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!

Tame Your Tupperware

As a professional organizer, I have seen my share of messy and cluttered kitchens. One area of the kitchen that always seems to create a challenge for my clients is their Tupperware drawer/cabinet. Well, I'm here to give you some fool-proof advice on Taming Your Tupperware!!



 First, follow these simple steps:

 

1. Pull everything out of your Tupperware drawer/cabinet.

2. Sort lids into like shapes. (Ex. Put all rectangular lids together.)

3. Sort containers into like shapes.

4. Match containers to lids.

5. Throw out any lids/containers without mates, as well as any that are cracked or damaged.

6. Sort all your matched Tupperware into like shapes, and try to pare down your collection as much as possible....do you really need 14 rectangular-shaped containers?!

7. Once you have all of the "keepers," take the lids off and put them aside. The best way to store containers is to nest smaller pieces inside larger pieces.

 

 

As for lid storage, here are a few suggestions:



{ Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 }

{1} Use a CD rack to hold lids

{2} Follow this tutorial to sew your own Tupperware lid holder, and attach it to the inside of your cabinet door. (Sidenote: I love the idea of using the inside of a cabinet door for storage, but since I'm clueless when it comes to sewing, I would prefer the likes of #7.)

{3} Purchase this undershelf basket from The Container Store.

{4} Purchase this mesh organizer from The Container Store. (Have I mentioned how much I love The Container Store!?

{5} Use a letter holder to tame Tupperware lids.

{6} Purchase a corner shelf and sort lids by shape & size.

{7} Mount a wall pocket on the inside of your cabinet door.

{8} Similar to #5 but just on a larger scale....Use a wooden mail sorter to hold lids.

{9} If you have the space, use a dish rack.

Leave a comment and let me know which lid solution is your favorite!

 

(And be sure to check back at the end of the month to see how I store my Tupperware, when I give a "Peek Inside" my kitchen!)

 

Reader Space: Organizing Kids' Artwork

A reader asked for help when it came to organizing & storing her son's artwork. And because he's only 2, you KNOW he is bringing home a masterpiece with handprints or doodles every.single.day!!

 

As a mom of two kids (age 5 & 7), I can sympathize. Luckily, there are oodles of ideas out there and here are a few of my favorites:

-Create a "brag board" (made out of an bulletin board, cork tiles, etc) for each child. These could hang in either a playroom or kitchen. Only place items on these boards that your child is *super* proud to show you. So... you might be changing them out every day :) But if they are tacked up with a pushpin, no big deal, right?!



{Source}

 

-A similar idea is to either make a DIY "Masterpiece" board like the one shown below, or hang a magnetic strip (from IKEA) with just a few favorite pieces displayed.

(This would also but cute done with clipboards or cork tiles).

{Source}

Again, these two ideas are mainly for "favorite" pieces. So what do you do with the other 105,834 pieces of artwork that come home with your child!? Well, if you want to get fancy, here are two options that I adore:

-You can purchase a collage made from your child's artwork! See the Etsy listing here.



Please look at how cute this is! It could easily
serve as artwork on the wall in your child's room.

 -Through www.plumprint.com, you can have your child's artwork turned into a coffee table book!!

......But, I must get back to my reader's original question :) 

She asked about two solutions - to hang a few favorite art pieces in frames, and then file the rest. To that I say: Bravo! That is exactly what I do, and it's been a great system for me so far.
In fact, here are pictures of my kids' "brag boards" in our playroom:

 



(I covered the backing of each frame with burlap, took out the glass, and hot-glued a clip}

 

....And our craft room:

 

...And then my daughter has a display in her bedroom, because she colors & draws 24/7:


{I got the frames at Michael's when they were on sale}

Those 3 places are where I display their most favorite pieces, as soon as they bring them home.

With the rest, I put into a double wall pocket, similar to the one shown here.

{This one is from IKEA, but there are other cute options at
Target, Amazon, Pottery Barn, and Hobby Lobby}

 

At the end of each week, I go through the wall pockets, and do an initial purge. (Again, I keep things that the kids seemed really proud of, or ones that demonstrated a new skill, like writing their name or perfectly their addition facts). Then, I file the "keepers" in a tub like the one shown below. 
(I purchased 2" expandable hanging file folders, and designated one for each grade. And I made the labels using Microsoft Word.)

 

{I found both the file boxes & hanging files at Office Max}

 

At the end of the year, the folder will be overflowing, so you will have to do a second purge. Believe me, at the end of the year, not every single thing with a handprint will deem necessary to keep. And....I'm gonna say it.....you have my permission to throw away some of your kids' artwork!! It does NOT make you a bad parent to do so. Most likely, they will never know the difference anyway :)

 

So, Becca, I hope that answers your question and that you can find a good solution for your son's endless supply of artwork. I would love to see what you come up with.

Good luck!