Command Center for Small Spaces

Command centers are all over Pinterest right now and in general have been all over Pottery Barn for years.  I’ve always sortof scoffed at them, with their silly faux messages written on the chalk boards for the faux perfectly organized families.  Fencing lessons on Thursday, Dinner Menu:  Quail with risotto.  It all seemed very intimidating.  For a long time we had all the shoes in baskets in the entry way.  This was a disaster because what you forget about with small children and baskets of shoes, is that they can’t see what’s in there and they dump the whole dang thing out looking for their princess shoes.  Plus I didn’t like having all these shoes and the accompanying mess in the entry way.  Our entry way is small and there’s not really room to have a command center there.  Plus we don’t leave via the front door, ever.  We leave through the garage.  But there’s no room near the back door for a command center.  Or so I thought.

Make a command center for a small space with a few items from Target

Supplies for your command center; I got mine from Target.

Things I bought:

1. Two combo cork/magnetic/dry erase boards.
2. Push pins
3. Dry eraser and pens
4. Silver metal mesh holder for pens and eraser
5. Pink dry erase board (didn’t end up needing this one, but it’s pictured)
6. Paper, tear-off calendar
7. Canvas mail holder from Real Simple
8. Screw in hooks for bottom of cork board to hold canvas mail holder
9. Plastic velcro-like sticky mounts (hold up to two pounds each piece – no drilling, hammering needed!)
10. Over the door shoe holder

Shoes near the back door, hats, backpacks, calendar, mail holder and white board for messages!

For the kids: Message board at kids' eye level, backpacks with laminated photos so they know which hook is theirs.

On the left: Shoe rack for the door. Canvas mail holder and messages for adults (too high for kids to draw on).

Where to find supplies:

Any office supply store will have you cork boards, calendars, magnet boards and dry erase boards.  The canvas mail holder I got at Target, along with the over the door shoe organizer.