For the past several years we have had a family command center that has helped our family stay organized. The first command center I put together was a Family Command Center Wall.
At the time we were renting an apartment that had an open kitchen and living room but limited storage. After living their for only a few weeks I knew I needed something to help us stay organized.
What is a Home Command Center
A family command center in a home is a space in your home that helps keep your family organized for the craziness of everyday life. The family command center typically includes things like schedules, car keys, paperwork, and more.
Where to Put a Command Center
Typically when creating a command center for your home you will be putting it on a wall. So consider different locations in your home that you have an open wall space that is easily accessible for the whole family.
A common place for families to put a command center is in the kitchen. The kitchen is often referred to as the heart of the home and a place where many families spend a lot of time, so it makes sense to have a command center there.
Other places you may want to have the command center is in a mudroom, entryway or even an office. Just make sure that where ever you decide to put a command center it’s easy for everyone to see and use. Since the whole purpose of a command center is to help organize the crazy of your everyday life.
How to Create a Home Command Center
Honestly there is no right or wrong way to create a home command center. Each family’s command center will look different depending on their needs.
Decide what you need in your command center
First decide what you need and want in your command center. I highly recommend that you include a calendar or two as well as something to organize mail/papers, anything else is up to you.
We have hooks for our keys as part of our command center but if you have a different place that you consistently put your keys that might not be needed.
In our command center we also included a place for the kids to hang artwork. Then we used photos, wall stickers and other décor elements to make it fun.
Other items I have seen included in home command centers are menus, shopping lists, a clock, birthday list, white board and more.
The important things to include are the things that your family needs to keep organized, don’t just add things because someone else did. You want your family command center to help you stay organized, not make you feel overwhelmed.
figure out a layout
Now that you know what you want to include in your command center it’s time to figure out how you’re going to put it all together – a layout.
There are tons of ideas for layouts on Pinterest and I took ideas I liked and combined them to make my own command station with the things I felt like my family needed at the time.
Your layout will be dictated by how large the space is you’re working with as well as what you want to include in your family command center. I found that the easiest way to figure out the layout was to lay everything on the floor and move things around until I figured out what I liked.
putting it all together
The first step I took when putting together my command center was laying everything out on the floor to make sure I liked how it looked together before I put holes in my wall.
Once I had everything the way I wanted it and the wall was ready. I started to hang things up.
At the top of our family command center is a wooden established sign it measures 9.5 inches x 30 inches. This was a gift from our wedding that I felt was perfect to include.
Etsy has some cute signs that are customizable if you want to include something similar to your decor. If you want to make your own Established sign this is made from a 9.5″ x 30″ piece of wood painted black with cream vinyl lettering.
Next, we have some family photos they are 4×6, 5×7, and 8×10. I hung these under the established sign since it’s still high enough up the wall that no one in our family could really reach this space.
Below that we have 2 calendars. I absolutely love having 2 calendars it makes it so easy to see upcoming events and keeps the whole family on the same page about what we have planned. I can easily move the calendars around each month. These calendars are 11×14 inches which is a great size for us.
To make these calendars I printed out 2 blank calendars and put them in matching picture frames. This makes it so I can use a dry erase marker and reuse them each month.
Next, to the calendar, we have a hanging mail organizer with hooks on the side. These shelves keep so much stuff off my table and counters I love it!! I found this one at target, but I don’t think they have it anymore. You can find several great options on amazon though.
Then we have a 12″ letter K and a few more family pictures, you could easily put a menu or something else in this area if you wanted.
At the bottom of the command center, we have 4 clipboards. I wanted these so we had a place to easily display the kid’s artwork and papers.
It has been so fun to see how excited the kids are to show dad their projects hanging on the wall. I hung these using command strips so they would lay flat on the wall and be easy to move.
We really love this command center, not only does it looks fun, it has helped us stay organized by giving us a set place for the mail and our keys. This is one of my favorite walls in our apartment, I hope it helps you create a similar space in your home.
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