Yvette Van Loo has spent 40 years painting and decorating every inch of her Ainslie home to reflect her colourful personality.
"It's me," she says, looking around her cosy living room.
An open fireplace crackles in one corner, paintings, knick knacks and books are scattered around. A grand piano takes pride of place, dominating the room. Despite the cramped quarters, Ms Van Loo says she couldn't live without the instrument.
However everything changed when an unsigned letter unceremoniously arrived in her mailbox.
The government house the 74-year-old has called home for most of her life has been earmarked for the ACT government's renewal program.
Ms Van Loo and more than 300 tenants like her will be involuntarily relocated, with no clear dates in mind.
Ms Van Loo said she felt like the Sword of Damocles was hanging over her head, ready to drop at any moment.
She said the decision to move people from their homes was "unbelievably cruel".
"They are targeting old people because they think we are defenceless and we are not going to fight back," she said.
"But what's really heartbreaking [is] that they are actually targeting disabled people as well and this isn't acceptable."
One of Ms Van Loo's greatest concerns is where she will be relocated. Her chocolate Labrador, Milo, would not be at home in a small apartment.
"I'm afraid that they are going to offer us flats," she said.
"Can you see a grand piano in a flat with neighbours on top and underneath? They will be delighted when I start playing it at midnight."
Every panel of every door in Ms Van Loo's house has been painted a different bright colour, with most of the wooden furniture handcrafted by the woman herself.
A trained pianist, Ms Van Loo jokes she should have been a woodworker.
"[The government] are not helping with packing and unpacking. I've got thousands of books, I've got to bring the piano but can you imagine me, at 74-years-old, packing the whole lot by myself?" she asked.
Ms Van Loo was keen to disparage the negative stereotype associated with public housing tenants.
"You have to change the picture people have of public housing tenants, because there have been too many horrible, nasty stories about houses being trashed, drug addicts and drug dealing.
"People think it's free. People think we are sponging off the government and we're not paying rent. We are paying 25 per cent of whatever income we have."
Government housing has allowed Ms Van Loo to raise a family and live in relative comfort. She said when she was renting in the private sector she could only afford to live with housemates - a difficult situation when trying to raise children.
However, a place for the family to call their own made all the difference.
"It's not as if we are living in luxury, they are very ordinary houses, very small," she said.
"That's why they gave it to people like me, because nobody wanted to live in Ainslie 40 years ago.
"Nobody wanted to and then little by little the suburb became gentrified."
