- bills to pay
- events
- kids papers {lunch orders, school notes, book orders, sports/activity schedules, etc.}
- coupons
- records to file {i.e. tax forms, pay stubs, investment reports, etc.}
- personal papers {you may want to have a file for each person in your household}
I also have a set of drawers on the counter. The top drawer holds coupons, gift cards, receipts that I only need to keep temporarily, and any fliers that I want to refer back to. The second drawer holds the kids’ papers – school forms, the week’s spelling words, kids activity forms, etc. I have our phone book in the bottom drawer and also place numbers or address that I have jotted down until I have time to transfer them into the book.
I used to use a chalkboard calendar on the wall but found that it was too hard to keep up with and I had to keep another calendar anyways to keep track of months ahead. Instead of writing everything down in two places, I now just keep one calendar now in the keyboard drawer {since we don’t keep a computer here} and just have fun decorating the chalkboard for the different seasons.
{yes, I still have my Valentine’s Chalkboard up!}
The drawers store all of our office supplies, stationary, and the kids homework items. When I have notes to write down, I try to use ONE notebook to write things in instead of having sticky notes and random pieces of paper everywhere. Everything stays in one place and I can always refer back to it if needed in the future.
I have a designated day each week to go through the paperwork and tidy up the command center. It only takes about 5-10 minutes but I find that the paperwork really catches up with me if I miss a week or two.
Okay, so there is my command center. Now it’s time to come up with yours! It may take a little trial and error, but once you get things set up, it will be well worth it. Here are some other command centers to inspire you…
Hope that gives you some inspiration to create {or update!} you own command center!
**NOTE: This post is part of my Household Organization Diet series. You can join in anytime – just start with these two posts here and here. If you are looking for past projects, you can find them all on my Pinterest board}.
Have a great week!
I linked up with Flamingo Toes, Chic on a Shoestring, Liz Maire Blog, Lil Luna, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Lolly Jane, Skip to My Lou, Under the Table and Dreaming, Craft-O-Maniac, Uncommon, I Should be Mopping the Floor, I Heart Naptime, Be Different Act Normal, Whipperberry, 504 Main, Tidy Mom, The Frugal Girls, Jennifer Rizzo, The 36th Avenue, Stone Gable, Mom on Timeout, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Not Just a Housewife, Creative Juice and Home Stories A to Z.
I think everyone should have a similar set up! I don’t have much space for an entryway, I plan to create one soon. For right now I have a simile filing system for coming and going. What stays gets filed away in the evening in our office. I tackled my paper clutter last week and it felt so good!
We put a command center in our new house. I love having all my supplies right where I can find them!
http://www.dejongdreamhouse.com/2012/03/organizing-command-center.html
Having paper chaos in your place is such a terrible scene! I remember when I had a lot of clutter on my working table and I had a hard time in prioritizing what I had to finish first. Well, I guess a lot of organizing has saved me from backlogs and delayed submissions. I hope you still post a lot of tips regarding organizing ‘cause your posts are really helping me. 🙂
[ Kylee Groves ]
So, we made a command center a few years ago and it is just not working anymore and I am at such a loss as if I can redesign or just start over from scratch. 🙁 I get overwhelmed so then I end up doing nothing instead.
I just love all these ideas! And I love your mail sorter! Really neat.
Thanks for sharing! Have a nice week 🙂
Thanks for all the ideas! I have stuff scattered in different places and need to combine everything in one organized area.
Lori
I’m flattered you included my command center. Thank you! Great job on yours too and cute chalkboard!
Your command center is too neat! No, just kidding…it is gorgeous and so organized. I am trying to follow along on this household organization…guess what I have most of the things in place…my real problem staying on track and on top of them!
I love it! Where did you get the drawers on top of the counter?
I love this post. Good ideas. A couple of years ago this idea of yours at the top was one of the first things that I saw when I started blogging, you inspired me at the time and still continue to do so.
Love these idea! I could really use a command center and well any organization in my life ha! I would love if you would share these ideas over at our blog hop http://www.ablossominglife.com/2013/03/frugal-crafty-blog-hop-15.html
I Love it! so cute and organized! I pinned it for inspiration! Julia @ http://www.juliakendrick.com
So many great ideas! Love it!!!!
That looks great and I love the mail pockets! Definitely an idea I’ll have to work on soon!
This is so cute! Makes me want to run off and organize something! 😉 Love that you’re a mommy of two boys…I am too. I found you at the Inspire Me Please Link Party–thanks for sharing!
~Abby =)
I am so tired of the stacked mess of papers we have on a counter in our kitchen. Tell me please where you found the wall mounted organizer you shared entitled “kitchen command center” . I looked online at Staples for Martha Stewart and found nothing. Please advise! I think this is just what I need and still offers the flexibility to fit my needs. Many Thanks.
Unfortunately, Staples discontinued that line. They have just recently brought the Martha Stewart Office back to the US but that is not one of the products that they currently have. Maybe it will come back in the future? It’s really too bad as I love ours and we still use it.