Imagine a bookshelf, filled with only the books you love, says Kondo. (She's literally talking about a bookshelf, not speaking metaphorically. This section was all about organizing your books, but it's so applicable to beauty products.) I believe my exact sticky note annotation was, "!!!!!" because my mind was blown.

It's a beautiful image, and this perfectly curated bookshelf became the emblem, the symbol of my journey. I began imagining a bathroom, filled with only products I cherished. It was that extra boost of adrenaline that got me over the finish line.

You can't hold me back any more, products. That bathroom is where I start my day; I do my hair, apply my eyeliner, sip my coffee and sometimes even eat breakfast while I'm getting ready. Being surrounded by clutter and mountains of beauty products was just adding unnecessary stress to an already high-stress situation (have I mentioned I'm not exactly a morning person?).

By Kondo's calculations, if I've done this correctly, the amount of products I have should fit perfectly in my bathroom. Her philosophy is that you reach equilibrium: a balance between what you keep and the amount of space you have. There are no more bags and boxes shoved underneath my sink, and everything fits onto my shelves and side table, so I'm considering myself successful.

Kondo doesn't believe in fancy organization compartments (no need to take a trip to The Container Store or spend hours on Pinterest) -- instead, she recommends shoe boxes. These ended up being a nice way to store my nail polishes and makeup -- I even created a skin care box.

While my final organization could use some work (I guess I have an excuse to buy some more shoes -- strictly so I have more storage containers, of course), I ended up tossing two garbage bags of unusable products, and filled two large shopping bags with products to give away. I may not have done it perfectly, but the not-so-simple act of tidying up my bathroom resulted in a space that makes me feel happy when I enter it. I'm quivering with excitement and fear at the prospect of tackling the rest of my apartment.