Family Command Center - Revisited

I always love seeing how other people organize their homes (thank you Pinterest!). But sometimes I see a great idea and start to wonder if it really works long-term. Tell me I'm not the only one that second guesses some of those ideas out there! 

Today I decided to keep it real and take a look back at the Kitchen Command Center I created 2.5 years ago. What worked, what didn't, and what I changed. (**I have made another easy update, see it here.)

Here is what our command center looked like when I first shared it back in 2013. We don't have a wall to dedicate to a command center, but what we did have was the side of the refrigerator. So, I had to make the most of the limited space that was available.

The base is a freebie bulletin board that I painted to jazz it up a little (you can buy one similar here*). I created a pen holder from a toilet paper tube and wrapping paper, and a little bill holder from the bottom of a cereal box, wrapped in the same paper as well. The whole thing is attached to the side of the refrigerator with heavy duty velcro strips.

To keep the kids' school papers off the counters, I gave each of them an acrylic file holder* as a dropzone for paperwork.

And here is what our family command center looks like currently. The first thing I updated was the orange accent color, to make it fit better with the other colors in the space it got changed to a fun bright blue.

The file folders for the school papers are still working out fantastically! It really has been a great spot for corralling the paper and keeping the kids' semi-organized.

The DIY pen holder is still going strong, but the DIY bill holder got taken down. It kept getting bumped into and knocked off, and since most bills are paid online, it really wasn't necessary anymore. That open area at the bottom holds the lunch menu when the kids are in school, baseball schedules during the summer, and still leaves space to add additional notes and reminders throughout the year.

Overall, this command center is still a great fit for our family and the space we have available. Like any good organizing plan though, over the years you really should re-evaluate it to make sure that it is still working for your family. Sometimes all it takes is a little tweak to make it work again, and other times a complete overhaul may be necessary. As your family grows and changes, your organization systems should grow and change too.

How do you keep your family organized? Tell me in the comments!

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