Marie Kondo's Home Truths - the tidying guru reveals her home secrets

After I drop off the kids at school, I focus my energy to get all my housework done. This is my favorite time to tidy because it kick-starts my workday and gets me going. I wash the dishes from breakfast and tidy up the kitchen a bit, then do laundry. Then I change out the water for all the single-stem flower vases – I love looking at beautiful flowers – they spark so much joy!

The breakfast nook by the kitchen. I get lots of great natural light from the window and it has a great view into our yard. My family often gravitate towards the kitchen, so it’s a great spot in the house to be in.

To help me relax before going to bed, I have crystals, flowers on my bedside table, as well as a small notebook and pen. Crystals and flowers help me recharge my energy after a long day. I also love seeing them first thing in the morning. I recommend having a small but carefully selected, joy-sparking items in a power spot in your bedroom so you can wake up feeling refreshed every morning.

I have lots of things I love and cherish, but I would have to say scented candles. I like having things with a pleasant scent to cheer me up, get me going or help me relax. My husband is a scent connoisseur and he likes to change up his aroma diffuser throughout the day, depending on if he needs to focus or just enjoy a good book.

My favourite chore, as you might guess, would be folding clothes! My mother taught me that chores are something fun and bring joy and happiness to our family. I love doing all types of chores, but I don’t like it when I don’t have enough time to do them. Right now, with my baby son, it’s been quite tough to get to all of them when I want to, so I turn some chores into a game. My girls and I fold clothes together, it’s like doing origami for them.

Thinking about creative storage solutions! I am a box collector and every time I see a cute box or a sturdy box, big and small, I use my imagination to think of all the items I could store in the box. What’s great about boxes are that the lids turn into trays, so you get double the storage space and they are great to use as a drawer divider.

My donabe (clay pot) that I use every day to cook rice. The first thing I do to prepare breakfast is to cook rice in this special Japanese clay pot, which stirs up a sense of longing and nostalgia for me. I really miss this ritual when I’m away from home.