Back to school can be overwhelming for even the most seasoned parents. Keep anxiety out of the house with a simple command center.
You don’t need a large space to get your family organized during the hectic school months - just a dedicated area that keeps your family running smooth. I had a tiny corner in my kitchen to work with and a lot of issues that needed to be managed. Here’s what I did to get started:
With kitchen renovations in the near future I didn’t want to spend too much money on a command center and wanted to be able to move things around as our needs and space change. The easiest approach was getting a few frames, each with a purpose, to get us organized.
In our household, my husband and children aren’t always with me when I shop so we often have returns. Storing receipts in my wallet was not ideal so we needed a place for receipts.
I also noticed that mail gets thrown on the counter and stays there until we are ready to get to it (sometimes days later!). A dedicated spot in our command center for mail was a must.
- Observed my family’s behavior and needs (considering activities | school | shopping | meals)
- Studied what got stacked in a corner or piled up on the table and why
- Thought about style, budget and permanency
- Got busy!
With kitchen renovations in the near future I didn’t want to spend too much money on a command center and wanted to be able to move things around as our needs and space change. The easiest approach was getting a few frames, each with a purpose, to get us organized.
In our household, my husband and children aren’t always with me when I shop so we often have returns. Storing receipts in my wallet was not ideal so we needed a place for receipts.
I also noticed that mail gets thrown on the counter and stays there until we are ready to get to it (sometimes days later!). A dedicated spot in our command center for mail was a must.
Pegboards are amazing. Put one in a nice frame, hang some hooks and you can transform it into a way to organize just about anything! I bought some dollar store baskets, sweet chalkboard labels and created a drop-all for our receipts and mail. Check and check! Now on to our next challenges…
I don’t know about you, but I always have elaborate ideas for our weekly meal plan as I buy groceries. Being a busy mom, when mid-week approaches I tend to forget what’s in the freezer or what I was going to make with the chicken…I needed a way to remind myself!
Not only did I need a way to remind myself of what we had in the house, I also needed a way to track what we didn’t have. It seems that we run out of items on a daily basis and my attempt to keep an ongoing grocery list online or on a piece of paper never worked as well as I hoped. The command center needed to fix this.
I don’t know about you, but I always have elaborate ideas for our weekly meal plan as I buy groceries. Being a busy mom, when mid-week approaches I tend to forget what’s in the freezer or what I was going to make with the chicken…I needed a way to remind myself!
Not only did I need a way to remind myself of what we had in the house, I also needed a way to track what we didn’t have. It seems that we run out of items on a daily basis and my attempt to keep an ongoing grocery list online or on a piece of paper never worked as well as I hoped. The command center needed to fix this.
Dry erase markers write on glass. Perfect for a busy family to write down changing lists and wipe them away as needed. We etched fun lettering in mats, stuck them behind the glass and framed them up for our menu/grocery list, and another one that is used for our family’s to-dos.
Lastly, dates for events or outings, important papers sent home from school, coupons that we’d like to use, and drawings of the week are now organized on an oversized bulletin board.
I’m still perfecting our command center but I’m thrilled with the results! It didn’t take much to declutter the counter and make the meals I wanted to spoil my family with while do everything else that needs to get done.
I’d love to see what keeps your household working like a machine. Tag us @leframeshoppe on Instagram.
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