before

Project 1: The Workspace. We share a tabletop that is roughly two-and-a-half by four feet. The only thing on the table that belongs to him, pretty much, is his laptop. Behind my side is a bookshelf, which as you can see is overflowing and disorganized. Desired end: Only our laptops and the Scratch Paper / Writing Implement basket should sit atop the table. (The basket has to be there. My laptop has a terminal spinal injury and so cannot hold up its own head.) As for my half of the bookshelf, it should hold only the most important reference books and supplies on the top two shelves; bottom two shelves still undecided.

Project 2: The bathroom shelf. Scott has no stake whatsoever in this space. The mess is totally and completely mine. The steamer is taking up lots of space at the moment, as is a box of the one "beauty tool" that, were I ever stopped by the good people at Midweek and asked what bath/body product I could not live without, I would share: Qtips. There are also way too many eyeshadows, several types of makeup remover, hair stuff. I spy a bottle of doggie shampoo under the Bathroom Book of the Week, Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father. Desired end: Throw out 20 percent of my makeup, get everything else in some kind of order. That's it.

Project 3: A great big honkin' pile of laundry. There is also dirty laundry hidden in the closet, which you can't see in the photo. There are miscelleneous piles sitting around the bedroom waiting, asking, begging to be washed. I will probably find articles of clothing Scott hasn't seen since he moved in in 2006. There are towels, sheets, blankets, and pet linens desperately in need of a good shakeout and severe washing. There are small stacks of things that were washed at some point, and even folded, but that I neglected to put away and were adopted by the cat as a temporary bed. Laundry, laundry everywhere. Desired end: Wash it.

Project 4: Bedside. That weird metal table/TV stand/thing is something I picked up from Ross on a whim. Don't buy furniture from Ross (or anywhere) on a whim. Think about it long and hard and really imagine it sitting in a very specific location in your house. Because I failed to consider such commonsensical notions, I now have to live with a pseudo-sleigh standing in for a nightstand next to my bed. Oh sure, I could get an actual nightstand, but that leaves the problem of disposing of or (more likely) finding a new use for the sleigh. In this mini-project there are also a lamp and a small bookshelf to deal with. Desired end: Find a more appropriate space for the binders hanging out next to my bed, prioritize and get rid of crap sitting on the sleigh.

Project 5: Hallway. Those dark lumps are Hefty garbage bags filled with clothes to be donated, clothes that I want to keep that just won't fit in the bedroom, clothes we never got around to washing, etc. Near the door is the shoe rack. Beloved shoes. Desired end: get rid of some bags. Find a better place for the hamper. Play with shoes because that is fun. Er, I mean, organize shoes and get rid of the really old, worn out ones. The short of it: take back the hallway.