How Marie Kondo Spends Her Perfect Night In at Home (Yes, Folding Clothes Is Involved)

updated Jan 9, 2020
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Credit: Courtesy of Konmari Media Inc.

Perfect Night In is a series where we ask actors, artists, entrepreneurs, and beyond how they’d spend the ultimate luxury—a blissful evening at home.

KonMari, tokimeku, sparks joy: these words are synonymous with professional organizer Marie Kondo. Through her books, TV show, and all-around magical presence, Kondo has become a friendly face and leading figure in the decluttering biz. But if you’ve followed her journey, you know this is anything but news.

Kondo published her book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” back in 2011, when she first grabbed the world’s attention by the pages. She built up a loyal fanbase who followed her through the second book “Spark Joy,” building an audience as she published and decluttered. But the Netflix series “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” that premiered in Jan. 2019 truly revived the decluttering buzz, drawing new and old fans to her organizing method.

But when she’s not working on KonMari-ing others’—or her own—space, how does she spend her downtime at home? We got an inside look as to what her ideal night in looks like—and yes, some folding is involved.

Set the Scene

Describe your perfect homebody scene in five words: Tidied up, purified, nice aroma.

Are you alone or with someone else? When I really want to relax, I like being alone.

What’s your night-in uniform? White, organic cotton.

What people, dead or alive, would you let crash your night? It would be my grandma. She’s deceased, but she makes me calm, and she makes me relaxed.

Now Playing

TV or a movie? Movie.

What are you watching? A Japanese anime film called “Weathering with You.”

Silence or music? Classical music.

E-books or the real deal? A printed book.

What are you reading? Books by Yoshiko Tatsumi, she writes a lot of philosophy on lifestyle.

Board games: yay or nay? Nay.

What’s Cooking

Order in or cook for yourself? Cooking, every day.

What are you eating? I like cooking Japanese food. I usually use donabe, it’s a special pot made out of clay, and it makes everything delicious. I would make some rice in donabe, and fish oil soup.

What drink are you pouring? White tea, green tea, and matcha.

What’s for dessert? Fruit or Amazake, which literally means sweet sake, but it doesn’t have any alcohol.

Late-night snack? Fruit or Amazake.

Take Care

Do you have a self-care ritual? If I’m tired, I use a tuning fork before I go to bed that gives vibrations in the air and sound. It conditions my body, spirit, and mind.

What do you try to avoid at all costs? It would be great if I could avoid any noise when I’m relaxing. I also want to avoid being cold.

Candles: yay or nay? (if yay, what’s your favorite?) Yay! There’s this manufacturer called Bellocq. They make these amazing candles called Queen’s Guard.

Face masks: yay or nay? Nay.

Bubble bath: yay or nay? Bath salts, sure.

Chores: yay or nay? Yay! Folding clothes.

Ideal bedtime? 10 p.m.