West Metro · Service area
Kitchen Design in Arvada, Colorado, From Allendale to Candelas
Arvada's housing runs from Olde Town's historic blocks to new streets beside the Rocky Flats refuge, and the kitchens in between need different answers. Erie Kitchens offers kitchen design Arvada homeowners, architects and builders can work from: plans, elevations, perspective views, custom cabinetry and material selection, all coordinated through one drawing set. A postwar ranch and a brand-new Candelas house start from opposite problems. We draw each one from the architecture outward.
- Counties
- Jefferson and Adams
- Permits
- City of Arvada Building Inspection Division
- Codes
- 2024 IRC, adopted March 2026
- Typical homes
- 1950s ranches to new master-planned builds
The houses
Arvada's housing in three chapters
Arvada was platted in 1870 along the railroad, and Olde Town is its first chapter. The 15.1-acre Arvada Downtown Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, with residences, storefronts, the oldest Grange hall in the state and three historic churches among its buildings. The city's survey work also produced the neighboring Stocke-Walter and Reno Park historic districts, so the older housing stock extends a few blocks beyond downtown.
The second chapter is postwar. Arvada grew quickly after World War II, and a city-commissioned historic building survey documented two neighborhoods from that boom in detail: Alta Vista, laid out as the 1954 Alta Vista Addition, and Allendale, first platted in 1957. The survey found the Ranch the most common house type there, with split-levels alongside. Its list of character-defining features notes an enclosed kitchen on model after model, and that wall is where most ranch kitchen planning begins.
The third chapter is still being built on the west side. Candelas, the largest master-planned community in Arvada, borders the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge along its northern edge, with houses by national builders and custom builders. Leyden Rock, nearby, is mostly large homes. Here the kitchen is usually open already, and the work is refinement: better storage, integrated appliances, and stone with more depth than builder stock. Our comparison of quartzite and marble helps with that choice.
| No. | Home type | What it means for the kitchen |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Historic house, Olde Town | A Certificate of Compliance with the design guidelines comes before any permit. We check early whether your scope falls under it. |
| 02 | Postwar ranch, Alta Vista or Allendale | Kitchen enclosed by design. Opening it to the living room often means a structural wall and a beam. |
| 03 | Split-level from the same era | Kitchen on the middle level, stairs on one side. Sightlines and hood ducting drive the layout. |
| 04 | New home, Candelas or Leyden Rock | Open plan in place. The gains come from storage, panel-ready appliances and natural materials. |
Planning locally
Kitchen design Arvada homeowners should plan around
Arvada's process is clear once you know which part of the city you're in.
Interior remodels need a city permit
The City of Arvada lists interior remodels, kitchens and baths included, among projects that need a building permit, and it ties contractor license classes to the work unless an owner-occupant does it personally. The city adopted the 2024 International Residential Code and related 2024 codes on March 24, 2026. We prepare drawings that show electrical, plumbing and ventilation clearly enough to answer a plan reviewer's questions.
Olde Town's design guidelines
Projects within Olde Town, and Reno Park projects affected by mandatory guidelines, must obtain a Certificate of Compliance with Design Guidelines before any permit is approved. The application pairs a written narrative with graphic illustrations and a compliance analysis. When a kitchen changes windows, doors or the footprint, we produce the elevations that application needs alongside the construction set, so both reviews see the same design.
Opening a postwar kitchen
Taking down the wall between an enclosed ranch kitchen and the living room is the classic request in a house of that era, and it's where budgets go wrong when the decision gets made on site. We work with your builder or engineer to confirm what the wall carries, then draw the beam, the ceiling line and the new island together. The opened room should look planned, not patched.
Four services for an Arvada kitchen
The same four services apply across the city. How we use them depends on whether the house dates from the 1950s or last year.
01
Kitchen design from survey to perspective
We measure, photograph and study the existing structure, then present plans, elevations and perspective views. In a ranch, that usually means testing two or three ways to open the kitchen before choosing one. In a new home, it means reworking a layout that already exists so it fits how you cook.
View the kitchen design service
02
Cabinetry built to the measured room
Walnut, white oak or lacquer, with inset, slab, five-piece, slim shaker or handleless channel fronts. A slim shaker suits a mid-century ranch without pretending it's a farmhouse, and a handleless channel front suits a new house with clean lines. Everything is built to verified site dimensions.
Custom cabinetry details
03
Material selection at the house
Natural stone such as quartzite, marble and limestone, plus timber and metals like bronze and blackened steel. We bring samples to the house and check them against your floors, windows and light before anything is ordered, since a showroom tells you little about your own room.
Our materials library
04
Installation coordination
Rough-ins are checked against the drawings first, which matters when a wall has just come out and new circuits run near a new beam. Cabinets are then set and aligned to the plan, and stone is templated from the installed cabinetry before it goes to fabrication.
The design process, stage by stage
From Erie to Arvada
From Erie to Arvada: how the work moves
Arvada is about 20 miles south of Erie by US 287 and Wadsworth Boulevard, close enough for regular site visits through each stage. We meet at the house for the consultation, return for a full measure once the brief is set, and come back to check rough-ins against the drawings before the drywall closes. In a ranch with a wall coming out, we also visit once the structure is exposed, to confirm the beam before framing.
We coordinate with the architect or builder you've chosen, or work alongside the contractor who will pull the city permit. For Olde Town projects, design guideline review comes ahead of the building permit, so we schedule the drawings to suit that order. After installation, stone templating and fabrication, we photograph the finished kitchen and stay available for aftercare as the house settles into use. You can see everything we offer in one place on our site.
Arvada kitchen questions
01Does a kitchen remodel in Arvada need a permit?
In most cases, yes. The City of Arvada lists interior remodels, including kitchens and baths, among projects that require a permit, and a licensed contractor is required unless you're the owner-occupant doing the work yourself. The city's adopted codes include the 2024 International Residential Code.
02Can I open up the kitchen in my 1950s Arvada ranch?
Usually, though the wall may be structural. Postwar ranches in neighborhoods like Allendale and Alta Vista were often built with the kitchen enclosed. We confirm the structure with your builder or engineer, draw the beam and ceiling details, and plan the new layout around them.
03What's different about a kitchen project in Olde Town Arvada?
Olde Town projects need a Certificate of Compliance with the Olde Town Design Guidelines before the city approves a permit. Inside, the house can take a modern kitchen; outside, changes have to fit the guidelines. We prepare the drawings for both steps.
04Which cabinet style suits a mid-century Arvada ranch?
One that respects the house's long, low lines. Slab or slim shaker fronts in walnut or white oak sit comfortably in a ranch, and horizontal proportions echo the low-pitched roofs and horizontal windows the city's survey describes. Heavy raised panels tend to fight that architecture.