalized? Should you create an un-normalized

Answer 1

@GrizzlyGuru A wise man once told me "normalize till it hurts, denormalize till it works".

It hasn't failed me yet :)

I disagree about starting with it in un-normalized form however, in my experience its' been easier to adapt your application to deal with a less normalized database than a more-normalized one. It could also lead to situations where its' working "well enough" so you never get around to normalizing it (until its' too late!)