Custom Kitchen Remodel Design & Plans in Monterey County
Design the Kitchen of Your Dreams
You’ve heard it before: the kitchen is the heart of the home. Memories as well as meals are made around the stove, counters and cups rattle during hectic mornings, and long-overdue talks with loved ones rise above the clang of holiday dish-cleaning. With the amount of time you spend there, you deserve a kitchen that gets you excited to prep, bake, and host.
If you’re thinking of refreshing your kitchen in the Monterey area, Renovation Drafting & Design offers professional drafting and design expertise to get you the kitchen you’ve always dreamt of. With RDD, you’ll get:
- Comprehensive design solutions: Tailored to your specific needs and budget.
- 3D renderings
- Floor plans
Implement Your Vision
When it comes to your new kitchen design, you want a space to cut cookies, not a cookie-cutter space. When you partner with RDD, we’ll work with you to create a personalized layout that gives you the exact counter space, storage requirements, and special functionality you need, all optimized for your budget. With our experience designing custom kitchens in Monterey, we can help you think outside the box. Need custom cabinets that you can actually reach? Two ovens and a standalone freezer? If you can dream it, RDD can design it and make sure it complies with all local codes and regulations. In this phase you get:
- Detailed drawings and specifications for every aspect of your project.
- Coordination with structural engineers, mechanical engineers, landscape architects, and interior designers.
Permitting Process
Even with a great design in-hand, kitchen remodeling can quickly turn into a drawn-out project if permit applications are delayed. At RDD, permitting is a routine part of our drafting and design process, and we have a wealth of experience working with the Monterey County Building and Planning Department. We’ll get your permits submitted on time so your kitchen renovation stays on schedule.
- Expert guidance: Our team brings extensive knowledge and experience to simplify the permitting process for your kitchen renovation.
- Time and cost savings: Avoid costly delays and stay on budget with our efficient and proactive approach.
- Compliance: Ensure your kitchen design meets all local building codes and regulations for a seamless approval process.
- Peace of mind: Focus on planning your dream kitchen while we manage the paperwork and navigate the complexities.
Trusted Design Services for Monterey County
What a kitchen remodel plan set includes
For a kitchen that moves walls, plumbing or gas, a submittal set carries:
- Measured existing conditions — as-built drawings of the kitchen and the rooms structurally connected to it.
- A demolition plan showing what comes out, and which of it holds something up.
- A proposed floor plan, dimensioned, with cabinet runs, appliance locations and clearances.
- Framing and structural plans — new beams, posts and headers, and the load path down to the foundation.
- Electrical and mechanical layouts — circuits, lighting and range hood routing.
- Plumbing and gas locations, which matter well beyond the drawing.
- Title 24 documentation where the scope triggers it.
- The submittal package, assembled the way your jurisdiction accepts it.
On a 1940s Peninsula house, nobody has a drawing of what is actually there. That is where the work starts.
Removing the wall that closes off the kitchen
This is the most common kitchen job we draw, and the point where a cosmetic remodel becomes a design and engineering project.
Is the wall bearing? You cannot tell by tapping it. What tells you is the structure above and below — which direction the joists or roof framing run, whether the wall sits under a bearing point or ridge, whether there is a beam, post or footing under it in the crawlspace.
What replaces it? A beam spans the new opening and collects the load. How deep it must be depends on the span and what sits above — and the deeper it is, the more it intrudes into the ceiling you were trying to open up.
Where does the load land? The beam concentrates a distributed load into a point load at each end, travelling down through posts and floor framing into a foundation capable of receiving it. On older Peninsula houses the existing footing frequently is not, and a new pad footing becomes part of the scope.
When a kitchen remodel needs a permit
Not every kitchen needs drawings from us. Replacing cabinets and countertops, painting and new flooring generally does not require a permit — typical practice rather than a code citation, and genuinely not a drafting job.
