Organization: Family Command Center

A family command center has been on my to do list for ages and I finally got it up! I adore how it turned out and it has been a great way to keep our busy family organized and informed. With 2 blogs (did you hear that I just launched a local Arizona blog with my pal Kimberly of A Night Owl Blog?) and 2 kids, I could use some organization in my life! Anything to help with mommy brain!

My main motivation for the command center, was to de-clutter my kitchen counter. The counter has become a dumping spot in our home for anything and everything as we walk in the door. Mama needs her space back! So, I took a look around and saw what we were putting on the counter – the mail, our keys, garage door openers, sunglasses, paperwork for the kids, etc. I then made sure to create a spot for all of those things in our command center. Clutter problem solved!

Each family member has a folder labeled with their name, to keep important paperwork in. My goal is to clean out those folders on a weekly basis and recycle what we no longer need. We also have a folder for mail, which would normally get tossed on the counter and we’d have to go searching for important bills. See those fabulous buckets from IKEA? They hold our pens, garage door openers and sunglasses (plus swim goggles for Logan). The buckets rock!

Where did everything come from, you ask? A mix of all my favorite stores! IKEA, Target, Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, Etsy and Walmart. Our command center went in our laundry room, where we enter the house from the garage. It isn’t a huge space, so I had to get creative. I measured out how much wall space I had and made it work. I love that the first thing we now see when entering our home is a happy space, full of vibrant colors and organization! It also makes me motivated to keep it neat and tidy.

Another must have for our command center? A bench to put on and take of shoes + a place to store shoes. We don’t wear our shoes in our house, so I wanted a good solution to just tossing shoes in the entryway…and then searching for a matching pair each morning (my pet peeve lol). We’re trying out a basket method, but I think I’m going to end up putting a basket under the bench for each family member. How does your family organize shoes?

You can’t have a cute bench without pretty throw pillows, right? I have been on the search for the perfect pillows for this space for months when I ran into Paint-A-Pillow by Cutting Edge Stencils. They have tons of cute and trendy stencil designs and you can actually PAINT YOUR OWN PILLOWS! The Paint-A-Pillow stencil kit contains everything you need to create your own beautiful pillows – the stencil, brushes, fabric paint, pillow, pillow case and more! I went with the Cascade stencil for my pillows (you already know I’m a sucker for the Cascade design) in a bright yellow paint. I can’t even tell you how much I LOVE these pillows and did you notice how they perfectly match my rug?

While I was in a stenciling kinda mood, I used Cutting Edge’s Home Is Where The Heart Is stencil on a piece of pallet wood. I’m planning on distressing it a little, but I love how it turned out and I think I’m going to hang it on the opposite wall of my command center. I just love how easy and inexpensive it is to personalize a space with a little stenciling.

What would go in your Family Command Center?