Mired in mess? Crowded by clutter? Always losing your keys? You’re not the only one. But Christmas is coming – and with it the snowstorm of chaos and clutter.

Before you have a panic attack, there is a coach to help you get your house – and mind – in order.

Organiser and home stylist Clare Parrack is holding an event called Declutter Your Christmas in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and Anxiety UK this Wednesday (November 27).

And, with a bit of luck and encouragement, your home could be an oasis of calm in time for advent.

“Christmas is a recipe for stress,” says Clare, 55, who lives in Hanborough Close, Eynsham. “The adverts have started descending on us and the pressure is on.

“Women especially are lumbered with this drive to make sure everything is ‘perfect’ which is incredibly unhelpful. There’s this mythical belief that if you make the perfect mince pies, and buy everyone beautiful presents, everything will be great. We have smaller homes and less money, so the challenge is even harder.

“But really, Christmas is about spending time with the people you love – if you’re lucky! – and not all the stuff you’re doing and buying.

“I try to help people simplify things, prioritise, and ask them what they can leave out. It’s about letting go, really, and allowing you to get organised, have fun and hold on to your sanity.”

Clare is mum of one (her son Matthew is a performer and photographer) and a journalist – whose first job was as Abingdon reporter on the Oxford Mail, for which she moved from Sussex to Oxfordshire in 1979 and has stayed ever since. She started considering a career change after redesigning and redecorating her own house “within an inch of its life”.

“My husband Martin is wary of going away on business as something has always changed when he comes home,” admits Clare.

While researching interior design courses, Clare found Ann Maurice, television’s original House Doctor, was offering courses in home staging – a concept she had brought from the United States. Far from the stern matron you may have seen on-screen, Clare found Ann a warm-hearted and inspiring coach.

“The practical element of it appealed to me and I liked the idea of coming up with creative but cost-effective ideas to help owners sell their homes, particularly in a challenging property market,” says Clare.

“A relative whose house had been on the market on and off for a couple of years was willing to be a guinea-pig, and I spent a day doing some simple tweaks and helped her sell without dropping her price.

“Next I took Ann Maurice’s introductory course aimed at anyone wanting to set up their own ‘home staging’ business, and was hooked. Within six months I had submitted enough projects to qualify as a consultant on her UK House Doctor Network.”

Clare started her own business – Clarify Interiors – and joined the operations team of apdo-uk, the UK Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers which represents more than 100 people working in this country. Clare’s staging process – during which she helps people crack those hoarding habits and more – has helped vendors add thousands to the completion price of their homes (one property which cost a little over £3,000 to furnish and reorganise achieved an additional £31k on the sale price).

“Encouraging clients to clear unnecessary clutter is a key part of my home staging business and I became so interested in the psychology of why we ‘hang on to our stuff’ that I developed that part of the business to offer decluttering and home organisation as a separate service,” adds Clare.

"Decluttering is getting rid of all of that stuff that clogs up your home and as a result, clogs up your head too. After a clear-out your home will feel more relaxed and you will feel less stressed.

“Two key questions to ask yourself are: Do I love this? Is this useful to me now? If the answer is no, why are you hanging on to it?”

After helping her elderly mother downsize into a smaller property in 2010, Clare also developed a specialist service called Downsizing Without The Downside.

One woman who called on Clarify’s help is Lee Smith, a divorcee in her mid-50s who had sold her three-bedroom house to move into a one-bed apartment last year. Clare helped Lee plan the layout of her new home so she knew what furniture she could take with her, dispose of unwanted possessions, organise removals, packing and hiring a skip as well as organising storage to make the most of her new, smaller space.

Lee says: “Clare was an angel – the answer to my prayers. She was there for me on moving day to help with all the last-minute organisation.

“I was so glad she was there because an unexpected last-minute financial hitch with the sale meant I had to wait until the following day to move in. Clare immediately offered to put me up for the night in her own home which was a life-saver.”

Interestingly, Clare is keen to point out - and perhaps not too surprisingly - that people expect her to be super-sorted.

“My own home is far from a minimalist house beautiful”, she says, “because my husband cannot resist buying books. But we do have systems and try to stick to them!

“I used to be a clutterbug myself, so I know exactly how stressful it can be. While I was in a very stressful management role with a house to run as well. I was constantly chasing my tail and living in a state of panic. So, I’ve been there.

“If I could give one tip, it would be: don’t hold on to stuff out of guilt. We all do it: whether it’s holding on to outfits that don’t fit in the hope we can slim into them or feeling reluctant to get rid of things because they have some emotional significance or the process feels like a waste.

“But I have managed to get the stress under control and so can you.”

Clarify Interiors’ Declutter Your Christmas is on Wednesday (Nov 27), 7-9.30pm at Eynsham Emporium in Mill Street. £15 (proceeds to charity) including a light supper.clarifyinteriors.co.uk 01865 594955

CLARE’S TOP TIPS

LOTS of us have a grand old clear-out in the New Year, but decluttering BEFORE Christmas to make space for all your gifts, goodies and guests over the festive season can go a long way to creating a welcome sense of peace and goodwill.

Here are my tips to streamline and simplify your Christmas planning to help you save time and money, make your home feel calmer and more spacious, and you feel more in control in the run-up to the festive season.

Make space

BEFORE you go Christmas shopping This sounds obvious but have you ever come home from a marathon gift-buying session for the family then wondered where you’ll ever find space to hide all their presents till the big day? Better to clear the decks before you deck the halls and spend all your lolly. Make time to draw up a master checklist of ALL your seasonal tasks and deadlines – menus, food shopping lists, who you need to get presents for, etc. It beats trying to keep too much in your head, it will almost certainly save you money by avoiding panic-buying in crowded shops – and don’t under-estimate the satisfaction of ticking things off as you get them done!

Reduce the toy mountain

If you’ve got children, they’ll get loads of toys and games for Christmas. Chances are you are struggling to store the ones they’ve already got so enlist their help in making room for what Santa will bring. Either hold a car boot or garage sale and let the kids have the proceeds to buy their own Christmas presents, or give them to charity – children can be very generous if you explain that some other youngsters aren’t as lucky as them, or that their unwanted toys can help animal charities.

Cut the paper trail

Christmas means wrapping paper. Lots of it. But before you rush out and buy rolls and rolls of it, are you sure you haven’t got leftovers from last year? One tip is to buy gold, silver or coloured foil wrapping paper that’s not obviously Christmassy to use for birthdays and more throughout the year.

Avoid decoration distractions

Christmas decorations are the set-dressing that helps create a magical backdrop to the celebrations, but there’s no need to splash out on a new look every year just to fit fashion’s whims. Take a countryside walk and turn hunter-gatherer to harvest some natural decorations that won’t cost you a penny.

And who says you must have a Christmas tree? Why not ring the festive changes this year by hanging decorations on a bunch of interesting twigs in a tall vase and adding a string of simple fairy lights.