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Design is the cheapest stage in which to change your mind. Set the scope and what you need to come out of it, and see the fee against the construction it describes.
A kitchen design fee is priced on how much is moving, not on how large the kitchen is. Choosing finishes for an existing layout is a specification exercise. Moving the sink is a drawing exercise. Taking out a wall is a structural exercise with a permit attached. Those are three different jobs, and the published figures for this area step up sharply between them — from $150 for a consultation to $5,000 and beyond for a full layout redesign.
A consultation is a second opinion on your own plan. A partial redesign resolves materials and finishes in the existing footprint. A full layout redesign decides where things go. And design bundled into a design-build project is normally rolled into the project cost rather than billed separately.
A measured plan and a material specification are one thing; renderings, wall elevations, construction drawings and permit-ready drawings are four more, each with real drafting time in it. Most homeowners need the plan and benefit enormously from renderings. Elevations matter because that is what a cabinet maker builds from. Permit drawings are only needed once something structural or mechanical moves.
When the same company designs and builds, the fee is typically credited against the project — which is why this site lists design bundled with a full remodel as included in the project cost. Get it in writing, and be clear what happens if you approve the design but not the build price.
This calculator works from the 2026 cost figures published on this site for Spanish Springs. What it cannot see is what is behind your walls, how level your floors and cabinets actually are, or what your existing plumbing and wiring will allow. We will come out, measure the kitchen and give you a written scope with no pressure attached.
Book a free estimatePublished 2026 figures for this area: a design consultation $150 – $600, a partial redesign covering materials and finishes $500 – $2,000, a full layout redesign $1,500 – $5,000+, and design bundled with a full remodel normally included in the project cost. Add-ons such as renderings, elevations and permit-ready drawings are priced on top.
The honest test is whether your problem is how the kitchen looks or how it works. If two people cannot pass behind each other, if the fridge door blocks the walkway, if there is nowhere to set a hot pan beside the oven — that is a layout problem, and new finishes will not fix it. If the room works and simply looks tired, a finishes design or even a consultation is all you need, and you can keep the difference.
A consultation. A couple of hours with someone who has designed a hundred kitchens will tell you whether your walkways are wide enough, whether the range is far enough from a corner, and whether the wall you want to remove is holding anything up. At $150 – $600 published for this area it is the least expensive service on this site and the one most likely to prevent a five-figure mistake. Bring measurements and photos and you will get more out of the hour.
Usually, when the same company designs and builds it — that is the normal design-build arrangement and it makes the fee behave more like a deposit. It is worth confirming in writing before you pay, including what happens if you approve the design but not the construction price, and whether you own the drawings if you decide to build with someone else.
Once anything structural or mechanical moves. Washoe County exempts interior finish work — painting, tiling, cabinets, countertops — from permitting, but removing or opening a wall, rearranging water, waste or vent pipes, adding electrical circuits and mechanical work are all outside that exemption. If a wall is coming out and it is load-bearing, expect a beam and very likely an engineer's calculation alongside the drawings.
No. It is a planning estimate for the design stage, built on figures published for Spanish Springs. What a design actually costs depends on how resolved your ideas already are and how much of the kitchen has to be worked out before anyone orders anything. Use it to budget the stage, then talk it through.
Planning the whole kitchen? Start at the Spanish Springs kitchen calculator hub, or read more about our kitchen design service.