In this episode, we’re joined by Vita who tells the story of finding the right house and working closely with the architects and builders to make her dream home. Vita shares how she balanced budgets and aesthetics, navigated tough decisions, and ultimately created a space that feels both intentional and inspiring.

Amy: Hi Vita, welcome to Stories from Site. Great to have you with us. We would love to talk a bit about your renovation and do you wanna take us back to the beginning? Where did it all begin?

Vita: Well, we were looking for a new house. We actually lived in Leytonstone before, so we did a renovation before pre-kids was way easier, much easier. Then we were started to look for a bit bigger space and we knew that we wanna stay kind of in an area. So it took us probably like a year and a half to actually get offer accepted. It was crazy. I think we have put an offer on every like fifth house in this area. So it makes me really sad sometimes because, you know, you just walk past all this houses or I look at the people who like overbid you. And then somebody from New Zealand was going to buy it in cash. And then I was like, okay, did we stay? We are just gonna figure out how we gonna do a loft or whatever, which I’m not doing this again. and then we got a call saying that the owners really loved us and they would like to sell it to us. So I think it was kind of, it was meant to be. We were looking for a house where we need to do work,

So we started drawing up plans before we got the keys. And then, the day we got the keys, we were kind of like ready to go I know it’s kind of scary because you never really know, right?

There’s loads of time stuff is just pull out.

Amy: But because we are in conservation area, I knew it’s gonna take a while to get through, and I was ready to get going. So the smallest option would’ve been just kinda extending it as a rear extension. And then the biggest option would be a rear extension and two story side extension. And of course seeing like all the space we could get with that, we were like, oh, we want the two story side extension, which we didn’t really budget in before. As soon as we kind of got the idea of we wanted, then we kind of rolled on with the architect. Andwere you giving input at the beginning of kind of what you thought or how did that work?

Vita: Yeah, so we heard the brief,I think for me, a big kitchen was a really big thing because we are, vegan and my husband is celiac, so we cook a lot at home. So having a big kitchen was important and having a pantry, I always dreamed of a pantry.

And I know like everyone Instagram open the door and then there’s like few jars. I was like, no, that’s a cupboard. I went like a pantry where I can walk in and like get all the mess out of the kitchen. You know that your kitchen is literally just like nice pretty plates and million spices and things

Amy: Yes,

Vita: and then, I mean, as a vegan, gluten-free family, we do have like, I dunno, six types of different pasta because every child eat different pasta than my husband eat gluten-free pasta.

So. Yeah, it’s a lot of jars. So pantry was the no negotiable for me. a lot of storage and knew that we wanna go with heat pump. For environmental reasons. I actually find it quite weird that now people would do an extension and install a new boiler. I feel like even all the, like the government grants, obviously at the moment, it is definitely more expensive than installing a new boiler because you need underfloor heating, you need upgrade your radiators and things like that. But when you look into the future, I think there’s like no two thoughts about what should you do. And obviously when you do install heat pump, it does take quite a lot of spaces. You need water cylinder it’s like a massive cupboard with millions of pipes, but that’s kind of like added the utility room on the side. And then one thing which we had in a brief was playroom. We were quite strict that we needed a playroom, and every time Heidi would present the designs, I would be like, there’s no playroom. She’s like, okay, let me take a look again. Then she comes back and she’s like, yeah, but I got all these cupboards for you. And I was like, but there’s no playroom. And then she’s like, okay, listen, you’re building this house for the future. I understand that you have a 3-year-old. And a possible baby on a way, like, You’re building this for the next 10 or 20 years, and how many kids actually play in a playroom? They’re usually like, if you’re in a kitchen, they will be in a kitchen. So she’s like, as much as you’ll have these toys in one room, will you actually have the toys in one room? They’re still gonna bring all the toys out. So. Yeah, I mean, we have a really big open space and we have so much storage, so we have insane amount of choice. But they all just come out and then they all just get put back instead of just having this like playroom where everything is on display. So, yeah, I think a lot of people think they need a playroom, but when you actually do think about building it for the future instead of just building for the next two, three years, it’s quite hard to like repurpose that space as well after. What does it

Amy: Yeah.

