Chmutina was born in Kyiv in 1912. Between 1918 and 1926, she lived with her grandmother in Sverdlovsk region, Russia, subsequently returning to Kyiv. She studied at Kyiv Institute of Engineering and Construction in 1930-1936. Upon graduation, she practiced at the design workshop of All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee and at the Section of Permanent Construction of the Aviation Repair Factory in Kyiv. During the Second World War, she was evacuated to the Urals region and Moscow, subsequently returning to Kyiv.

She graduated from the Doctoral Institute (Institut Aspirantury) of the Academy of Architecture of Ukraine in 1947, defending her doctoral dissertation in 1959. Since 1946, she taught at Kyiv Art Institute, where she became full professor in 1973. In 1960, Chmutina became the head of the Sector of Experimental Design at the Institute of Experimental Design of the Academy of Construction and Architecture of the Ukrainian SSR. Since 1963, she also worked at the Kyiv Zonal Research and Design Institute (KyivZNDIEP).

She was awarded the title of a distinguished architect of Ukraine in 1976 and–one of the very few women ever receiving this honor–the title of a people’s architect of Ukraine in 1987.