Learn what a family command center is and how it can help you, your entryway, and your whole crew be more organized every day. Plus get ideas for how you can create your own.
You know those days when you come home, plop the mail on the counter, throw your bag in one place and your keys in another, and head straight to the sofa with a glass of wine? Yeah, THAT kind of day.
All is well until the next day when you can’t find your keys, you forgot to pay a bill, and your kiddo missed a birthday party because the invitation was MIA.
Girl- save yourself the stress and consider setting up a family command center. You can drop all the stuff in one place and be on the couch watching Ellen with your fave vino even faster. No full-blown freak out the next day, either, so cheers to that!
What’s A Family Command Center?
Basically, a Command Center is a space you designate to hold all your family’s important information so everyone can find it all. It can be an organization wall unit in your entryway, a nook in your hallway, or even a sectioned basket and tray sitting on your kitchen counter.
You can get as fancy or as simple as you want, but here are the main elements every family command center should have:
- A monthly calendar
- A place to put mail before it’s filed
- A reminder/to-do list
- A cup for pens and markers
- A few hooks for keys/wallets/handbags
My 1Thrive Command Center
I keep my family command center in the kitchen right by the door that comes in from the garage, since that’s the way we typically enter the house. I use The Susan from 1Thrive and I love how it compliments my home’s decor.
We use the calendar to keep our family in-the-know about what we are all up to. The blank boards are for making lists and notes. (And the occasional love note between my husband and myself that make our teen curl his nose in disgust.)
The bulletin boards are for holding invitations, flyers, and important things we need to physically see to remember. We use the filing system for holding all our mail before it’s filed, along with important papers we need to reference in the near future.
We keep our keys and my purse on the hooks. And we have two pails that hold 1Thrive Pens, push pins, and my husband’s wallet.
PS: My buds at 1Thrive are offering Organized-ish readers 10% your purchase using 1Thrive Promo Code ORGANIZEDISH
Other Command Center Ideas
If you’re into a smaller command center (or a larger one), or if you want to DIY your own instead of buying a ready-made one, here are a few fun ideas I found on Pinterest to get your brain flowing. Each is linked to it’s original blog post so you can find out more about it.
This command center from The Caldwell Project uses printable calendars, menus, and to-do lists inside of regular frames, so you can write on the frame glass with a dry erase board. Genius!
Charlotte from At Charlotte’s House utilized the space on the side of her refrigerator for her command center. Such a great way to use an area that would likely not hold anything at all.
I love this super simple command center from Mom Managing Chaos. She uses a basic dry erase calendar, a leather pocket, and backpack hooks to keep the kiddos organized before and after school.
No wall space? No problem! Copy Honey N Hydrangea by creating a command center nook on a countertop. You can find some really great trays for this at TJ Maxx and HomeGoods.
Ready To Set Up Your Own Command Center?
Hopefully these ideas have got you racing to the store to start building your own family command center and getting your whole gang Organized-ish. Once you get it all set up, I’d love to see the finished product! Follow me on Instagram @lelaburris and shoot me a DM with a pic. I can’t wait to see what you create.
More Organizing Ideas I Think You’ll Love:
12 Quick Fixes For A More Functional Kitchen
How Alexa Can Make You More Organized
100 Ways To Get More Organized