Vita: It can become like a games room, but that’s still when they’re like a teenagers. so yeah.

Jane: It’s really interesting, like what you set out to achieve and what you end up having. And also just that longevity because it does feel like you’re drowning in toys when kids are little, but it does go so quickly as well and things change and. It’s hard to imagine your life in five or 10 years time.

So you scratch that off your list. Was there anything else that you really were passionate about that you did get or that you kind of realized with the design?

Vita: So when we extended the two story side extension, we ended up, um, getting like a much bigger double bedroom and an ensuite. We decided to be as a guest room because both of our parents live abroad and we were like, oh, we want them to come and be comfortable and have their own bathroom. But in reality they come once a year. I’m a little bit of like, oh, great, we have still our old bedroom.

so Yeah, sometimes you like make the space to be something certain and then it becomes something else.

I think there’s a lot of things which we may be rushed because, when we went into tender, I was pregnant so a lot of the decisions had to be made really, really quickly. So we, we absolutely love our builders but we also did go with them because, our architect said that they incredibly fast, they like can basically build a house in four months. I was like, oh, great, because I do want a kitchen by the time she’s born. So it, it was a good decision, but there was a lot of like, things.

For instance, with the planning applications, we had to do a lot of small applications to make sure that nothing is denied because we didn’t have time to get it denied. Then, we wanted to redo the garage into an office, which still isn’t done, but we did that, a separate planning application. And then, last year, we decided to try to get a driveway at the front, which everyone told us is impossible because you’re in conservation area. I was like, okay, well in a worst case scenario, we’re gonna lose this money, which goes into a paperwork. It’s just gonna bug me because otherwise you have to park a car at the back, which takes like quite a bit of the garden. So I was like, oh, let’s just do it and if we don’t get it, we don’t get it. And it just came through and they approved it. Yeah, which I think is, again, there’s a lot of people who kind of say, oh my God, how did you get a driveway?

How did you get this extension in conservation area? We were told we have to use reclaimed bricks and things like that. But I think it’s all up to an architect which has done a conservation area, you know, they know what they need to push and how to push it.

So I think with a council, you really need to, especially working in conservation area, really need to be a little bit of like, well, you let us to do this we will make it look nicer for the street as well, because otherwise, what’s the point for them to kind of approve it right.

Amy: Yeah, I think you’re so right. I think often, the council get a bit of a bad rep for being difficult, but I guess from their point of view, it’s like if they can tick a box that says that they’ve kind of got something, then that really helps your case.

And, and I think also it just depends who you get in terms of your. You know, planning officer, some are really amenable and it’s, it’s about a dialogue and it’s, it’s this kind of collaboration actually. But then sometimes you’re not quite so lucky and it’s, you know, we, we’ve definitely had a full range of experience with, the council.

And it also just depends on the borough. I mean, it’s amazing to see the differences across, across London. So, yeah, it is a bit of a, a gamble. But I also think sometimes you just have to ask and, and like you say, I think your strategy of just like putting in what you really want, well then you know where you are, don’t you?

Vita: Yeah.

Jane: Yeah, but that strategy of separating it out is really good as well because you are right. They could, like one aspect, if you put every, if you lump everything in together, they could like 85% of it. But if they, they can’t approve it if they are not happy with a bit of it.

So that’s a really good strategy to, to break it down. Although you’re paying for the more fees and it’s more admin work ultimately, like you said, it’s less risky, isn’t it? Because you can just deal with whatever the issue is for just that one aspect. I think that’s really, really good to talk about.

Vita: and I think a lot of people, they move into a house and it has single glass windows. They are looking to get extensions done at some point in the future. I think it’s like waiting and doing the thing together so you can be like to the council, oh,

Jane: Mm-hmm.

Vita: We are gonna replace those windows, or we are gonna remove the PVC porch, or we are gonna do, you know, something good. So you have more chance of. Of getting approved. And I like, you know, so from one point I kind of look up and I’m like, oh my God. It’s like ridiculous. I bought this house, I bought this land, it’s mine. And then council can just say, no, you can’t do any of this. But from another side, I walk around the area and I just look and I’m like, oh my God.

