Kitchen remodeling · Westside
Kitchen remodeling in Santa Monica.
We design, build and install kitchens in Santa Monica's bungalows, houses and condominiums, and one of our published projects is here. Expect $35,000 to $75,000 for a typical full kitchen remodel and an average of 2–3 weeks of work in the home. New cabinets and countertops in the existing layout cost $20,000 to $35,000.
Kitchens in Santa Monica.
Santa Monica's houses are older than most of the Westside's. Ocean Park has Craftsman bungalows from the 1900s and 1910s, the streets north of Montana Avenue have Spanish Colonial Revival homes from the 1920s, and Sunset Park was built in the 1940s to house Douglas Aircraft workers. Kitchens in all three were small, closed rooms, and lots are tight enough that adding on is rarely the answer.
A large share of Santa Monica homes are condominiums and townhouses. There the footprint is fixed, and a remodel is about better cabinetry, an island or a peninsula where the plan allows one, and finishes that hold up near the ocean.
Our Santa Monica project started with gray cabinets, dated speckled counters and a closed layout. We reworked the layout around a waterfall island with seating and finished the room in navy cabinetry and white quartz.
What a remodel in Santa Monica has to allow for.
- Old plaster and old pipes
- Bungalow walls often hide original wiring and plumbing. Our cost guide recommends holding a contingency for what turns up behind them.
- Salt air
- Close to the ocean, hardware and fixtures corrode faster, and that goes into the choice of finishes.
- Narrow lots
- Access is often through a side yard or an alley, so deliveries and stone sizes are planned around the route in.
- Condominium approvals
- The association's rules on hours and deliveries apply, and the city reviews condominium remodels differently from houses.
Permits in Santa Monica.
Santa Monica has its own Building and Safety Division, and it treats houses and condominiums differently. For a single-family home, an interior, non-structural kitchen remodel qualifies for the city's Express Permit, which is applied for online and needs no plan review. Condominiums, multi-unit buildings and any remodel that changes structure are not eligible for the Express Permit and go through the city's plan review instead. That adds time before construction, so it belongs in the schedule from the start.
Official source: City of Santa Monica Building and Safety Division. Checked October 2026.
The scope that usually fits.
Because lots are tight and so many homes are condominiums, most of the gain in Santa Monica comes from reworking the room you have. That is a full kitchen remodel at $35,000 to $75,000, which covers taking out a wall or adding an island where the plan allows it. If the layout already works, new cabinets and countertops cost $20,000 to $35,000 and take 3–7 days on site.
What each scope includesQuestions from Santa Monica homeowners.
Who issues kitchen remodel permits in Santa Monica?
The City of Santa Monica's Building and Safety Division. A single-family home with an interior, non-structural kitchen remodel can use the city's Express Permit, with no plan review. Condominiums and multi-unit buildings are not eligible and go through plan review. Master Kitchen manages either path as part of the project.
Does a condominium kitchen in Santa Monica take longer to permit?
Usually, yes. The city's Express Permit, which needs no plan review, is only for single-family homes, so a condominium kitchen goes through the city's plan review before the permit is issued. The work in the home is not affected: a full kitchen remodel still averages 2–3 weeks.
Can you add an island to a small Santa Monica kitchen?
Often, by taking out a wall or a peninsula and rethinking where the sink and the range sit. In our Santa Monica project a closed kitchen was reworked around a waterfall island with seating. Where the room cannot spare the space, a peninsula gives much of the same counter and seating.
Nearby
We work across greater Los Angeles. See kitchen remodeling in Los Angeles and our projects.