Organized Chaos–Part 1

I am implementing a new series called “Organized Chaos: Creating a Functional Home”–I really want to turn our home into a spot of calm, functional, and organized space. Our life is busy and our home is our hub. I want it to feel (and look) neat, tidy, and organized. I want to create a functional home. Read on for how I am organizing the chaos in our home!

While browsing Pinterest one day, I came across the idea of a “command center” aka a landing spot for families. The idea is to create a central place for papers, calendars, and basics like backpacks. I LOVED this idea and decided I was going to implement my own command center! Bye bye papers strewn all over the kitchen counters. Audios to our overflowing junk drawer. See ya backpacks, lunchboxes, computer bags, and purses laying around the house.

Ta-Da! Here is it!

I wanted to have a place for QMonster’s backpack, a calendar for QMonster to see upcoming events relevant to him (JHub and I use Google calendars to keep up with each other), a place for mail and papers to accumulate, a “drop off” location for JHub’s pocket items (keys, wallet, change, etc.), and school supplies (for homework), etc. I also needed our command center to be in a good spot. While we have a great entry way coming in from our garage (which is the door we use the most), it is downstairs and I knew that nobody would walk up/down the stairs multiple times to utilize the center. Thus, I moved some pictures around and used a large wall in our kitchen.

The details:

Storage cart: Found on Amazon for $39.99…The silver color matched our industrial style chairs at our farmhouse table. I opted to keep the wheels off as QMonster loves things that roll and I knew my cart would end up rolling around my house. This cart is super sturdy and EASY as ever to put together. It comes with the tool you need and is up and functional within minutes. Best part, its Prime eligible. I added some various baskets I had around the house to the shelves. On the bottom, the bucket houses pens, pencils, and crayons for Q’s homework needs The bottom basket has various types of paper I think he may need for future homework assignments. The middle shelf has a basket full of notepads and various papers that I need to access fairly regularly. The top has a basket for JHub to deposit his pocket contents into at night. The cool thing about this cart is it comes with 2 hooks that clip on to the side of the cart which makes for a perfect place to hang backpacks and lunchboxes.

Calendar: I actually purchased the calendar in the photo from Hobby Lobby several months ago but I found a very similar one on Amazon for $60. I love this rustic frame that can be painted to match your decor. QMonster can read basic words so I try to draw alot of pictures on his calendar. We also cross days off as we finish them so he can see what is coming next.

Wall Shelf: I actually found the one pictured on clearance randomly one day while walking through JoAnn’s however the one I linked is from Amazon and was actually in my cart to use for this project. If you look closely, you see two mason jars. One holds spare money (For quick cash needs, like the ice cream man, last minute school money, etc.) and the other has pens in it though they are distinctly hidden by a faux flower. The shelf also has our checkbook and chalk in the cubbies since those are things we need fairly often and need quick access to.

Picture Frame: Again, the one linked isn’t the one pictured, but it is similar. I just wanted to add a little bit of a personal touch to our command center. Especially since this wall is in our kitchen, I wanted it to look pleasing to the eye.

Cross: I bought this one several years ago at a craft fair but was able the find the exact one we have on Amazon…so much for “hand crafted”…Nonetheless, its super cute and brings in the colors from our kitchen decor.

Wire wall hangers: The linked wall hangers are not the exact version pictured. I bought these years ago from Zulily but the ones linked are the ones I SERIOUSLY considered replacing ours with. I really wanted the ones linked but couldn’t justify not reusing the ones we already owned. The top hanger is JHub’s mail and important papers. Since he travels for work a lot, his mail would pile up on the counter for a week or so. This drives me NUTS so having this organizer is perfect. The bottom one is mine and QMonster’s. Again, papers we need to handle or mail that we need to tend to. I am sure I will have to add a third one for Q at some point, when he starts having papers and mail to handle but at 5 he doesn’t have too much at this point so we can share.

That is our family command center in a nutshell. I think the key to making the command center successful is the location. It really needs to be in a location that is frequented by the entire family out of habit already. Trying to train my boys to go somewhere other than the kitchen counter and family junk drawer would be a challenge so our kitchen location worked perfect. I also think it needs to be easy to use and simple. A one stop shop with function and purpose is the overall goal. I really wanted QMonster’s backpack to be located near his calendar so he would remember to see what was coming for the day as he was getting his backpack together.