He had saved every notebook from law school (20 years ago) and had inherited multiple furniture items from his mother’s home. After some hard decisions about his mother’s furniture, he has been able to make the space his own. In his own words:

I retired after 31 years from higher education administration and teaching as a business faculty member. Being relatively young (age 56) and luckily in good health, with a law degree, I could devote more time to a new career as a professional mediator. The room that Melissa organized (cannot use reorganized as that implies organization) is a multi-purpose guest room and caucus room for use during mediations.

Prior to the organization, the room worked but was embarrassing. The reason being that I refused to "let go" of my need to be surrounded by outdated and obsolete PAPER. Paper can be bound in many forms and stacked in bookshelves to never be used and gather dust and small creatures. I had maintained papers that covered the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's beginning when I was a college student and of course following my years in the work world.

Melissa has a knack to give you the opportunity to realize the word "recycle" is alive and well. For the first time I am proud of my NEW dual purpose caucus/guest room. I might add that the extra space has enhanced the functional aspects, in addition to its aesthetic value.