What pulls a kitchen into permitting is structure, plumbing, gas, electrical, and anything that changes the exterior. In the City of Monterey specifically:
- Water credits are the local trap. Adding or relocating plumbing fixtures requires a waiver or permit from the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, and the property must have sufficient credits. Moving the sink to the island triggers this, and people decide it casually.
- Exterior changes need Planning approval first — windows, doors and siding.
- Windows always require a permit.
- Gas line alterations must be tested at 10 psi for 15 minutes.
The 2025 California Building Standards Code took effect January 1, 2026, and compliance is set by the date the permit application is filed. Carmel, Carmel Valley, Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach each run their own process.
Requirements and timelines described here were researched in September 2026 and are typical rather than guaranteed. Verify current requirements with the building department for your jurisdiction.
What drives cost, and how the process works
Cost on a kitchen set moves with five things:
- Whether structure moves. A layout change inside existing walls and an open-concept conversion with a new beam and footing are different projects.
- Whether usable drawings of the house exist. They usually do not.
- How far plumbing and gas travel — and whether that pulls MPWMD into the approval path.
- Exterior work. A new window or door adds a Planning step and can add Title 24 obligations.
- How quickly decisions get made. More on what drives remodeling costs.
The work runs in five steps:
- Consultation — what you want, and what the wall is doing.
- Existing conditions — we measure the kitchen and the structure around it.
- Concept design — layout options against structure, plumbing and budget.
- Construction documents — the permit set, structural and Title 24 coordinated.
- Submittal and plan check — package prepared, corrections answered.
See all service areas, or our bathroom, addition, whole-house, ADU and contractor services.
Kitchen remodel design FAQs
Do I need a permit for a kitchen remodel in Monterey County?
It depends entirely on scope. Structural changes, moving or adding plumbing fixtures, gas line work, new electrical and any exterior change require a permit. A cabinet, countertop and flooring refresh generally does not — that is typical practice rather than a code citation, and it is worth confirming with your building department for your specific job.
I only want new cabinets and countertops. Do I need drawings from you?
Generally no, and we will tell you that on the first call. If nothing structural moves, no plumbing is relocated and the exterior is untouched, you do not need a permit set and you do not need us. Come back when a wall is coming out or the sink is moving.
How do I know if the wall I want to remove is load bearing?
By looking at the structure, not the wall. Which way the joists or roof framing run above it, whether a beam or ridge lands on it, and what sits under it in the crawlspace all tell you. We investigate before designing around it, because a wall that turns out to be bearing changes the beam, the posts and often the foundation.
What happens if the wall is load bearing?
A beam replaces it, sized by a structural engineer for the span and what it carries. The load the wall was spreading out becomes a point load at each end of the beam, which travels down through posts and floor framing into the foundation — and on older houses the existing footing under that point often needs to be upgraded.
Do I need an architect for a kitchen remodel in California?
For typical single-family work, no. California allows a building designer or drafting firm to prepare the plans, with a licensed structural engineer providing calculations where they are required. The difference between an architect and a drafting firm, and when an architect is actually required.
Does moving the kitchen sink cause a problem?
It can, and not for the reason people expect. In the City of Monterey, adding or relocating plumbing fixtures requires a waiver or permit from the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, and the property must have sufficient water credits. That is a property-level question worth answering before the island layout is final.
Does a kitchen remodel trigger Title 24 energy requirements?
A purely cosmetic remodel triggers only mandatory measures — appliance efficiency and residential lighting. The project escalates to prescriptive or performance compliance if you replace a window, add window area beyond the limits, replace a water heater, change out HVAC or extend ducts more than 25 feet.
Do you do kitchen and bath design together?
Yes — kitchens and bathrooms are frequently one permit and one plan set, which is cheaper and cleaner than running them separately. See our bathroom remodel design page, or whole-house drafting if the scope is larger than two rooms.
Concept To Plan Submittal Made Easy
When you work with our building design team in Carmel and Monterey County, you’re not just getting high-quality renovation design services for your home you’re getting a reliable partner who will help see your project through from dream to reality. Contact us today for a project consultation and estimate.