SOME people are born organisers, some achieve organisation and some have organisation thrust upon them. But whatever your personal style, help is at hand as clutter and storage control comes into its own. Writer Katherine MacAlister enrolled the help of Oxfordshire interior designer Kathy Colman to find out where to start. Clutter is like a disease: it spreads, grows and engulfs everything in its path. Those of us in the advanced stages are affected in every aspect, from handbags to underwear drawers, wardrobes to toys.

An inability to throw anything away is just one of the symptoms.

So before you launch your clutter-free zone campaign, get ruthless. It's time to make some vital decisions.

Kathy Colman, from Islip, has worked with everyone from students to the very rich over the past 15 years, so she is accustomed to every budget.

As a feng shui expert she is the queen of uncluttered interiors, believing that mess and junk block the flow of energy around a house.

She said: "Today's lifestyles are so stressful that homes need to give as much comfort, nurturing and peace as possible. They can't if they're full of clutter.

"It makes people feel so much better when there is some sort of order in their lives and they feel more organised about everything."

But she warned: "Before you buy anything, measure the space. I know that sounds obvious but people often see something they want, buy it and then find it doesn't fit." Here are Kathy's top ten tips to suit every pocket:

If you are a homeowner it's often worth getting storage built-in.

If you are decorating, take everything out and replace only the very sentimental and useful. Get rid of the rest - and be ruthless.

Alcoves are ideal for clothes storage. Shelves or a hanging rod can be hidden by a curtain. Kathy recommends builders' dust sheets in natural cotton, which can also be machine-dyed to suit any room.

Bathrooms are often crying out for storage. Hanging kitchen baskets or small tiered wicker chests are ideal for toiletries.

TVs and videos are often terrible mess perpetrators. Video boxes are great, or you can spray your own shoeboxes. Photographs, if not in an album, should also be stored in boxes, which can look great stacked in any room.

Hangers for clothes and shoes are available in DIY shops to help store things in even the tiniest wardrobe.

Shelves can change a room. Books should always be displayed, but Kathy advises painting shelving the same colour as the walls and letting ornaments create the colour. Again, DIY flatpacks are a cheaper option than ready-made shelving.

Documents can be kept in sprayed file boxes.

Many houses no longer have cupboards under the stairs. Instead a weighted curtain in an alcove can hide a multitude of sins.

In the kitchen, storage jars and vegetable racks all add to the atmosphere. But pick a theme and stick to it - such as bright, old or metal.

For those with a little more cash to spare, Kathy can design storage and recommend a local craftsman to build it. She can be reached on 0850 705874. The golden rules to stay tidy THERE are a few golden rules of decluttering. Among them are:

If you haven't worn or used it for more than a year, chuck it or give it to charity. If you go to a car boot sale, do it that weekend, otherwise you'll never get around to it. And throw out anything that doesn't sell - no-one wants it!

Don't put your throwaways in a separate junk bag and then store that.

The following items are junk: headphones for aeroplanes, your first pair of glasses, four glasses cases, a candle shaped like a mouse, ten years' worth of old birthday cards and letters. Keep only the very important ones and put them in a mini bureau or briefcase.

Keep all your important papers and bank statements in a divided folder and chuck the rest. You only need documents regarding your present car, for example - the rest can go.

Do the same for your other half, but don't make the mistake of showing them what you're throwing out or you'll face the "You can't throw that out, I wore it in my first rugby game 30 years ago" tantrum.

If drawers are bulging with T-shirts and sweatshirts you never use, chuck out the old or unfashionable ones. At least you'll be able to open the drawers and use what's left.

Make sure clothes are accessible or they'll never be worn. This may mean investing in one of the numerous, clever storage ideas currently flooding the market. Not only do they jazz up the room, but they also make life much easier.

Don't keep books you're not likely to re-read. If they are overflowing, build a bigger bookshelf or put new shelves in guest bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.

As for all those storage boxes you've got dotted about the house, are they accessible? Can you even remember what's in them? If not, sort them out. Have one for toys, one for linen and so on, and put them in an appropriate place. A box of jumpers in the guest room will never be opened, not least because you don't get changed in there.

Designate a clutter-free day. Banish everyone from the house and start as you mean to go on. Work from room to room, starting with the worst.

Put a board up in the kitchen for all those vital pieces of paper that float around the house.

If you have more cutlery and plates than you need, get rid of them, especially if they don't match the rest. Dump gadgets you never use.

If you've kept something to mend, do it now or chuck it.

Look at the space in your house and think how it can be better used. Drawers under the bed, shoe space hangers, a coat stand, hooks on the backs of doors and so on can help a lot.

If you've got children, especially young ones, now is the time to change. Clutter not only makes your life harder, but your habits are subconsciously passed on. Disorganisation has been proved to be a learned failing, rather than inherited. Get several large wicker or colourful plastic baskets or boxes to put toys, nappies and general kids' debris in. Always sort out the toys. Kids can't play with them if they are missing a vital piece, so keep on top of it. If your kids have simply grown out of their toys and you're reluctant to throw them away, donate them to a Scope shop in Banbury, Summertown or Cowley for the annual November Toy Fayre.

Store shopping bags compactly in a material tube hung on the back of a door. Keep receipts and guarantees in a little folder stored in a drawer.

Store suitcases and unpack anything as quickly as possible. Do not leave it for weeks in the hall. Sylvester's in Little Clarendon Street had some great storage ideas. The bright pink and blue video boxes cost £7.50 each.

The Donald Duck feet CD rack post £55.95

The sea grass drawers £87.50. The wicker basket cost £66.99

The wooden boxes cost from £23.95 to £34.95

At Central, in Little Clarendon Street, the Philippe Stark waste paper basket or storage/stool cost £45

The shelves cost £395 and the large basket £97.50 Great mail order storage contacts:

The Holding Company 0171 610 9160

The Cotswold Company 0990 502233

Muji 0171 494 1197

Habitat 0645 334433

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.