Monica from 'Friends' has got nothin' on me.

The prospect of a visit from our next door neighbour has sent me into a sustained cleaning/tidying frenzy of late. We got talking through the back fence a while ago and she invited me in to her gaff for a cup of tea, and I was absolutely floored by how immaculate her house was. I mean, the idea of a visitor (other than Himself's dad) casually dropping by without at least a few hours advance notice makes me feel a bit woozy. And now I'm all freaked out that her next door will pop in on spec some day and the terribly untidy house I inhabit will be the talk of the estate.

We don't have all that much in the way of storage space and I'm a terrible hoarder, so little piles of things to be filed/chucked tend to bloom in unfortunately visible places like the dining room table/chairs or, um, the corners of the sitting room.

It's all a bit Miss Havisham, just slightly less cobwebby.

I can't even blame Himself (although, needless to say, I do my very level best) because most of the stuff in the house is mine, and I don't really know where to put lots of it. Like, I have reams of wrapping paper and bubble wrap and tissue paper and ribbon and cards stuffed into two big red and white Avoca bags in the spare room, because there is quite seriously nowhere else for them to go. Under the beds are already full of shoes and handbags and bikinis and skiing gear, and it's a bit too bloody hassle-full to have to get into the attic any time I need to lap a present.

Anyway, I came across a, ehem, top tip in the current edition of LivingEtc while I was waiting for the freshly mopped floors to dry, which I scanned tout de suite for you. If, like me, you are short of storage space and are wondering where on earth to keep cleaning essentials like a duster or brush or flyswatter, you will be delighted to see this eminently sensible suggestion.

As Feargal Quinn would say: WOW.