When Walls Fall, and Dreams Rise: A Gentle Journey Through Apartment Renovation

Every home has a beginning. Not always from joy — sometimes from dust, from peeling walls, from echoes in empty rooms. Renovation is not just a project. It is a return to possibility, a rebuilding of space and self.

This is a story not just about steps and structure. This is a story about that soft courage — the one that carries you through cracked tiles, bare walls, and the deep desire to belong somewhere again. Let's walk through it… one quiet layer at a time.

The Fall: Demolition and Dismantling

The first breath of change often begins with chaos. The hammer against the old wall, the sound of something being undone. This is where we start — with the removal of what no longer holds us.

Broken partition walls, crumbling ceiling coatings, dusty floor coverings — all of them must go. It's messy. Loud. Tiring. But essential.

And then comes the windows — replacing the old ones before beauty begins. The new window blocks are mounted, windowsills fitted, and immediately shielded with polyethylene and fiberboard. We protect them from scratches like we protect new dreams: wrapped, covered, cared for.

Wiring the Bones of the Future

Before light can shine, wires must run like veins beneath the skin of the home. Electrical wiring is installed either inside walls or along the floor, hidden within protective piping — a quiet guardian of safety and reliability.

These pipes allow wires to be replaced in the future without breaking through the walls. It is foresight, stitched into plaster.

But it must be planned with intention — the number of outlets, the location of switches, all traced in the design project. Forgetting a single cable before painting is like forgetting to write the last line of a poem. Mistakes at this stage ripple through time.

Alongside power, we lay out what connects us: TV cables, telephone lines, internet feeds. They must not run too close together — interference is real, in cables and in people.

The Long Wait: Painting and Plastering

Once wires are silent beneath the walls, it's time for hands to sculpt. Painting begins — slowly, patiently, often in all rooms at once. This is the longest phase. Not because it's difficult, but because good things take time.

Every layer of plaster must dry fully before another is laid. Moisture meters check each surface — ensuring that no haste ruins the finish.

Simultaneously, in the kitchen and bathrooms, rough plumbing work begins. Welding. Pipe runs. Wall chasing. Steam radiator fittings. It's the behind-the-scenes magic, the foundation of comfort later felt but never seen.

She stood not just between walls — but between who she was and who she was becoming.

Water, Fire, and Ceramics: Bathrooms and Kitchens

Next, the bath is gently set into place. The walls are smoothed. Tiles kiss the surface. From the ceiling to the floor, layers of ceramic begin to hold the warmth of water and steam.

Mixers. Accessories. Pipes. Taps. They find their place quietly — never asking for applause, only function.

This is not glamour. This is resilience, sealed into porcelain.

Electric Breath: Finishing the Wiring

Once the structure is in place, voltage runs like breath through the body of the home. Outlets are tested, wires insulated, terminals set in place. Yet switches and socket faces are still hidden — untouched, unspoiled.

Walls are puttied with care. Smooth again. Awaiting color, texture, presence.

The Ground Beneath: Filling the Floors

This stage depends on the chosen material. From cheap cement-sand mixtures that take 40 days to dry, to the more elegant self-leveling compounds that harden in just 15.

In some homes, warmth is built into the floor — literally. Underneath the surface, heating systems are embedded like quiet comfort waiting to rise upward on cold mornings.

Dry alignments, adjustable batten floors — all designed for stability and silence. So the home never creaks, even in solitude.

Doors and Ceilings: Framing the New

After the floors are ready, door frames are installed. But doors themselves are often removed or wrapped in polyethylene — because beauty must be protected before it is revealed.

Ceilings are painted. Tiles are laid where needed. And always, always, the surface must be dry before each step — because nothing good begins in haste.

Layers of Living: Floor Finishes and Walls

Floor finishes vary: laminate, parquet, block wood. Each one has its ritual.

If you're laying laminate or parquet boards — wallpaper is pasted first. But for block parquet, the sequence is reversed: first the wood, then one coat of lacquer, then wallpaper, and finally the final lacquer coats.

Why? Because the dust of scraping — even with a vacuumed grinder — clings to everything. And some kinds of dust are harder to wash away…

The Final Touches: Where the Heart Moves In

Then come the skirting boards, the decorative trims, the curtain rods, the last light switches. Doors are hung again. The gaps are sealed. The quiet begins to return.

This is the moment when a house starts becoming a home. Not because it's perfect — but because it has been touched, repaired, lived in, and loved.

A Final Note on the Unwritten Rules

This sequence isn't universal. Life isn't. Depending on the space, your time, your budget, your energy — things shift. And that's okay.

Renovation is not a checklist. It is a dialogue. Between you and the walls. Between you and who you're becoming. There will be dust. There will be noise. There will be days when you want to give up. But there will also be that moment — the first time you sit on the floor, in silence, in your newly rebuilt space — and realize:

This… is mine now. I made this.

And that… is a kind of healing you'll never forget.