Every homeowner who joins the makeover contest shares a story about his or her home and life. Real Living often receives stories about hardship or sacrifice or about building a home out of love for their family. But the letter we got from this makeover contestant was truly different.

The homeowner related how he and his wife saved up to buy their small apartment in a housing unit within Fort Bonifacio, only to have their hopes dashed in an instant. After being implicated in a coup against the government, the homeowner spent almost three years in military detention. Luckily, he was pardoned and was granted a government loan after five years of renting. "We are very happy about it even though it is just a bare place to live in."

Though the unit was appropriately sized for the young family, the home exhibited several "offenses:" ill-proportioned furniture pieces, poor layout, and inadequate storage space, among others. Seeing these problems, Real Living sentenced the home to a makeover and sent interior designer Vivian Gacad to do the job of redoing the place.

Check out the gallery to see how the makeover turned out.

Get more home makeover ideas from the July issue of Real Living Philippines, out on stands now! You can also subscribe to the magazine's digital edition.

Also in this issue:
Five Essential Pieces
27 Furniture Picks
3 of Our Favorite Homes Revisited

(First published as "Back to the Barracks" in the "Real Makeover" section of Real Living Philippines' December 2009 issue. Words by Coni Tejada. Styling by Issa Villar. Photography by Miguel Nacianceno. Adapted for use in Female Network.)