A well-made bed is a good thing

This year, Martha Stewart wants you to make your bed every day and change your sheets every week.

And if you have any time left over, you can try the hundreds of other tips covered in her new 744-page tome, “Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook” (Clarkson Potter, $45).

And yes, she insists that she still does chores like ironing and vacuuming.

Q: Your book weighs more than four pounds. Why so huge?

A: Well, it’s an important book. It’s an encyclopedic look at the home, its rooms and the challenges we face in those rooms, in terms of cleaning, organizing, maintaining and evolving. And that’s why. I actually modeled the idea of the book on “Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management” that was written in 1861, and that book has many more pages. We were able, with a very good design, to consolidate a lot of pages into the 744 you see.

Q: I think some of your fans might have a hard time picturing you scrubbing or ironing.

A: Then they don’t know me at all, because I was brought up doing that. I have been doing that for my entire life. I am an expert in it and that’s why I wrote this book.

Q: Are there some chores you still do yourself?

A: I live alone with all my animals and I do many chores every single day. I like ironing. I like vacuuming. I like dusting. I like window washing. I like organizing. … I like all those things.

Q: Your book’s daily to-do list includes making the bed. Is there any room for negotiating that to once a week?

A: To make the bed? No!

Q: You’re firm on that?

A: You don’t have to change the sheets every day. Making the bed is just making it tidy, pulling the sheets tight, fluffing the comforter and the pillows and making it nice, so that tonight when you get home and want to go to bed, you don’t have to get into a disgustingly rumpled bed.

Q: In the past few years, you’ve had a lot of fresh starts and new projects. Do you have any advice for people who want to make fresh starts in 2007?

A: It’s easier than you think. People kind of get in ruts and they’re fearful of making a change, and I have a little motto that I often say to people: “When you’re through changing, you’re through.” … You have to be able to be versatile. You have to sort of go with the flow sometimes. You have to be persistent in change.

The birthday bunch

Comedian Don Novello (Father Guido Sarducci) is 64. Rapper Grandmaster Flash is 49. Actress Dedee Pfeiffer (“Cybill”) is 43. Actor Morris Chestnut (“The Brothers”) is 38. Actor Verne Troyer (“Austin Powers”) is 38.