“We wanted our home to feel intentional and considered—to create a beautiful space that felt soaring and encompassing, even with a modest plot,” says Rowan Rutter of her and her wife Jenny Warren’s recent renovation in Leyton, East London. Rowan, the CEO of an orchestra, and Jenny, a law firm partner, spent $247,607 in total to makeover the second level of their residence and extend and redo the ground level. “We used the equity from the sale of our previous home, as well as a small bank loan,” says Rowan.

The couple knew from the start that the 1930s three-bed terrace house was right for them, despite the smell of cat urine, stale cigarettes, and other unsavory scents. “It was so bad that the estate agent refused to enter the home to show us round,” Jenny remembers. But like the old adage, “one man’s trash,” the couple saw the good: large windows, well-proportioned rooms, tall ceilings, and a prime location. Friends of theirs were already living on the block, which had a community feel. “We effectively bought the worst house on the best street,” says Rowan. “Structurally it was sound, but it was derelict and hadn’t been renovated since the ’70s, and lacked modern electrical and plumbing.”

As soon as the sale went through in summer of 2019, they immediately got to work stripping everything back to bare walls and floorboards, doing most of the hard labor themselves, with some help from friends. They then managed tradespeople who upgraded the electrical, fit new triple-glazed sash windows throughout, built out a new bathroom on the second level with underfloor heating and plastered walls, and applied fresh paint. This stage cost around $50,446, say the couple.

Next, with an initial budget of $170,000, they addressed the ground floor. Architect George Woodrow of Woodrow Vizor Architects reorganized its L-shape into distinct areas. “We knew we wanted to retain the front reception room as a snug TV area, but we wanted the rest of the floor plan to be broken up into a series of connected spaces,” says Rowan.

$50,446 Second Level Renovation	$6,356 Demolition	$7,869 Excavation & Foundations
$33,294 Structural Work	$15,133 Internal Fit Out	$3,329 Plastering
$15,890 Heating, Electrical, Lighting & Plumbing	$4,842 Landscaping	$8,323 Stairs, Joinery & Woodwork
$3,632 Painting & Decorating	$25,601 Doors & Windows	$24,088 Kitchen
$378 Iron Work	$4,287 Flooring	$7,566 Timber Cladding
	$36,573 Fees
Grand Total: $247,607

George removed a small door separating the entrance hall and living area and put in oversize double doors further down. He then arranged the utility room and bathroom to sit in the center of the plan. From here, the corridor leads into the new kitchen, which was created out of an extension built in the ’70s. George then designed a sunken addition for the new dining area that links the rear of the property with the front living zones.

“The budget was low so we set some clear structural constraints for Rowan and Jenny with their layout, not being able to change existing rear openings and having to keep much of the old kitchen extension wall,” says George. The opening between the living and dining areas is where the old extension’s kitchen door was, for example, which the group used in their favor to determine the layout of the new spaces. “It just goes to show you don’t need to knock down all your old walls and open everything up to create a bright, flowing, and visually connected interior,” adds George.

“We effectively bought the worst house on the best street.”
—Rowan Rutter, resident

The new dining space sits two steps down from the kitchen with an exposed, pitched roof structure overhead made from standard spruce studs and rafters. The exposed brick wall on one side is original and the extension is constructed from masonry walls, with a suspended timber floor. “We didn’t plaster the bricks, to help save costs and as a nod to the original house,” says Jenny. The masonry block wall was also kept exposed, again to avoid plastering costs, but also to add a sense of rawness to the build.

Color is used throughout to further define—and connect—different parts of the renovation. The red grout in the dining area matches the windows’ aluminum frame at the rear of the property. Dark greens are used in both the kitchen cabinetry and on the walls in the living area and TV room. Some kitchen walls are painted yellow, which match slot windows framed in yellow steel. “Even though we have separate spaces and rooms, we knew we wanted a line of sight from one area into the next, which is why we added slots into two of the walls,” says Jenny.

To keep costs from spiraling, Rowan and Jenny used fixed-price contracts for tradespeople. They also sourced many of the fixtures and fittings themselves, doing online research, looking out for discounts, and installing low-cost items where possible, such as the 90-square-centimeter porcelain floor tiles in the kitchen and outdoor patio area. “You can definitely get away with a couple of cheap choices if they sit within expensive things,” says Rowan. They also stayed with friends when possible to keep from having to rent through the entire construction process.

Renovating and extending their home has heralded a fresh start for the couple, who now have an 18-month-old son, Kasper. “We didn’t design the house specifically for a family, but it’s worked out perfectly for us,” says Jenny, “especially since we built in so much storage in every room.” Adds Rowan, “We can also close off part of the living room when we all need and want privacy.”

The couple ultimately went over budget by around $27,000, they say, part of which came from the unexpected, and the rest from materials they decided to upgrade during the project, such as the quartz kitchen counters and a Stoves dual range cooker. Says Rowan, “The reason we were able to complete the project for the price that we did was because we were willing to roll up our sleeves and get fully involved.”

More Budget Breakdown stories:

A London Architect Gives Her Micro Apartment a Major Upgrade for $17K

An Architect’s £224K Remodel Makes a Splash With Pastel Tile

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Woodrow Vizor Architects / @woodrowvizor_architects

Contractor: KP Building Developments

Structural Engineer: Jesper Friis

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Budget Breakdown: This London Couple Did the Dirty Work to Keep Renovation Costs Low