Whilst you can't over clutter a small home, there are some beautiful statement objects that are worth making room for. These are on my Christmas list:

Used alongside the bed instead of a bedside table, this cute wall shelf is perfect for helping you to stick to our optical illusion rule, where you maximise visible floor space to make a room appear larger. It's available in a variety of sizes from Pretty Dandy.

Shop fitters are often ahead of the trend when it comes to interior design, so it's always a good idea to pay attention to how they store and display their wares. It may well work really well in your own home. Baines and Fricker's contemporary take on the fruit crate are currently being used in the Paul Smith shop in Borough Market and if it's good enough for Paul, it's good enough for me!
Crafted from birch ply, they are all individually number stamped and are perfect for kids toy storage, magazines or even a vinyl collection.

It's pricey, but in its defence, the Havanah Campaign Dressing Table from Black Orchid Interiors folds up smaller, can also be used as a desk and it's the sort of furniture that's likely to become a family heirloom. Just think of all the things you could put in all those drawers.

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Buying gifts for children who have very little play and storage space is a challenge. Not now. I've done the research for you and found these perfect presents.

It doesn't take much to entertain a baby and often they are more interested in the packaging than the gift, so steer clear of the oversized gimmicky toys. Opt instead for cute colourful objects that stretch all the senses, such as this Giggle Stick which giggles when jiggled.

Toddlers adore undoing and concealing things, so they will love undressing Dasher the Daschound and putting him to bed in his kennel at night.

It will be show time in no time with this Fiesta Crafts puppet show. It fits snuggly into a doorway and there is a great range of puppets to go with it too. 

Toys that fold away into books are fantastic when space is at a premium. Louise Comfort's pop up fairy book series provide hours of amusement and they fold back into standard size books, they are also great to pack when travelling.

These new Carddies are another great un pack and play pack up and away toy. You colour in the figures and scenes and then let your imagination transport you into their world. Sets include football, ballet, cavemen, farm and nativity. 

Kids this age love to make things, the problem is all too often we don't know what to do with their homemade sock puppets, stain glass window collages and cardboard models. So get them making something that will have a function for them after its 'birth'. Such as this Artzooka!  Sketcher Tape Kit, from which they can make a whole landscape play mat scene. 

And, get them using their brains too with Carol Vorderman's Mathable Domino game. The 57-numbered dominos are designed to give the brain a real work-out. £16.99, www.mathablegame.com 

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