I am a neat hoarder. Is that my secret superpower?

Tidy hoarding is minimalism minus mental clutter — and it opens up space for a full life.

- Lee Siew Hua

When I briefed my interior designer, I had amassed enough Pinterest boards and crunched sufficient numbers to decisively convey the clean lines and chill vibes I imagined for my new apartment. I detailed my budget, discussed each room's functional needs.

Let's maximise the natural light in the small space, I said. Plan accents of my favourite blues and greens, in harmony with the unblocked views outside the windows: Sky, splashes of greenery and sea in the distance. Create Zoom-ready work corners in the study and living room.

We can build storage for everything, I suggested. While my wardrobe was compact, I craved abundant, hidden spaces for books, documents, electronics, luggage, sports gear, skincare, cleaning supplies, cookware and the memories of a lifetime. All within the cosy confines of a 678-sq ft apartment.

Jackie, always plainspoken, summed up my design spiel: "All I'm hearing is, 'I want storage'."

She was right. I didn't really have to spell out every proclivity before she directed her carpenters to conjure up savvy storage for this book lover, traveller, sportswoman-hopeful, beautyholic, neat nerd and sentimentalist.

She intuited that her client is a dabbler in many things, yearning to live fully within a compact apartment in seriously space-crunched Singapore.

And so Jackie got it, a couple of years before I discovered the "neat hoarder" concept. That happened the other day when I was workshopping my column with two Opinion editors, describing how I love a tidy home even as I always conceal voluminous mementos behind closed doors.

"I am a neat hoarder," I found myself saying, for the first time.

MONICA'S SECRET CLOSET That oxymoron reminded one of them of hyper-organised Monica from the American television comedy series, Friends (1994-2004). In the episode The One With The Secret Closet, her husband Chandler wonders what's inside a locked closet by their bathroom.