A Client's New Command Center

Recently, I had a client who was in desperate need of a family command center. (If you've never heard that term, click here to read a blogpost I did about them. Every family needs a command center in their home!)

She has 3 daughters, and was on the right track with her set-up (pictured below). She had each girl's backpack hung at their height, and then she intended to put a picture into each frame to denote whose hook belonged to who. While I DO love that idea, she really needed a system to deal with all the paper coming into the house.....birthday invitations, dance schedules, notices about school, mail, etc.

 So, since this was the biggest wall in her entryway, we moved the backpacks over to an adjacent wall, and my client purchased a new piece of furniture to serve as the heart of our new command center. As a bonus, she found 4 canvas bins that fit perfectly inside! Each family member now has a bin to hold purses, gym bags, dance bags, or even soccer items. She let each girl pick out their own colored bin, AND write their name on their hanging chalkboard, giving each of them a bit of ownership in the whole process. (And hopefully this will make them more willing to actually put their things in the cubbies!)

Other notable aspects of the command center, from top to bottom:

-A dry erase calendar, where a different colored marker can denote each child's activities

-3 cork tiles (one for each girl) to hold invitations, important notices, etc.

-A wooden "D" on the wall; just a little personal touch for their family's last name

-3 letter trays: the top tray will have two folders for mail, one marked ACTION and one marked INFORMATION. The other two trays will be for the girls school notices, etc.

-A small tray will hold keys & sunglasses

-A letter organizer will transform into a charging station once the family loads up all their devices and gets a surge protector to fit all the cords :)

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While the command center is not 100% complete yet (they still need to add a family picture to the frame, as you can see!),  I still wanted to show it because I absolutely ADORE this space! Let's take one more look at the before & after, side-by-side:

I'm hopeful that having ONE central place for this busy family of 5 will help streamline the process of all the paper coming into their house. I know all too well how overwhelming that can be!

Back-to-School Series: [Creating a Family Command Center]

Do you have a spot (or spots!) in your house that have become dumping grounds for purses, mail, backpacks, and clutter??!

If so, it sounds like you are in desperate need of a Family Command Center. (If you've never heard this term before, it refers to a vertical organization system that helps your family keep track of school events, weekly activities, bills, paper clutter, and more.) Trust me when I tell you that a family command center is the ticket to more peaceful & organized home!!

Now, every family has different needs, tastes, space availability, and budget constraints when it comes to creating a command center. After all, not everyone has the space or money to do something like this:

Seriously....they need pillows!?
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 In fact, I have quite a small space in my home that I've designated as our command center. It all depends on what you need in the space, and what you want in the space. Here are some simple tips to get started....

1. Find the right space. It is essential to find a space in the main traffic path of your home to create your command center. For my family, we always enter the door off the carport into the kitchen. (Because, who uses their front door these days anyways!?) So, I put our command center on the wall right next to that door, even though it's a small space. That way, the kitchen table or the countertops or the bench in the hallway don't become a dumping ground. I have created command centers in closets, cabinets, and garages for clients. Like I said, each family has different needs, tastes, and constraints. Just find what works best with your lifestyle!

2. Take inventory of your clutter. Before you create the command center, you need to take stock of what is coming into your home. Look at your "dumping zone" on a typical day & take inventory of its' contents. Then, from that list, decide what things need a new home in the command center.

3. Make a plan. Ask yourself these questions about your essentials:  Do you need baskets or hooks for backpacks? Could each family member benefit from having a folder for incoming/outgoing notices? Do you need a space for keys, sunglasses, and wallets? Do you want a calendar or memo board for school events and reminders? Try to find objects around your house that can help define the space - an old corkboard, a piece of furniture not being used, some extra baskets in the attic. If you need to shop, check out some of my favorites: IKEA, Home Goods, The Container Store, Office Depot and Hobby Lobby.

4. Make it pretty & personalize it! My favorite step (duh!). I love all the finishing touches....a pop of color, cute labels, a decorative frame. And best of all, everything has its' own place now!

My favorite elements of a command center are the following:

-Dry erase board / calendar
(Tip: Use a different color to designate each child's weekly activities)

-Clipboards for each child to hold sight words, homework lists, and important notices

-Hooks or baskets to put backpacks & purses
(Tip: Hang hooks at a kid-accessible height, or else, the backpacks will be on the floor!)

