FINDING HAPPINESS

There really are some of life’s little pick-me-ups that money can’t buy. Four famous women reveal what puts a smile on their face…

Four celebrities reveal what makes them content

‘Moving furniture around is like therapy’

It’s the simple things in life that matter to KIRSTIE ALLSOPP, who is at her happiest pottering around at home…

Just being at home really cheers me up. I travel a lot for my work – all around the country – so I spend quite a few nights staying in hotels. I love my job but I’ve never liked being away from home. I always suffered from homesickness when I was a child, and it’s something that I still suffer from now.

I love walking the dog, cooking… normal domestic stuff. There’s a difference between relaxing and winding down. I wind down in the bath with my tablet and something like Call The Midwife, The Good Wife or The West Wing. But I relax by tidying up, fidgeting around the house and changing things – basically nesting.

I love having a furniture rejig. To me, moving furniture around is like therapy. We tend to live with all our things in the same places, and even when we move house, we will put our furniture all in the same arrangement. My sister once said moving the furniture around is so satisfying it should be prescribed on the NHS, and I think it should, too! That said, I will do myself an injury one day attempting to move stuff on my own – I got stuck under an armchair recently!

You need to own what you enjoy, because one of the worst things about being a woman is guilt. I have been working with Channel 4 and Cancer Research UK’S campaign, Stand Up To Cancer. It’s amazing what women can feel guilty and anxious about. Being guilt-free is an ambition and an aim for lots of us. Having the long view is also quite important, whatever stage you’re in. Remember, you’re not going to be in that stage for ever.