Ever wonder how something called a vanity can wind up appearing so unkempt and disheveled? If so, pull up a bathroom chair next to Francine Gumkowski. When she and her husband, Michael, bought their house in Old Lyme, Connecticut, 12 years ago, the thing she loved most about the place was the large master bathroom with separate his-and-hers vanity corners. “To have my own space felt like such a luxury,” says Francine, who has two children, Simon, 19, and Nina, 17.

But Francine, a self-confessed makeup junkie, soon realized that her cosmetics had nowhere to go. Everything from contact-lens solution to bottles of lotion and perfume soon covered the counters. She tried to use the cabinet and the drawers to store the bulk of her beauty supplies, but the drawers were too shallow, and the cabinet had pipes that got in the way. In addition, there was no rhyme or reason to Francine’s storage (non)system. “It was impossible to find anything, be it tweezers or medicine, when I needed it,” she says.

Before she had a chance to tackle the problem, Michael became ill. He required a bone-marrow transplant. “At that point, things like decorating didn’t matter to me anymore,” says Francine. “My focus was on him.”

Now, with Michael in better health, she is ready to get her home in order. Her bathroom area, the one space in the house that’s hers alone, is her priority. With a little counter intelligence from Real Simple, Francine created a vanity more than worthy of the name.

What She Likes

The bathroom has two sinks, so she doesn’t have to share with her husband.

There is a separate area for putting on makeup.

The marble counters provide a lot of surface space.

What She Dislikes

Minimal storage relegates many products to the counters.

There’s not enough light for putting on makeup.

The plain white walls have no character.

The Revelation

For Francine Gumkowski, it wasn’t one isolated incident that led to her vanity insanity — it was the knowledge that her bathroom was the only room in the house that she couldn’t get a handle on. Her old habits had made her weary. “Too much choice can be a bad, time-consuming thing,” she says. “No one needs 17 lipsticks.”