Did you lose your keys again? Did you have to rewrite your grocery list because it got misplaced or thrown out accidentally? Do you need a place to put up your kids’ artwork, reminders about office parties, or the time you need to go to Grandma’s house? We did.
Setting up what we like to call a “command center” became a must for our family. We chose the most used area in our house, the kitchen, attached our pegboard to the wall, and began hooking on accessories to solve our organizational issues. Here are some of the things we wanted to do with it!
Note-Taking
Our Dry-Erase Board makes note-taking easy!
Having a place to jot down quick notes is paramount for us! Whether it’s a direction from a phone call, an important reminder, or just something to remember later as you herd your kids out the door, having a landing spot we could reference for notes was a necessity. All too often, our Post-It notes would slip from the refrigerator door or get crumpled by a toddler. We settled on a 4x6” dry erase board, and it has made all the difference for remembering those pesky little details
Letters and Lists
Cork-Board Strips coral the notes and loose papers.
As a working family with kids and a small business to run, lists are essential for us. Until we had a place for them, the lists ran the risk of being forgotten, thrown away, or subjected to our toddler’s desire for destruction. Who wants to disappoint a toddler (or a dad) when you forget the Oreos while you’re out grocery shopping? Even if the chances of forgetting your sweets are low while your toddler is with you and the likelihood of leaving behind the key ingredient for that night’s dinner is high, having a place to pin your list so it doesn’t get misplaced by the time you’re ready to shop means everyone gets their healthy dinner and their sugar for dessert.
Kids’ Artwork or Family Photos
Clips can work for so many papers.
As utilitarian as command centers should be, we also wanted a spot to add a personalized touch. We like to be able to highlight family achievements and the memories we’ve made together. From finger-painting masterpieces to family photos, items that hold significance to us also need a home. This clip provided us a place to add color to our otherwise practical pegboard!
Writing Utensil Holders
We have so many Bin options to choose from.
For all those lists that need to be written, birthday cards and checks that need to be signed, and paperwork that needs to be filled out, we absolutely required a place to hold our writing utensils. From dry-erase markers to pens and pencils, a tall, narrow bin makes the perfect home. Having several bins allowed for separation of various writing utensils.
Key Holder
Keep keys handy with our General Purpose Hooks.
Lastly, even with the specialized pieces we added to our pegboard, we still had another important problem to solve: lost car keys. We needed the versatility to be able to store house and car keys, work badge lanyards, and teething toys for the baby. We sorted out this requirement with a number of hooks. With various sizes and shapes at our disposal, we hung up our easy-to-lose items and stopped our long searches throughout the house.
Using a pegboard allows us to move and relocate the various components depending on what the week or month needs. Some weeks, when the family came to stay, we had more drivers and fewer notes, so we added a few more hooks for keys and put the corkboard away for the week. All of the components are easy to attach and detach, making it easy to tailor our organization to our ever-changing lives.
To complement our utility pegboard, we added a few other wall-mounted accessories. We found that a larger bin was useful next to our command center. It allows for the placement and storage of larger, long-term items. It could be a book to grab when you’re on the go, piles of paper for an event a few weeks away, or a pad of paper to start jotting down those lists! We also added an acrylic calendar to the wall. Being able to visually see the events a few days or weeks away led to fewer scheduling headaches. Juggling school schedules or dinner at the grandparents’ could lead to conflicts, and we didn’t want to get double-booked.
How would you assemble your command center? What do you value having close at hand? Whatever you choose, we hope you’re able to make your life more organized!
