How to Make A Family Command Center
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A family command center is something I’ve wanted to add to our routine for a while. I wanted one central place to keep track of schedules and recurring routines, and to give everyday items like keys and mail a proper home instead of piling up on the kitchen island.
I also wanted to keep costs low, since buying organizers can add up quickly, so I challenged myself to use mostly what I already had on hand. In the end, my goal was to create something simple, cohesive, and cute that would make our daily routines feel easier.
In this post, I’m sharing how I planned and made our Family Command Center, along with supply links and step-by-step DIY details.
Decide What You’ll Include On Your Command Center
This is going to be based off of your family routines, so not everyone’s command center will look the same. To decide what was most important to focus on first, I asked myself: What is something that I reach for daily, weekly, monthly?
Another important thing to consider is noticing moments when you think, I wish this worked differently. It would make this so much easier.
Then, I brainstormed how I could incorporate it into the command center. I will show examples below of all of these when I list out how I made each part of the command center, so that you’ll have a clear picture of this process.
Making Each Section
The Calendar
This was the top thing on the list because with so many things going on in our household… events, trips, and appointments to keep up with… our family calendar is a household essential and an integral part of our routine.
I used a desk calendar. Probably not the most ideal, but I thought it was stunning, so I took out the 2 hardware pieces at the top, and used gold screws in their place to hang the calendar onto the wall. The bottom of the calendar butted out from the wall a little bit, but I used the key hooks right at the base, and they keep the calendar flat.
Key Hooks
The keys used to pile up on the bar or get lost in different rooms , but the key hooks are a simple way to make sure all of our keys are in one consistent place, and quick to grab going in and out of the door. I found these super cute hooks on Amazon that I just hammered into the wall. I used the calendar lines as a guide to keep the key hooks level and evenly spaced.
Pin Boards
This was the project that actually started it all. We already had a calendar hanging on this wall, and would change it out every year, but I wanted to take it a step further and have a place to keep the ongoing grocery list, as well as, somewhere to write out the weekly meal plans for dinner.
Because that’s been such a painful question in our house – what’s for dinner? This motivates us to get an idea going for what we’re gonna have each night of the week. It’s not always set in stone because life is a little messy like that, but it’s been a lot less of headache on most nights with this template to keep us in order.
I made the pin boards for:
- Weekly Meal Planner & Grocery List
- To pin relevant invites or cards to as we get them in the mail
- Any other notes. For example, since the cork board is in the kitchen, I have some notes for my Instant Pot I’ve been learning to cook with. The notes are fair game for anyone in the house tho & possibilities are endless for reasons why you’d pin something on the board.
I’m hoping to get a separate blog post and YouTube tutorial video completed soon so that I can link those here to show you guys the whole process of upholstering the pin boards. It was actually really easy to do!
Fabric Envelope Mail Holder
The mail piles up over time on busy weeks. I wanted somewhere other than the island to toss it as soon as we bring it in, so that nothing gets misplaced or stained with any kitchen mess.
There are tons of options for mail holders you can buy, but as I mentioned before, I’m doing this on a budget, and I thought it would be fun to make my own in my own style.
The fabric envelope is lightweight enough that I could just use the cute, gold pins I bought for the cork boards to pin it to the wall.
Here’s how I made mine, if you want a step-by-step tutorial. I made a YouTube video of the whole process. You can find it here: Click this link for the video tutorial.
Things I’d Like to Add
Rome wasn’t built in a day as they say. Although, I love the Command Center Wall so far, now that we’ve been using it a few weeks, there’s something I’d like to add (and will report back here to update once I do)
It’s simple really, but somewhere to hold pens & markers for the calendar & dry erase templates. Currently, these are all in a bin that’s magnetized to the fridge (which isn’t far away) but the perfectionist in me just itches to take those few steps out of the picture and make the Command Center routine even more seamless.
Other than that, I can’t thing of anything else needed. If that changes though, you’ll hear it here first.
End Notes
I have loved this little addition to our kitchen, and I hope it gave you some ideas for your own Family Command Center. If you have any comments or ideas to add, please feel free to drop them below. I would love to hear from you!
