Having grown up in a studio apartment, Jade drew from her personal experience and maximised the potential of a 2-room BTO flat in Sengkang.
During one of their first meetings, Jackie and Tobbie gifted Jade a Swiss army knife—a souvenir from their trip to Switzerland and a metaphor for their vision for their home.
“A pocket army knife is something I always carry around with me, and I love how multiple tools fit neatly in my pocket. I geek out over things that are compact and multi-functional, and that was how I envisioned our space to be,” said Jackie.
Jade resonated with the brief immediately. Raised in a studio apartment, the founder of Knock Knock Studio has been making small spaces work long before embarking on a career in interior design.
“Growing up in a small home made me love interior design because I know how much it can improve one’s quality of life. When my siblings and I moved out of our parents’ studio apartment and redid their place, I could see how happy it made them,” Jade said.
Jade wasn’t just a great fit for the job because of her expertise; she also clicked with Jackie and Tobbie, and the trio quickly became friends. They conceptualised the one-bedroom apartment over casual hangouts, from picnics at Upper Peirce Reservoir to a short trip to Bali.
“I knew we had found our ID when Jade didn’t just say yes to everything we wanted,” said Jackie. “We trusted each other’s creative visions and weren’t afraid to push each other. A lot of what you see here is the product of one party asking “what if?” and the other taking things further.”
Form, function, and fun
While most interior design projects balance form and function, this trio introduced another dynamic: fun. To them, good design doesn’t just look good and work well; it should also bring playfulness into everyday life.
At the end of the entryway, you’ll find a suspended shelf made from racking beams and coated in cobalt blue. What looks like storage space to the untrained eye is actually an exercise corner.
“We knew we wanted a pull-up bar, but we didn’t want our house to look like a gym. So we made it look a bit more inconspicuous by adding it to the shelf,” Jackie explained.
This was just the beginning of Jackie and Tobbie’s fondness for dual-purpose pieces. To maximise space, they custom-built what they call “side-hustle furniture.”
In the kitchen, for instance, a serving trolley multitasks as a roving worktop and a laundry basket—deployed when food preparation gets messy and stowed away when not in use. Though it looks compact, installation wasn’t straightforward, and they had to extend one of the kitchen walls to make room. But it all paid off.
“It wasn’t something that was high on my list, but after living here for a while, I appreciate that our dirty laundry can be kept out of sight,” Tobbie shared.
In the living room, a part of the TV console moonlights as a storage unit and a roving bench. Crafted with plywood and finished in veneer, it expands the seating capacity of the dining table, accommodating up to eight guests when extended.
What sets Jackie and Tobbie’s living room apart isn’t just their ingenuity but the way it’s imbued with what they love: Jackie’s work as an illustrator, gifts from her artist friends, and knick-knacks from around the world. A jiu-jitsu instructor, Tobbie’s passion is also showcased on their gallery wall.
“We framed up the jiu-jitsu belts that I’ve worn over the years. Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of the journey I’ve had with the sport,” said Tobbie.
Unsurprisingly, this was named their favourite of the house.
Making every inch count
Shopping for a sofa for such a small space was no easy feat, and a difference of 10 cm could mean giving up a coffee table altogether. By a stroke of luck, they found a discontinued IKEA sofa on a second-hand marketplace. It fits like a glove and doubles up as a queen-sized bed, transforming the living room into a guest room at will.
On the other side of the steel door, the bedroom features a meticulously planned built-in wardrobe. Near the entrance, a narrow open cabinet with shallow drawers provides easy access to frequently worn clothes. The rest of the wardrobe has sliding doors to keep the walkway between the wardrobe and the queen-sized bed unobstructed.
Similarly, to make the bathroom appear larger, they chose hexagonal shower enclosures instead of L-shaped screens, which would have been intrusive when the door swings outwards. Glossy, medium-sized tiles were used to create depth, complemented by ambient lighting for an elevated look and feel.
“Once, when I was brushing my teeth, I stared at the alignment and noticed how detailed the tilers had been. I still text Jade every now and then to let her know how grateful we are to have had her work on our home.”
According to Jade, the unparalleled rapport with Jackie and Tobbie helped her understand her best work methods and empowered her to improve processes at Knock Knock Studio.
On a personal level, this project had been just as rewarding.
“I love that something that I wasn’t proud of, like staying in a 48 sqft studio apartment with my family, has become something I appreciate a lot. I used to hide it, but now, I’m proud to talk about it.”
