How to Build a Family Command Center for Busy Moms
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A family command center creates an organized, efficient space to keep track of everything at home. Here is how to build a command center for busy moms.
A family command center can be a great way to create an organized and efficient space for everything that goes on in your family. When things get busy and everyone is running around the house, your family command center will be there to keep you organized.
Wondering where to begin? Get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
Busy Moms: How To Create An Efficient Command Center
Setting up a command center really is so easy, and once you set one up, you’ll ask yourself why you didn’t do it sooner! Here is how to build a command center for busy moms, step by step.
Before you create your command center, download and print the Take Action Printables binder. It has everything from fitness trackers to daily task lists. This binder will help you manage your life and your family without breaking a sweat.
Time needed: 2 hours
Follow these easy steps and you’ll have the best command center that will keep you and your family organized.
- Choose A High-Traffic Area
The first step to creating an efficient command center is to put it in a high traffic area.
When looking for a spot to create your command center, you want to choose an area that receives the most traffic. This spot is where you usually come and go by frequently.
It makes sense. If you put your command center in a hallway you hardly ever walk by, you’ll be less likely to use it. - Display A Calendar
Next, you want to pick a calendar that will function best for your family. If you tend to plan things by the week, you may not need an entire monthly calendar.
Look for a calendar that you will love writing on and can proudly display. However, make sure it also functions well, and if that means sacrificing style, go for it! Ideally, you want to find a good mix of the two.
We suggest using our Undated Yearly Planner. It never goes out of style. - Establish a Place for Family Communication
Next, create a place for family members to leave each other important notes and reminders. This can be with thumbtacks and paper or a dry erase board.
- Hang Up Bins and Baskets
Your command center may start to turn into your drop zone. Keep bins and baskets for things like keys, mail, and other items you need to keep at your command center.
- Decorate It
Add home decor that fits in with your home’s theme. If you love nautical themes, hang up some anchors. If you keep it pretty you will be more likely to use it.
- Keep It Organized
Finally, establish a system so you keep the area organized long term.
This means setting up a routine where you maintain your command center. Throw away trash and remove parts of the command center that you don’t use.
Where To Place a Command Center
A mudroom or area near your entryway is usually the best location for your command center, but areas within your kitchen can work well too.
You also want to make sure that this area has a wall that stands out and where you can display your command center contents easily. If you don’t see this wall often, it’s not a good place for a command center.
What Is the Best type of calendar for a command center?
You can find a huge variety of command center calendars for sale on Etsy.
One thing you might want to consider is what exactly you need your calendar to do. Do you need to track weekly menus? What about all the different schedules going on in the home?
If you need to, use separate ways to track each activity. You might even give each child their own calendar.
The Best Message System for Command Centers
Whether you use a dry erase board, notepad, or something else, you want to have a place for communication. This can be for quick notes, to communicate with your spouse, or to send a note with your kids to school.
Make sure that this section of your command center is low enough for the entire family to reach!
Don’t forget to find a way to keep the writing tools nearby. Maybe put a can for pens and pencils or attach a dry erase marker with string.
Basket and bin ideas for command Centers
The items that are left in a command center’s basket should be gone through fairly quickly, but this is where they will return when they need to be dealt with or left with one of your family members.
Erin at How to Nest For Less uses pocket folders to store papers in the containers. This is a stylish idea because it keeps the papers from making a mess inside the boxes.
Command Center Design Inspiration
Find family command center ideas and designs that make your heart happy. Create a stylish and beautiful space for organizing everyone’s calendars and tasks.
If you enhance the command center with a flourish of style, you will enjoy spending more time here and be more likely to use it to its full potential.
In addition to a calendar and some bins, add some art to the wall too. Personalize it with some family pictures.
As you can see in the photo above, the folders are personalized with the children’s names, and there a variety of fun systems created, including a menu board.
Take bits and pieces of command centers you admire and make them uniquely your own.
DIY Family Command Center Layout
There are lots of ways you can lay out the command center. The most important thing to remember is to make it usable. How will you use it every day? Set up those systems first.
The most common DIY command center layout will include these features:
- Calendar
- Message board
- Note Supplies
- Inboxes for Family Members
- Shelves or Boxes for Keys
How To Keep A Command Center Organized
A command center won’t be very effective if it is not organized. To make sure you don’t run into issues here, make sure that you are going through the items in your command center, and putting things where they go. It’s okay if you use your command center as a drop zone, but make sure that you put things in their proper place as soon as possible.
Part of being a mom means managing the entire household. Whether you signed up for it or not, it’s just a part of life! Having a command center will make things 100 times easier for you and your family, and make managing everyone’s busy schedules so much better.
Struggling to get motivated? Sign up to get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!
More Family Organization Articles
Now that you know how to create an efficient command center, here are some more articles that will help you organize your family.
- How to Keep Your Kids Organized – if you feel overwhelmed with chores and schedules, this article will be a huge help.
- 5 Ways to Organize Your Home When You’re Too Busy – Sometimes being busy leads to more mess. Finally get ahead of the game with these tips.
- 10 Simple Ways to Reduce Paper Clutter – Having a family increases how many papers come into your home. Learn how to cut this all down with a few actions.
