yes -- we took down the wall between the kitchen and dining room. since that is open to the living room, we had to replace all the flooring on the first floor. since we took out the flooring, we also had to replace all the baseboards on the 1st floor. new windows in the kitchen led to new windows throughout the first floor...and so on and so on...."kitchen" remodel led to entire first floor remodel.

Yes ours affected the living room, dining room, laundry room, and guest bathroom...it's a slippery slope - these kitchen remodels!

Um...

We had a few things in mind, not just the kitchen. But we wanted a bigger kitchen once we got married (2 years ago) because it wasn't great for 2 cooks. We really wanted a gas stove = bringing gas into the house. Oil bills were high, and since we were bringing gas into the house, it made sense to switch out oil heat to natural gas. Another thing we wanted was central air/heat, which affected every room in the house. Because we wanted to have a bigger kitchen, it made sense to expand what was there into the adjacent three-season (no-season) step-down porch, which was in an addition. The addition's foundation only went down 18 inches, so basically we had to demolish the entire addition (which had included the DR) and pour a new one. Our architect had come up with the idea to switch the kitchen (interior, enclosed, had to go through it to get to the DR) and the DR so the kitchen would be on the exterior with all the windows, and the three-season porch would be incorporated to make a huge kitchen/sunroom/breakfast room, which they insisted on calling a "nook." Our windows were old so we replaced all of them and used new ones in the addition.

What we did NOT change:

Both bathrooms, except we needed new toilets. We still have the 1954 tiled bathrooms (one entirely in 1954 peach), American Standard tubs and pedestal sinks, etc. (but now with ventilation fans). We tore up the PO's hideous carpets and found the original hardwood floors. No new carpets. We didn't change the structure of the upstairs rooms except to make the sliding-door closets open up like doors. We didn't build or knock down any walls in the "main house."

Our builder& project manager are dreamboats. They were done exactly on time (well, the outer limit of 4-6 months, not surprising given the addition demo/new foundation/addition construction) and we did not have any kind of dispute at any time. There are only a couple of items on our punch list. We have been perfectly relaxed and 100% confident - at least as far as THEY went - for the entire process.

Of course, we are not moving back until Friday (!), so things may come up after that. If so, were are 100% confident that they will fix them. We love them. I offer this in contrast to the nightmare contractor stories I have been reading for a year. We practically want to weep with joy when we think about them.

Anyway, it was quite a "project creep!"

bean

(will post better quality pictures at some point!)

Can only second that, remodeling is an ongoing process and you'll never finish it.

The only way to complete remodeling is to stop it!

Mine was just supposed to be refinishing the cabinets and adding a countertop, and it grew into adding and rearranging cabinets, replacing the floors, changing out the lighting, and replacing the ceiling. It has crept into the laundry area, and will creep into the living room and hall if I can't put the brakes on.

Hmmm, sometimes it is hard to admit these things to ourselves. I am an IT project manager, we call this scope creep and are professionally trained to prevent it although we are also trained to recognize that sometimes it is the right thing to do.
Like another poster we are converting to a propane(gas) stove, this will eventually lead to replacing our furnace and water heater but it is an eventuality and it is one I view positively, and not as creep partially because it is in my control to schedule it much later.
Our kitchen adjoins our DR and sunroom the two of which are only separated by a balustrade. The creep is that I now want to replace that balustrade with a built in banquette(facing the DR)/bookcase(facing the sunroom). I am OK with this creep. 1)we have only lived in our house 5 years and I have a rule about very minimal changes for 3-5 years so it is time that I hit the space with my own aesthetic and needs! Tying the DR into the kitchen by installing a walnut topped bookcase/banquette is awesome and not that expensive.
One silly thing is that all the door knobs on the first floor are super cheap, shiny gold brass-ick! I never noticed until I started paing attenition to hardware due to kitchen renovation. Now I have been hitting the yard sales and salvage shops to get nice heavy replacement knobs. I can DIY the installation so for me it is no biggie.
For my husband, the painting is the PITA creep. We never repainted when we moved in 5 years ago and now I have a color scheme- HA! He has to paint all the walls, and ceilings. Tant pis!
For me, I have escalated the time frame for refinishing the DR table. It is in sad shape. Again, and to quote Martha, "It's a good thing"
Creep can be good and bad. The thing is don't expect to live in a perfect home. I have parties with 40-50 people with no kitchen sink or stove during reno. GO with the flow is my motto. My friends think I am crazy, but they come to my parties.

flyingkite I think you make a good point about stopping but it's hard to do. I know some people move, usually building a new house, to avoid remodeling.

I am glad I am not alone. I completely forgot to mention painting! I also thought I was finished with the family room which we redid early in 2011. Now, with a new color scheme on the rest of the first floor I will probably repaint.

I am looking at creep as a good thing. After 23 years it was past time for a lot of these changes.

Well, our kitchen is really "upstairs bathroom remodel creep"! It was a standard about 6x9 ish bath off the hall, the only full bath in the house. But is was sad looking, and then the tub cracked, so...new bath! My low budget bath remodel made me so happy I sometimes wander in there just to smile.

That made the sad kitchen even less bearable. Then the range and fridge quit within a few months of each other, and the OTR MW has been sans handle for a few years, so new appliances started the ball rolling.

But the kitchen and great room are the only rooms (plus a powder room) on the first floor. So we are going to replace the floor there as well. And painting that room has been on my list for a few years, I have had paint chips taped up for a loooooong time. Working through all the kitchen layout suggestions from GW has made me think a lot about the great room. Can the door move? Can seating fit? I think the answer to both is no, but now i'm thinking of two sets of cabinets on the short wall with a window seat under the window to add some storage, and handle the charging station that refuses to fit into the kitchen.

In all honesty, since the upstairs hall wraps around from the great room walls, that will have to have new flooring too. But that should be the end of this snowball! The master bedroom and maiming spare bedroom/office are their own projects, so they can wait.

Ours wants to creep but went over budget on the kitchen so need to build some equity first (we self fund our home equity loan)
We ended up replacing the furnace and the AC and all of the current bathroom fans as all were acting up during the reno.
Next on deck - bathrooms - especially the master bath and then hardwood and tile on the lower level - Tile connecting the entryways and at the sliding door. Hardwood elsewhere (kitchen has original hardwood)

Our kitchen flooring extends around the corner and into the adjacent powder room. In the redo I chose tile that would work with the existing PR wall color. My GC, in one of his absent-minded moves, removed the PR wallpaper border. I ended up painting the PR to match the kitchen and having a new cabinet made to match the kitchen cabs. I'm actually glad it happened. It wasn't a lot of work or money, and the PR looks great.

My mom bought a new refrigerator once ... and before she was done, the Kitchen/dining area had new drapes, new flooring, a countertop replaced, a dishwasher, and new cabinet doors.

Ours didn't just creep- it was more of a landslide. We were just going to replace the carpets in the LR/DR and hallway. When we finally did the work it had morphed into us packing up the house and putting everything into storage, and moving out for 6 months while we did our whole house down-to-the-studs-and-plywood reno including pushing the kitchen/DR wall out 4'.

We understand reno creep - we are the masters at it. "honey - while we're doing this, why don't we do that." response - "Ok, well then maybe we should do this as well then". response - "OK" and on it went.