How could they allow to build something like this? It’s like a lot of the time you’re just look and you know, they’re these insanely massive, massive lofts, which you see from a street really visibly. And it just changes the look of a street to these like 120 year old buildings and a lot of the really horrible things done in nineties.

And we look at it now, we just think, oh my god, how could they do this nineties? But

pebble dashed, and you know, you’re like, look at it. Or like painted, the bricks are red, but they’re painted them red. I, I don’t really get it. Why did

Jane: do it? But we, we look at it now, like all these decisions and we look at it now and think, oh my God, why would they ever do this? But is like, is somebody gonna look in 50 years or a hundred years and look at us and be like, why would they do this at their house? True. But I think classic design does span the ages that if you go to an architect designed house that was built in the sixties, it’s still good. You know, it’s still good. I guess from an energy perspective, that’s the thing that’s changed the most, isn’t it?

So upgrades will be required. But from a look and feel,when something’s been considered, it really does go through the generations. and I think sometimes I’m really surprised about. Older buildings that actually seem so modern and so like in keeping with our taste and our, our values now, but, you know, maybe 40, 50 years old, which is amazing.

I think if something’s done with consideration and care, it, it, it can span like taste for an awfully long time.

Vita: Yeah, probably true.

Amy: Did you grow up in a different country? Where, where are you from?

Vita: Yeah I I came to UK 17 years ago, for university. A year later I met my husband.

So we’d done a few apartments in Latvia which we are kind of renting out on Airbnb. So that’s, so that was like in between stage, between like finishing our previous house, then we did the apartments, and then we did this house. So now it’s like. what to do. Like we still got bits. Do I still need to do front room, and still need to plant some stuff in the garden.

So we still have bits do, but I dunno what I’m gonna do after that. I think he’s like, I can’t, I just can’t stay still. Now. Every, every of my friends, he’s like talking about renovations. I was like, do you need help? do do you, do you, are you gonna do any work, do

Jane: I’ve got another one in me. Yeah, I could do. I could do it. Were there any things that were particularly tricky that were surprising to you?

Vita: I find I’m really indecisive. I’m not indecisive of work, but I’m really indecisive about my own kind of things and I’m very, I regret everything I do. I’m one of these people who like walk in the shop and like, look at two drinks and pick a drink and whatever, which drink I’m gonna pick, I’m gonna walk out and think, oh, should have gotten the other one. So that is definitely like a hard thing when you do a house.

So when we bought, when we bought house, we thought for the money, which we had, we can do everything and we’re not gonna have to do anything ourselves. Because previous house, we laid our own parquet. We like built everything ourselves. It was just so much work and we were like, okay, this happened that day, anything, we are gonna get everything done. And then our quote came back and I was like, okay, so we. Paint ourselves. We gonna build furniture. Our, we are gonna have to take this out, our quote. We’re gonna put doors ourselves. You know when the cost comes back and you’re like, it’s like 400 pounds to like put a door in. It’s like, no, no, we’ll do it ourselves. So at the end when the builders leave, you’re like, okay. Actually it’s a lot to do, especially when you, when you have a baby and a 4-year-old. But,

I find it, When you’ve done so much work yourself, is it actually harder to fall in love with the space because you see the mistakes? And then I have like a photographer who comes in and does pictures and I’m like, oh my God, it looks amazing.

It looks incredible. I would look in the like magazine and I’m

Amy: Yeah.

Vita: oh my God, this is my house. But then when I come in, I was like, oh, why did we just chatting, put there? Why did we do this? Or this needs to be repainted, or why? Why did I choose this paint here? So yeah, it is. from one point, but then somebody else comes in and they’re like, oh, your house is amazing.

And then they’re kind like, oh, actually maybe.

