Kitchen & Bath Remodeling in Santa Monica

Kitchen remodel budgets on the Westside vary widely with the scope — a cabinet-and-countertop refresh sits at one end, a full layout change with custom cabinetry, stone counters and new appliances at the other. Because Santa Monica's homes are high-value and often older, real costs depend on the existing floor plan, whether walls or systems are moving, and the finish level you choose, so we do not quote a figure sight unseen. Instead, we start every kitchen with a free in-home consultation, a 3D design and a written estimate that lays out labor, materials and the finish schedule in one plan. Call (424) 384-1771 to book that consultation, or see kitchen remodeling for what the process covers.

Yes — permit handling is part of the design-build service, and the first thing we confirm is which jurisdiction your address falls under. Santa Monica is its own incorporated city, so remodels there permit through the City of Santa Monica, while Venice, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades are neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles and permit through the LA Department of Building and Safety (LADBS). All work is built to the California Building Standards Code (Title 24), including CALGreen and the state energy code where a significant remodel or addition triggers them. We sort out the right pathway before design is finalized so nothing stalls once the crew is on site.

Design-build means one team owns both the design and the construction, rather than you hiring a designer, then bidding the drawings out to a separate builder. With us, the person who draws your kitchen or addition is accountable for building it, so the design is priced realistically from the start and there is no gap where a designer's plan meets a builder's budget for the first time mid-project. That single line of accountability is why the written estimate you approve is the scope that gets built. It also keeps the schedule tighter, because one team is sequencing the whole job rather than handing off between firms.

Accessory dwelling units are one of the busiest jobs on the Westside since California's 2016 laws (A.B. 2299 and S.B. 1069) preempted local zoning to allow them on most residential lots — the City of Los Angeles alone went from under 100 ADU permits in 2016 to over 7,000 by 2022. The crews we coordinate handle ADU feasibility, design and permitting whether your address is in Santa Monica or an LA neighborhood like Venice or Brentwood. One local wrinkle worth knowing: an ADU added to a pre-1979 Santa Monica multifamily building can fall under the city's Rent Control Charter Amendment, which we flag early. See home additions & ADUs for the detail, or call (424) 384-1771.

That is much of what we do. Santa Monica's older core is Craftsman and California bungalows and 1920s–30s Spanish Colonial Revival homes, and the best remodels open them up and update how they function while keeping the period details that make them worth owning. The crews we coordinate work the real bones of the house — original framing, tight galley kitchens, small baths — rather than forcing a generic open box onto a home that was not built for one. Where a property sits in the Third Street Neighborhood Historic District or is a designated landmark, exterior alterations can draw review, and we plan for that up front.

A bathroom remodel typically runs a few weeks, and a full kitchen usually several weeks to a couple of months, because demolition, rough-in, cabinetry, countertop templating and tile each have to happen in sequence rather than all at once. Older Santa Monica homes can add time when original framing or an awkward footprint has to be worked around, and custom cabinetry and stone counters carry their own lead times that we schedule around. The written estimate includes a realistic timeline, and because we run design-build, one team keeps that schedule moving rather than waiting on a handoff. Larger whole-home projects are phased and can span several months.

Yes — every remodel starts with a free in-home consultation where we walk the space with you, talks through what you want, and takes the measurements the design is built from. That leads to a 3D design and a written estimate that spells out the scope, materials and finish schedule in one document, agreed before any demolition begins. Nothing is priced by guesswork on the doorstep, and the estimate is the plan the crew builds to. Call (424) 384-1771 or head to contact to book the consultation.

Yes. From our base at 600 Santa Monica Blvd we cover the Westside — Santa Monica itself, plus Venice about four miles down the coast, Brentwood five miles east and northeast, and Pacific Palisades up the coast — along with Mar Vista and Marina del Rey. Each has its own character: Venice's canal and walk-street stock, Brentwood's large canyon lots, and the Palisades' coastal-canyon homes now in post-fire rebuild. The important practical difference is permitting, since those three are City of Los Angeles neighborhoods (LADBS) while Santa Monica permits its own addresses. We handle the right pathway for wherever your home sits.

Title 24 is the California Building Standards Code, and its energy provisions (Part 6) and the CALGreen green-building standards (Part 11) apply to significant remodels and additions across the Westside. In practical terms that shapes things like insulation, windows, lighting and ventilation choices on the parts of your home the remodel touches, and it is part of why using a team that builds to code from the design stage matters. The 2025 California codes took effect January 1, 2026, and we build to the currently adopted edition for your jurisdiction. It is handled as part of the design-build scope, not left as a surprise at inspection.

Parcels west of Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica, along with western Venice and the Palisades coastal bluffs, sit in the Coastal Zone, where work near the water can require a Coastal Development Permit and, in some cases, California Coastal Commission review. For most interior kitchen and bath remodels this is not triggered, but additions and exterior changes on coastal parcels can be, so we confirm a property's Coastal Zone status before finalizing a design. Salt-air exposure near the beach also shapes material and finish choices on anything exterior-adjacent. We plan both into the scope from the start rather than discovering them at permitting.

The design-build process keeps one team accountable from the free consultation to the final walkthrough, so the people who walk your space and price the scope are the ones who answer for what gets built. We own the plan, the estimate and the build together, and the tradespeople and crews we coordinate work to the written scope you approved. There is no anonymous call center and no handoff to a builder who never saw the design — one team carries it from the first sketch to the final walkthrough. Call (424) 384-1771 to talk it through with a real person, not a script.