-Wall pocket / folder for each child's daily artwork and schoolwork sent home
(Tip: You may consider having one for the adults as well....for mail or other incoming paper)

-Small bowl or basket to corral wallet, sunglasses, keys, etc.

-Memo board / cork board for important notices or schedules
(Tip: If possible, sign papers as soon as they come into the house, and put them right back into the backpacks! One less thing to keep track of.)

Basically....the possibilities are endless!

....Which is why I've decided to save you hours of time scouring the internet, and have compiled this list of 12 amazing command centers. You're welcome! :) Hopefully they will inspire you & motivate you to get started...

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I love the calendars on these two command centers!

On the left: A reusable one she printed & framed.

On the right: They can look at 2 months at a time.

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 These command centers are simple. And sometimes, simplicity is best!

Hooks, wall pockets, and memo boards. Done.

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 This is another simple one, but I had to show it in full view because I am a sucker for a chalkboard wall! I love the use of clipboards, and how she incorporated family pictures to personalize the space.

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 All of these command centers repurposed an old piece of furniture. Whether that's an old microwave cart, a small bookshelf from a child's room, or a printer cart not being used.....it can all work wonders in your command center!

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 These command centers needed to be shown in all their glory because I adore all the pops of color! Who says an organized space can't be a pretty one!?

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 This command center is a little different....it's inside a kitchen cabinet! A great idea for something without a wall to spare. Just make sure there is a designated space nearby where backpacks can be hung or stowed away.

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 And last but not least, a beautiful space that Martha Stewart created. Whereas it might not work for every family, I just wanted to point it out because I love the sophistication and simplicity.

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Now it's time to reveal MY family's command center!

Like mentioned earlier, we do not have an ideal spot for this. I dream of large mudrooms, with cubbies for every family member, and hooks and baskets galore. But, instead, I have a 2 foot wide wall right by the door off the carport, which is where me & the kids always enter the house.

*Sigh*

However, upon doing research for this blog post, I got inspired to revamp my command center!

Here is the before & after:

(Updated as of September 2016)

....I added a larger wall pocket system because my kiddos are bringing home more each day, now that they are in 1st & 3rd grade.

.....I moved our clipboards in here (they were in our craft room, with some other homework supplies).

.....I got a large basket at the bottom to store my purse, as well as any returns I have or items that I'm handing off to friends, etc.

.....I got a more sturdy hook rail since those backpacks are getting bigger and holding more textbooks each year!

.....I switched out my dry erase board for a new cork board and this customizable schedule pad. I like to just look at one week at a time (I have a regular monthly calendar on the side of our fridge), so we can easily see when something is due, who has an after-school activity, birthday party, etc. Each child has their own color so they can easily see what they have going on each week. (My husband too!)

Let me know what you think of all these command centers, and if you have one in your home or not. And as always, Happy Organizing!

Peek Inside: A Professional Organizer's House {Kitchen}

**Before I get started, I want to make it clear that by no means am I doing these "Peek Inside" posts as a way to brag, or to insinuate that I have a perfect home. In fact, it's far from perfect. (Hello, I do have two small kids!) In fact, I've actually heard that word a lot...."perfect"....and it really irks me. I do work hard to have a clutter-free home most of the time, but that's because I've spent a lot of time putting systems into place, and "training" my other family members to utilize these systems. It's a lot of work, but to me, it's worth it. So, hopefully, my "Peek Inside" series will inspire you, rather than irritate you!**

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Ok...got that off my chest. Now we can begin!! :)

Since we've been talking about organization in the kitchen all month long, it's time to finally reveal MY kitchen and how I keep it organized....

1. Chore charts - I found these online here, and laminated them for the kids. We've had them for almost a year now, and they have been the best charts I've found to date. (Of course, Nate has to help his little sister read the chart every now & then, but usually he's happy to oblige.)

 2. Pantry - I did a post earlier in the month about pantry tips; click here to check that out. Since we have a narrow cabinet, the pull-out features are a must, and I also made sure to utilize the height of each cabinet. Click here to view the Etsy store where I got my custom red vinyl labels.

 3. Freezer - Click here to read my recent post with "before & after" pictures of my newly updated freezer. My new bins make all the difference!

4. Fridge - I'll be honest, when I at these pictures of my fridge, it looks kinda empty for a family of four. But then I remember, we are lucky in that we have a second fridge in our basement to store bulk quantities of water, juice boxes, beer, etc. With that being said, I still try to keep things in "zones"....yogurts in a bin, kids' applesauces in a bin, juice boxes in a bin, condiments together, lunch supplies together in a drawer, and breads together.