Amy: It is true. I think it’s a little bit like cooking, isn’t it? You know, when someone else cooks a meal for you, it just always tastes better somehow because you’re like, oh, you’ve made that with Love and care,

Jane: you don’t second guess it, do you? That’s the thing. You’ve been given a meal and it is fine. Whereas you, once you are in control of something, you second guess it. And because you were a creative person, I was just wondering when you were working with your architect,

did they plan it out for you once you started taking things out of the contract and saying, we’ll do that and we’ll make that furniture and we’ll put that door. Was it all planned out already and you are, you are filling in the things that you knew that were gonna happen or did that then release you to do different things and has it turned out differently?

Vita: I think with architect we worked kind of side to side. She kind of would present options or a lot of the time I would send over the pictures, which I really like. I was like, oh, kind of like, look at this and look at this. Or like for instance, brick Choice was really difficult for me.

She kind of brought over some bricks and I was like, oh, I don’t really know. Can I go and see more bricks? I always wanna see more, everything more, right? And it got to the state that I kind of was settled on a brick I wanted, but also wanted to see how it looks. So we started like driving. I emailed the company who makes the bricks, but then we start, I asked them which houses in London has used this brick? And we were driving around London. With our like 3-year-old, just like looking at the houses of bricks. I have all these pictures of like him standing next to the brick house and he’s like, is there anything fun to do here? I was like, no, we’re just looking at the bricks and actually it’s like, it makes such difference when you look at like four bricks while you go and see the house. And I think it’s like, and brick is such a, if you are going for a brick for your extension, and if you are, look, especially if you’re looking up, maybe introducing it inside as well. It’s a massive, massive of choice because that’s one of the kind of biggest design elements which you choose. And mortar is so important of what about what color you kind of go.

And we knew we went with this, it’s called like a schlemm effect, which they use a lot in Scandinavia, where basically you wash it with mortar over the top and that makes a difference ’cause it all kind of like blends in, the brick. So a lot of people kind of go and they’re like, oh well, like I know somebody who used this brick, but it doesn’t look like that.

And it’s like, well yeah, it’s just the way how you can apply it or what mortar you have used as well. yeah, I think brick, you can easily email the company and just like drive around and find places. And also I’ve noticed now every time I’m like walking past and I see a nice brick, I take a picture. It’s a, yeah. A big thing.

Amy: Just for the next next project.

Vita: Yeah.

Jane: You have a photo album when your kids are older. It’s like the bricks of the bricks of London.

Vita: But yeah, I think as I said, it is like the choosing the architect which gonna work with you. The other architect probably Would present you on options and you just would have to choose it.

But with Heidi that she would kind of some options and I would be like, okay, well how can we do this, but cheaper as well, or finding a little bit kind of different things. So Kitchen. She kind of did a layout, but then we up, I think the, originally I wanted to go, with UK companies, but we got a quotes in and they were absolutely insane for what we kind of wanted

And then one of my Instagram follows, who’s Danish. Said, oh, have you had Nordiska Kok? And I was like, oh, no, not really.

They’re like, well, we got the kitchen delivered. They haven’t installed it. They delivered it. But they’re like, oh, why don’t you go and take a look at them? then we were in conversations with them and we were in Latvia. So I was like, oh, why don’t we just pop over to your showroom? Because it’s, it’s a big decision, isn’t it, of like getting like kitchen, which you haven’t really seen. and we went to the showroom. We absolutely loved it. The quality was like incredible. The price was like. Amazing comparatively. And they got this design service, which basically you’re sitting on a Zoom call with designer every week and discuss every single detail about your kitchen. Where do you want it, how much spices do you use? And like, it makes basically your perfect kitchen for much less of a price you would get in uk. And yeah, so we ended up, going with them, which is again, something which our architects didn’t hear about Nordiska Kok before. so it’s a, like some decisions which, yeah, I guess Instagram kind of inspired us to do in this community, which is really lovely because, I dunno what I’ve found out about them because they’ve only done like two kitchens by then in London now.

They’ve done so many, I think literally from our kitchen, they have. like 35 orders in. So I think it’s, yeah, of people are, were like scared.

They’re like, oh, but we ordering kitchen from abroad. Like, how do we know? Is it good quality? Are you happy?

Amy: But I mean, I don’t think people even realize how many things actually does come from abroad anyway. Yeah, that’s true.

