WITH Christmas looming and the prospect of your home filling up with guests and presents, now is the moment to impose a little order. While it is probably too late to start building an extension, or even fitting new shelves, there is still time for a good clean out, a thorough purge of all clutter, before yet more of it arrives.

"Life is too short for chaos," says Joanna Copestick and Meryl Lloyd in the introduction to Smart Storage (Ryland Peters & Small, £16.99 sterling).

Choc-full of splendid pictures of impossibly tidy living spaces, its message is that neat living spaces result in stress-free lives.

Yes, but how is it done? Not just by having lots of baskets to store things in the bathroom, or plenty of screw top jars for pasta and pulses in the kitchen.

If only it were that simple. In fact, baskets, boxes, jars and trunks can add to the sense of clutter in a room, and no matter many you have, they tend to fill up alarmingly quickly. Often what is needed is a more lasting, and expensive solution. By far the most impressive rooms in this book are those with walls of concealed storage - sleek floor-to-ceiling cabinets that open to reveal shelves and more shelves for books, toys, magazines and bottles. Free-standing furniture may be more fashionable, but when it comes to concealing the maximum amount of things, with the minimum fuss, it is hard to beat built-in units. The book is at its most useful is when it points to the importance of looking at the potential of architectural spaces, and making the most of alcoves, window recesses and under-stairs areas in terms of storage. It advises that shelves and cupboards be recessed around doors, high up on walls, into alcoves, attics, and any other wasted spaces in the house.

But, while you are waiting for the carpenter to finally show up, there are some things you can do. Go through drawers and cupboards one at a time and mercilessly cull your clutter. Huge satisfaction can be derived from sorting through motley items and either throwing them out, or grouping them together so that they are easy to reach. Don't be distracted by old photographs or 10-year old diaries as you go. Keep only the necessary and the beautiful, the book says. And wait for a sense of calm to descend.