Michelle Kuek and Adriel Leo with their three cats and newborn son, as their home adapts to a growing family (Photos: Michelle Kuek)
When they welcomed a baby boy this February, Michelle Kuek and Adriel Leo had already been sharing their four-room BTO flat in Tampines with three cats — Gatsby, Sophie and Mumford — for three years.
With the family growing, the couple, in their early 30s and working in marketing and media production, has since been making gradual adjustments to how they live and use their space.
It is perhaps no surprise that visitors tend to ask the same question the moment they step inside the couple’s home: “How do you manage?”
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From left: Mumford, Gatsby and Sophie at different corners of the home (Photos: Kendra Tan/EdgeProp Singapore)
Kuek pauses when asked the question, as there is no single way to explain it.
“From the outside it looks a bit chaotic,” she says. “People see the cats, then they see the baby, and they immediately assume it must be very hard to keep the house clean or to manage everything.”
Friends gathering in the dining area while Mumford rests on the cat wall (Photo: Kendra Tan/EdgeProp Singapore)
The couple got their keys in December 2022 and completed their renovation by July 2023, at a stage when having children was part of the plan — but perhaps only several years down the road.
The renovation reflected their lifestyle and preferences at the time. One common room’s wall was hacked to expand the living area, creating a larger space for hosting friends and movie nights. Another room was kept as a study, as both Kuek and Leo had hybrid work arrangements.
“We knew we wanted kids eventually,” says Kuek. “But when we were renovating, we were thinking more about how we were living right there and then. For example, we liked having a bigger living room for movie nights, so we went ahead with it. We just assumed we would figure things out later.”
Kuek and Leo's living room. A common room’s wall was hacked to expand the living area. (Photos: Kendra Tan/EdgeProp Singapore)
Having lived with their three cats for a few years, the couple were also familiar with their routines by then.
“We already knew their patterns quite well, such as where they like to sit, how they move around the house and what they will scratch or try to get into. So when we were planning the renovation, we kept all these things in mind,” says Leo.
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The couple estimates they spent about $500 on these cat-friendly additions, most of which were sourced online (Photos: Kendra Tan/EdgeProp Singapore)
When Kuek became pregnant in 2025, the couple did not make major changes to the flat. Instead, they adjusted as issues came up.
The plastic cat flap on the bedroom door, for instance, was eventually replaced with fabric after the noise became disruptive.
The couple used a piece of fabric (left) to replace the plastic cat flap (right) (Photos: Kendra Tan/EdgeProp Singapore)
“I used to be able to sleep through almost any noise. Somehow, that changed when I became pregnant. I started becoming sensitive to the tiniest sounds, and the plastic flap from the cat door really started to annoy me,” Kuek says with a chuckle.
The couple only began noticing potential child hazards around the flat when friends visited with young children. Items that had once been unremarkable — such as the cats’ water fountain, litter box and feeding areas — turned out to be things the children were quick to reach for.
“They were very curious and touched everything,” Kuek says. “That’s when I realised we hadn’t really planned for that.”
In the master bathroom, the couple had also installed a built-in bathtub, intended as a place of relaxation. Getting into the bathtub requires stepping over the side — this was not something the couple had minded before, but after Kuek gave birth, it started to feel more inconvenient.
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For now, the couple have not made major childproofing changes, as their son is still too young to move around independently. But the experience has already shifted how they think about their space, and they have started planning ahead.
Part of the study was converted into a nursery. The room is now shared between the baby and a smaller workspace. (Photo: Kendra Tan/EdgeProp Singapore)
Shortly before the baby was born, part of the study — the only remaining enclosed room — was converted into a nursery.
While the earlier decision to remove one bedroom had created a more generous living area, it left the couple with fewer options for their space planning once the baby arrived.
“If we had kept that extra room, it would have been a lot easier,” Kuek says.
Gatsby, Leo and the infant (Photo: Michelle Kuek)
When asked what they would have done differently with the flat’s renovation, with the benefit of hindsight, both Kuek and Leo say they would not have hacked off the walls to the common room.
At the same time, some of the initial choices have actually proven to be unexpectedly practical. For instance, the absence of built-in carpentry in the study made it easier to clear and convert the space into the nursery. Also, the furniture they chose for the home already have rounded edges, which now make their home safer for a child.
Today, the flat feels slightly more cluttered, but the couple's priorities have shifted. Their home has taken on a new rhythm, shaped by the balance between familiar routines and the demands of a growing family.
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