Vita: our, wooden windows from Poland in our previous house.

So we used the same company to do it again here, which was third of a price from a local joinery.

Amy: Wow.

Vita: they needed 19 windows. So it’s quite, it’s quite a lot of windows. so,

amazing in previous house. So I knew that we can use them again. And I guess maybe because. We before we ordered something from abroad, and it was a great quality.

I didn’t feel like that. Scared,

Jane: Yeah.

Amy: Yeah.

I feel like the real message that’s coming through is like doing the research and spending the time to see everything that’s out there and, and until you can get the best value, the best quality, and the, if you look. At enough options that you’re gonna find the thing that fits, ticks both those boxes.

Jane: Is that how you feel?

Vita: basically you can go with architect’s recommendation, which obviously, I mean, me as a designer or like if I would be doing a direction shoot, I would present client with like a photographer who’s incredible but also ridiculously expensive. Obviously, I want ’em to go with that because it’s gonna be really easy to work with. Or you could go with like, you know, you don’t really wanna present like a, a cheaper option because you don’t really know it. So. Going a look of what architect maybe have chosen and then doing research and trying to find something cheaper. I mean, now with like chat GPT is in, it’s absolutely incredible of like you can upload an image or say, I want this light, but can you find me a cheaper version of it? And it will present you with loads of links for it. so you could definitely find like a cheaper option without spending hours of research. I mean, when people go like, oh, well I can use this worktop company because my friends used it. I was like, but have you asked for quotes from different companies?

They’re like, well, no, my friends used it. Then it was like. Good price. I was like, but did they do the research? Because when we did the worktop, remember that stone It all, it’s all comes from the same place, but there’s a hundred companies in UK who are gonna sell it. So with workshops, our quotes came back from 3-6 K for exactly the same worktop, exactly the same sizes. It’s double. But I did send 25 emails. I think that’s such a good thing for people to hear is that so much of these things, like you said, the kitchens, a lot of the kitchens They’re the same kitchen base units or the same materials from factories, that are all being sold through different suppliers.

Jane: And the same for doors and windows. A lot of those are. Made in the same factory and sold by different people with different names and different configurations. So it is not necessarily about the product itself, it’s about who you’re buying it from.

Vita: Yeah, so I think it’s like doing research and spending, it does take a lot of time, but I, I’m never gonna go for less

four or five quotes. mean, my husband hates

Jane: Mm-hmm.

Vita: he’s like, can we just get it done? I was like, no, I’m still waiting for a quote.

I mean, there, there’s definitely companies for, for lights.

you can find really amazing lights in UK for quite a good prices. Bathroom stuff is definitely something which you should be going higher end and something a bit more kind of tested. couple of taps I went just to kind of go, oh, maybe I just try this out, which wasn’t a good idea. so yeah, some of

Amy: Yeah.

Vita: probably take a recommendations from your architect, um, instead.

Amy: Thank you so much for being so open and willing to share your tips. ’cause I think sometimes you can just feel like you’re getting all these big quotes and you just have to take it.

And that’s kind of the end of the story.

Jane: yeah, seeking out different options is a really good tip.

Amy: ways to save money and, and, but not compromise on, on the look and the aesthetics, which I think is, yeah, will appeal to a lot of people. So, thank you so much. I.

I think, I think, you know, there, there’s things that you should spend money on and there’s things that you can change later on. Yeah.

Vita: Bathroom sanitary where you can’t really change it. So you do need to spend more money. It’s gonna change. Like spend way more money of changing it. Sliding doors is definitely something you should be spending a lot of money on because it’s so important how they open. Like if you go for a cheap, you basically can’t open, they get stuck spending breaks, fixed skylights and things like that, you can easily go with much cheaper company because it’s just a piece of glass.

It’s not actually hardware. So yeah, I think it’s like just knowing where to spend money and where you can save money.

Amy: Yeah. No, that’s

Jane: If anybody wants to check out your Instagram, it’s just, it’s really beautiful and it does just look so. High quality, and it’s just really interesting to hear your method.

Amy: Thank you so much for your time and yeah, thank you for sharing your story.