Get Organized With a Super Simple Command Center

January 8, 2018

Mail is getting out of control, homework sheets getting misplaced, keys getting lost, tumbling to get a piece of paper to fill in grocery list in the last minute, school bags lying on the sofa…ahhh…. Does this sound familiar?

“Oh, the baby shower party is tomorrow?”, “When did you say the birthday party was? Oh, the kids are off this week?. Do I hear a yes there? And a couple of heads nodding?

My answer was yes I can relate to all the above statements. It was chaotic! I had to find balance with all these and make my life simple and stress-free. I wanted a system that would keep everything in one place. Once this system in place, it’s going to be the most valuable place in the house. This central location is not used just during rush hour(that is office/school time), but also when we need to access our day to day tasks and lists.

So my friend’s, this place is called a Command Center. While the hard truth is that the command center commands everyone’s lives, it also simplifies everyone’s tasks and eventually the most important day or an hour in your household. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend you to make one.

Too many things to handle, isn’t that right? That’s the reason you need a command center to organize everything. You don’t have to break a bank or be super creative to make one. You just need to know what you need to simplify your life. So start by writing down what you need. They can be anything. Some of the examples are as below. You need a place

To hang your kids’ school bags
To hold school papers
To hold keys
For a calendar for the week/month/year
To hold kids’ school schedule
Grocery list or some notes to scribble something down.

Figure out what you need. You can keep it anywhere from functional and straightforward to simple, practical and stylish. Here are some essential facts:

They need to be simple!
They need to fulfill your needs.
Bring in your style!

Without delaying further, here is the simple command center that I built for my family.Below is how I came up with our command center at home. Naturally, I scoured through Pinterest and came up with the one that fits our family needs and style.

Ok, once I closed on what I needed for my command center, I went and bought stuff from Dollar Tree, Target, and well how can I miss Amazon!.

I bought these below Items

A monthly calendar $7
Mounting Wall File Organizers $12 x2. By the way, these were the only expensive items!
A Corkboard $3, Daiso Japan
Extra Corkboard frameless $1, Daiso Japan
Photo frames $1 x3, Dollar Tree
Family wooden sign $1, Dollar Tree
Command Hooks $3,
Self-Adhesive paper $1, Dollar Tree
Wall Decor frame $2, Big Lots

Total = $45. You can further reduce the price if you can find the wall organizers on clearance in Target, Home Goods, Big Lots or Dollar Tree.

Tip: In Dollar tree, you can buy wire baskets and paint them and use them as the file holders!.

First, choose a corner or a place for your command center.Below is the corner wall I decided for our command center. You can see it’s underused. Well, you will agree when I say underused in a bit when I show you the final makeover. I wanted something quick, on budget and without too many changes. You can add wall paints, chalkboard paints etc..Your time, your budget.Bring in your ideas!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you purchase after clicking on my links.

Next step I painted corkboard and family sign to match the photo frame colors. I wanted to blend in some and let one or 2 stay different. To make them look cohesive. I used acrylic paints I had at home to paint.

Once I finished the coloring, I let them dry for some time. Usually acrylic dries fast. I then gathered all the pieces I wanted to place on the wall and put them on the floor. I tried few combinations on how I wanted the outcome of the command center. Once done, I used these simple steps to mount everything on the wall.

Frist one, I glued a notebook(or grocery list book) on to the corkboard. Second, this is super important, and it makes your life so much easy!. I took painter’s tape and taped from one keyhole of wall mountable file organizer to the other and marked my keyholes. Then I taped same painter’s tape on the wall and marked the nail holes for mounting the organizers. I used a couple of push pins to attach the frames as they were super light.

On the other side of the corner, I stuck some self-adhesive and decorative paper and used command tapes since it was wood to hold the bags, calendar, and another DIY bulletin board( Decorative frame and glued the cork sheet on to it). Vola! Your command center is ready.

Recap…

If you want to do a project like this search few more DIY’s and come up with how you want it to look like, then buy only the ones that you would use. Place everything on the floor before even mounting them on the wall. That’s it enjoy your accomplishments and the new corner!

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