diff --git a/Guardfile b/Guardfile
index dc386d72..8afa438e 100644
--- a/Guardfile
+++ b/Guardfile
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ module ::Guard
       paths.delete('some_lib')
       puts "Running: #{paths.join ' '}"
       if paths.size.zero?
+          warn 'Running all tests'
         system 'rake recspec'
       else
         paths.each do |path|
+          warn "Running #{path}"
           system "rake spec run=#{path}" or return
           warn "\e[32;1mNice!!\e[0m  Now running all specs, just to be sure."
           run_all
diff --git a/lib/pry/commands/ls.rb b/lib/pry/commands/ls.rb
index 92df203d..4df20c64 100644
--- a/lib/pry/commands/ls.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/commands/ls.rb
@@ -1,19 +1,91 @@
 class Pry
  module Helpers
     module Formatting
-      def self.tablify(things, screen_width)
-        maximum_width = things.map{|t| Pry::Helpers::Text.strip_color(t).length}.max + Pry.config.ls.separator.length
-        maximum_width = screen_width if maximum_width > screen_width
-        columns = screen_width / maximum_width
-
-        things.each_slice(columns).map do |slice|
-          slice.map do |s|
-            padding_width = maximum_width - Pry::Helpers::Text.strip_color(s).length
-            padding = Pry.config.ls.separator.ljust(padding_width, Pry.config.ls.separator)
-            s + padding
-          end.join("")
-        end.join("\n")
+      def self.tablify(things, line_length)
+        table = Table.new(things, :column_count => things.size)
+        table.column_count -= 1 until 0 == table.column_count or
+          table.fits_on_line?(line_length)
+        table.to_s
       end
+
+      class Table
+        attr_reader :items, :column_count
+        def initialize items, args = {}
+          @column_count = args[:column_count]
+          self.items = items
+        end
+
+        def to_s
+          rows_to_s.join("\n")
+        end
+
+        def rows_to_s style = :color_on
+          widths = columns.map{|e| _max_width(e)}
+          @rows_without_colors.map do |r|
+            padded = []
+            r.each_with_index do |e,i|
+              next unless e
+              item = e.ljust(widths[i])
+              item.sub! e, recall_color_for(e) if :color_on == style
+              padded << item
+            end
+            padded.join(Pry.config.ls.separator)
+          end
+        end
+
+        def items= items
+          @items = items
+          _rebuild_colorless_cache
+          _recolumn
+          items
+        end
+
+        def column_count= n
+          @column_count = n
+          _recolumn
+        end
+
+        def fits_on_line? line_length
+          _max_width(rows_to_s :no_color) <= line_length
+        end
+
+        def columns
+          @rows_without_colors.transpose
+        end
+
+        def ==(other); items == other.to_a end
+        def to_a; items.to_a end
+
+        private
+        def _max_width(things)
+          things.compact.map(&:size).max || 0
+        end
+
+        def _rebuild_colorless_cache
+          @colorless_cache = {}
+          @plain_items = []
+          items.map do |e|
+            plain = Pry::Helpers::Text.strip_color(e)
+            @colorless_cache[plain] = e
+            @plain_items << plain
+          end
+        end
+
+        def _recolumn
+          @rows_without_colors = []
+          return if items.size.zero?
+          row_count = (items.size.to_f/column_count).ceil
+          row_count.times do |i|
+            row_indices = (0...column_count).map{|e| row_count*e+i}
+            @rows_without_colors << row_indices.map{|e| @plain_items[e]}
+          end
+        end
+
+        def recall_color_for thing
+          @colorless_cache[thing]
+        end
+      end
+
     end
   end
  
@@ -21,10 +93,6 @@ class Pry
     match 'ls'
     group 'Context'
     description 'Show the list of vars and methods in the current scope.'
-
-  Pry::Commands.create_command "ls" do
-    group "Context"
-    description "Show the list of vars and methods in the current scope."
     command_options :shellwords => false, :interpolate => false
 
     def options(opt)
diff --git a/spec/commands/ls_spec.rb b/spec/commands/ls_spec.rb
index b3318302..e03176d2 100644
--- a/spec/commands/ls_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/commands/ls_spec.rb
@@ -28,24 +28,56 @@ describe "ls" do
     end
   end
 
+  describe 'Formatting Table' do
+    it 'knows about colorized fitting' do
+      t = Pry::Helpers::Formatting::Table.new %w(hihi), :column_count => 1
+      t.fits_on_line?(4).should == true
+      t.items = []
+      t.fits_on_line?(4).should == true
+
+      t.items = %w(hi hi)
+      t.fits_on_line?(4).should == true
+      t.column_count = 2
+      t.fits_on_line?(4).should == false
+
+      t.items = %w(
+        a   ccc
+        bb  dddd
+      ).sort
+      t.fits_on_line?(8).should == true
+      t.fits_on_line?(7).should == false
+    end
+  end
+
   describe 'formatting - should order downward and wrap to columns' do
     FAKE_COLUMNS = 62
-    def try_round_trip(text)
-      text.strip!
-      things = text.split(/\s+/)
-      actual = Pry::Helpers::Formatting.tablify(things, FAKE_COLUMNS)
-      if actual != text
-        actual.strip.should == text
-        puts text, 'vs.', actual
+    def try_round_trip(expected)
+      things = expected.split(/\s+/).sort
+      actual = Pry::Helpers::Formatting.tablify(things, FAKE_COLUMNS).strip
+      [expected, actual].each{|e| e.gsub! /\s+$/, ''}
+      if actual != expected
+        bar = '-'*25
+        puts \
+          bar+'expected'+bar,
+          expected,
+          bar+'actual'+bar,
+          actual
       end
+      actual.should == expected
+    end
+
+    it 'should handle a tiny case' do
+      try_round_trip(<<-eot)
+asdf  asfddd  fdass
+      eot
     end
 
     it 'should handle the basic case' do
-      try_round_trip(<<-EOT)
+      try_round_trip(<<-eot)
 aadd            ddasffssdad  sdsaadaasd      ssfasaafssd
 adassdfffaasds  f            sdsfasddasfds   ssssdaa
 assfsafsfsds    fsasa        ssdsssafsdasdf
-      EOT
+      eot
     end
 
     it 'should handle... another basic case' do
@@ -61,6 +93,13 @@ asfadsssaaad    fasfaafdssd     s
       EOT
     end
 
+    it 'should handle colors' do
+      try_round_trip(<<-EOT)
+\e[31maaaaaaaaaa\e[0m                      \e[31mccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc\e[0m
+\e[31mbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\e[0m  \e[31mddddddddddddd\e[0m
+      EOT
+    end
+
     it 'should handle empty input' do
       try_round_trip('')
     end