Personal Experience: How We Built a House and Spent 4 Million Rubles

Marina moved with her husband and two children to the countryside to a house they designed and built themselves. Of course, the children's lifestyle changed drastically: now there is always something to do—interior decoration of the house is not yet complete. We asked Marina to share her experience and tell how to build a house quickly and on a budget.

Marina Vagina is an architect-designer expert who talks about home improvement on her Instagram marisabel_v

How they decided to move to the countryside:

We made this decision in September last year. We sold our apartment and built the house over the summer. The ecology here is completely different, and you even sleep differently. I like the feeling of closeness to nature, and the kids are also happy here: they forget about gadgets and spend more time outdoors.

Decided to build the house ourselves:

This was my little dream—to design my own house. I prepared all the drawings, and friends recommended a construction crew. We built a 128 square meter frame house quickly—just three months.

Our house is almost entirely wooden: frame made of pine + insulation. The facade and interior finishing are done with faux brick (also pine), and the ceiling is also wooden. We fully entrusted material procurement to a construction company and didn’t regret it.

As a result, on the first floor we have a kitchen-living room, hall, and hallway, a bathroom, and a utility room. On the second floor—children's bedroom, a bedroom, and a bathroom. This floor is a mansard, so the ceiling height at the highest point is 4000 mm.

Total budget:

We spent four million rubles on building the house and its interior finishing. I decided to conduct an experiment: build a beautiful and comfortable home with minimal costs. Everything is going according to plan!

All expenses for the house can be viewed in the estimate by clicking the link.

Where we managed to save:

We did some of the work ourselves. For example, interior finishing: after moving into the house we immediately laid laminate on both floors, installed plumbing fixtures, put in a kitchen, and moved in. Now I paint the walls myself (they are made of faux brick with water-based impregnation, so there are no smells), install doors and baseboards.

It was harder with windows: only one company agreed to make panoramic windows. My husband and friends handled the installation themselves—his previous experience as a contractor helped. It turned out great, and it’s not cold in winter.

On the roof, we also saved money—metal roofing is cheap. The structure is also simple—a standard gable roof.

Also, I prepared the design project myself and planned all the furniture in advance. We buy it gradually as the budget allows. A lot was purchased at discounts and promotions. Some items were found in IKEA.

It was harder with decor: I often find interesting things in unassuming stores. Most items are made by ourselves from affordable materials, mostly wood.

5 tips for everyone who wants to build a house themselves:

1. Only work with verified companies, check their portfolio, and talk to previous clients.
2. Prepare the design project yourself or with a designer to avoid mistakes.
3. Monitor prices on finishing materials—stores often run sales.
4. Take some of the work on yourself, for example, painting walls—it helps save money.
5. Learn more about construction.