 5. The "Junk" Drawer - yes, even Professional Organizers have a junk drawer in the kitchen! Ours holds a bunch of miscellaneous items - pens, chip clips, wine stoppers, scotch tape, etc. But the key is to corral them with a few plastic organizers, so they don't get out of hand.

(All of mine are from the Dollar Store!)

 6. Baking dishes - Under our junk drawer is where we keep our recipe books & pyrex dishes. Pretty straightforward here....just stack the rectangle ones together and the square ones together!

 7. Tupperware - Oh, the dreaded Tupperware cabinet! We store ours in the (awkward) corner cabinet, and again, store them by shape. I think the key for us is to not have too many, and to make sure the lids are either stacked underneath them, or to the side.

 8. Appliances & Pot/Pan Lids - This corner cabinet holds our crockpots, rice cooker, mixer blender, mixing bowls, and pot/pan lids. So, a little bit of everything! :) The lid racks are key to keeping our pot/pan lids organized.

 9. Open Shelving - I would never imagined having open shelving in my "dream house," but....it has it. And I love it. Sure, it gets dusty more often, but goodness, it's pretty to look at! And since the dishwasher is almost right below the shelving, it makes unloading dishes go very quickly.

 10. Utensils - We use a mix of metal & mesh organizers for our utensils,

all from Bed, Bath & Beyond.

 11. Pots & Pans - Again, we were super lucky to move into a house that already had pull-out features for the pots & pans. We stack by size/type, and store the lids in a different cabinet (see #8).

 12. Miscellaneous Utensils - This drawer can easily get out of hand, so we try not to have duplicates of any item. (Exception: pizza cutter - we eat a lot of pizza in this house!) I store my cooking utensils in a bucket on the countertop by the stove, so this drawer just houses a few odds & ends. Again, drawer organizers are key!

 13. Paper goods & food wraps - We have a super deep drawer that holds our paper plates, cups, ziplocks, plastic utensils, and food wraps. Of course, only a small amount of paper plates & cups can fit at a time, so the remainder are stored in the basement.

 Now we move onto the right side of the kitchen, where I spend most of my time slaving over a hot stove :) Good thing it has 6 burners!!

 14. Under the Kitchen Sink - Click here to see the "before & after" post about this cabinet. It was easy to simplify this cabinet, once I emptied it all and saw all the duplicates / junk / unnecessary items in there! My most favorite DIY project was recovering a wipes bin with contact paper to make a new trash bag dispenser :)

 15. Coffee Station - My husband is the only coffee drinker in our family, yet we have a whole cabinet dedicated to his obsession habit. (Well, I have a few measuring cups thrown in there on the bottom shelf, since I'm a shrimp and can't reach much higher!)

 16. Spices - Click here to read my recent post on our spice cabinet. Those spice clips are a lifesaver, since it's a narrow cabinet. As are the $1 baskets I found from Target and the white bins that hold cookie cutters and toppings on the higher shelves.

I attached the mini-chalkboard labels with Velcro!

 To the right of the stove & carport door, we have our family's command center. I wish we had a bigger area, but this house came with about a 2 feet wide wall there, so that's what we have to work with. I designate daily activities for each child on the wipe board (N=Nate & A=Abby), and then each child gets a wall pocket that holds their weekly work and things they bring home. I clean these out at the end of each week & change the wipe-board schedule when necessary.

 

**UPDATE: As of May 2016, our family command center has gotten a facelift. It's still in the same tiny spot, but now looks like this:

 I added a nail to hold 2 clipboards - each of my children has a clipboard with important announcements or homework assignments for the week. Plus, one of my fabulous clients told me about this Erin Condren schedule pad. It is amazing!! I've color-coded our family's activities. Abby=pink, Nate=purple, and Greg & I= teal. It's so nice to have everything all in one place, and I've found my husband using it quite a bit too! I usually post up 3 weeks at a time, and just have them pinned behind the current week.

 

 

 And here is our humble little kitchen table. It's perfectly suitable for our little family, but I have grand plans of building some shelving on this big open wall, as well as getting a custom farmhouse table & banquette seating. Who knows when that will happen, but a girl can dream, eh?!

 And that concludes my kitchen tour! Thanks for stopping by and hopefully you saw something that you can implement into your own kitchen.

 

Starting tomorrow, March 1st, I will be discussing kids' bedrooms (all month long), so make sure to check back for that!