For awhile now I have been seeing what folks are calling a Family or Home Command Center on Pinterest.  The more I saw them, the more I coveted one for myself.  I loved the idea of a single space in our home that told us what we were doing or eating that week as well as where we could leave messages or display art work.

I started dreaming up what we would put in our Command Center.  I knew immediately I wanted a dry erase menu calendar, a monthly calendar and clipboards for storing things like Dinah’s take home sheets from Sunday School. I talked to Christian and we brainstormed a few more ideas: responsibility chart for Dinah, some sort of basket for Christian’s wallet, keys, etc., message board and a magnetic surface of some kind.

I was going to save up and piece everything together little by little, but while cleaning out the office/sewing room we found a $75 check that was never cashed. Bonus!  So, I used that money to complete our Command Center.

Here are the details:

First, I have a couple clipboards that I covered with scrapbook paper.  The paper was from a stack that I had sitting around forever and it ended up being the perfect colors.  I decoupaged the paper to the front of the clipboards and used a self-adhesive light blue ribbon to trim them up.  (Sorry for the picture quality on all the pictures.  The Command Center is in kind of a dark hallway and there is no way to get natural light in there.)

Just below that we hung a rail purchased from Ikea (BYGEL).  On the rail we have a little basket that is perfect for all of Christian’s pocket items, a couple of cups for our pens and a couple hooks for our keys.

For the cups I actually used soup cans.  I covered them in scrapbook paper and the blue self-adhesive ribbon.  Christian drilled a hole in them and we hung them with hooks on the rail.

Below the rail we hung a piece of galvanized steel.  (This was actually much more affordable than I ever hoped.  We got this 24″ x 36″ sheet from Home Depot for $9.34.  You can find it in the air conditioning supply section.)  Our fridge is stainless steel, which means we can’t use magnets on it.  I missed the magnets for displaying photos, birth announcements, invitations, etc.  So that is what the top part is for.  The bottom part we will get some fun letter magnets for the kids.

The other element that I made is our menu calendar.  My mom had an old frame in her garage that I appropriated (Thanks, mom!) and painted black.  Then I created a calendar grid on the computer and printed it out.  Using the scrapbook paper and the ribbon I put together my calendar on a piece of poster board that I mounted in the frame.  The glass makes the calendar a dry erase surface.

The other pieces are a monthly calendar, a dry erase message board with a pocket and note holder, the Melissa & Doug Responsibility Chart and a picture frame that will have a family picture.  (That last one is to fill an awkward space on the wall.)  We are also thinking about making a small chalkboard down at the bottom for the kids too.

Here is the completed Command Center…

Organizational heaven!  We completed the whole thing for about $75-80, which is really great.  We got some help in the free picture frame, but most everything else was very reasonably priced.

Dinah is already excited about her chart and Esther is excited about the magnets and Christian seems excited about his basket.  And me? I am excited about it all!