Last week I was talking with my sister and she asked me if we had ever considered downsizing since we have this big house for just the two of us, “And I don’t know how you manage to keep it clean.”

I laughed hollowly because, yes, I would love to downsize to a one-floor house with no pool. But outside of having to move for a job the only way I will ever be able to talk the Brit into downsizing is if we can find a place with enough back yard space to build a very, very large workshop so he can keep all of his stuff.

But that’s a matter for another day. When it comes to cleaning the house, I have to admit that I slack a lot of the time unless I know someone’s coming—it’s not filthy or a hoarder house by any means, but I don’t bother that much about dusting every day, and sometimes stuff can build up until I get a wild hair and decide to put everything away.

As of this year, however, I’ve started a Sunday morning ritual that has really stood me in good stead. Now, mind you, this won’t work if you have kids or someone waiting for you to get up but I figure there’s always kibble in the bowls so the cats won’t starve before I can make it downstairs.

Ever Sunday morning, before I leave the bedroom, I clean the master bathroom. We have a fairly large one with a separate little toilet cubicle so this is my cleaning plan:

• Sweep the floors
• Wipe down everything in the toilet cubicle with a damp cloth
• Clean the toilet
• Wipe down the counters/cabinets/tub/shower enclosure/windowsill
• Use the old hand towels to polish the mirrors and dry off anything that’s still damp
• Tie up the cubicle garbage bag and toss; put new bag in the bin
• Empty the litterbox
• Mop the floor (this is a major project because I wash and then rinse, so this is a once-a-month step and the rest of the time I spot clean)

It takes me about thirty minutes, and by the time I’m done the bathroom is sparkling and smells great. I’ve been doing this because for the longest time the master bath received the least attention because it’s one of the rooms only the Brit and I see and I had so many other rooms to clean, not to mention so much other stuff to do. But I finally got fed up with always having hair in the sink and toothpaste spatter on the mirrors so I instigated this ritual. It’s also why I’ve been organizing the bathroom drawers over the last few weeks, and why I’ll be doing something similar to the undersink cabinets in the near future. If nothing else, I will always have one room in my house that my female ancestors will approve of.

So now you know how I start my Sundays. And now if you’ll excuse me, I must go and do the taxes. Whee…