If your life is anything like mine, you have A LOT going on. It can be hard to keep up with everything sometimes, right? When it comes to running a home, taking care of a family and running a business, I have one secret weapon up my sleeve – a Home Command Center. If you don’t know what that is, then you need to read on. Today I’m going to be introducing you to the home command center and how it can help you stay on top of it all!
What is a Home Command Center
Simply stated, a Home Command Center is an area in your home which allows everyone to see what’s happening day by day, who needs to be where, paperwork that needs dealing with and so on.
Home Command Centers can range from the very simple, like this DIY Kitchen Command Center from How To Nest For Less:
…to the more advanced, like this converted closet Command Center from The Happy Housie
They are both beautiful AND practical!
Key Elements of a Home Command Center
Really, your Home Command Center can consist of whatever you want or need it to. But here are a few key elements that I would recommend:
A Month View Calendar
Sometimes the days and weeks just seem to fly by! That’s when you get caught out by an event you knew was coming, but seems to have arrived quicker than expected. (Cue making classroom snack for 30 kids at 11pm…)
A month view calendar helps you see the big picture about important upcoming events, so you can be prepared for their arrival.
This could be a traditional photo calendar, or even a small whiteboard that allows you to erase and update items easily, like the one here that I found on Amazon.
Have you ever had a document that contains important information that you plan to address later. Right when you need it, then it’s nowhere to be found. Or perhaps you have a general dumping ground of papers and bills, where you can never find what you need. That’s why a Drop Zone is useful. This is a place to hold important paperwork that you aren’t yet ready to deal with, ensuring it doesn’t get lost.
Look how cute this hanging unit is:
Stationary Items
I don’t know about you, but I just love stationary items. Before I had my command center though, I could never find a sticky note, or a pen when I needed one. I had to rummage through my kitchen ‘junk drawer’ and hope I’d get lucky. Having a spot to hold all your pens and pencils, notepaper, sticky tape and stamps means you’ll never have to rummage again.
Optional Extras
While those are three essentials I’d want to include in any Home Command Center, a few optional extras which will help you stay organized are:
- An electronics docking and charging station
- A key holder (no searching for the car key right when you need to leave home again)
- In/Out baskets – to clearly separate paperwork that needs handling, from the stuff that’s ready to be mailed or filed
- Meal Planning Board – to keep in top of any food that needs to be prepped in advance (or so someone else can cook it in your absence!)
So there you have my brief introduction to Home Command Centers. They can make a huge difference to your levels of home organization. You can expect to reduce the stress that goes along with not being on top of things by implementing some of these features.
I love my Home Command Center so much, I’m going to be digging into this concept in practical in-person workshop! I’ll be sharing useful tips on how to implement a Home Command Center. If you are local to Bloomington, IN, then I’d love you to join me! The details are right here.
You can also check out some of my Command Center inspirations on my Pinterest page, Consider It Done Lifestyle Management. Make sure to follow me to see all my favorite pins!
