Family Organization Command Center
Before and Afters

After we moved into our new house, we had space galore compared to our previous three-bedroom house. The extra space didn’t end up preventing the eventual clutter that was school papers, bills, receipts, carryout menus, etc. It eventually hit a point where I had to do something to get the stuff off our island and into an organized fashion. Family organization was a must. The small wall space by our back door was the only spot that seemed to work for it, so it became the focal point for this endeavor to organize a family command center.

The majority of this project involved finding the items I wanted. I found the hanging metal paper sorter at Ikea and cut pieces of paper to fit the space on the outside. Each section was labeled with a piece of scrapbook paper cut to size to ensure it would remain routinely organized. The weekday chalkboard shelf came from a random find at the store Tuesday Morning. Check out whether you’ve got one near you. It’s a good spot to find unique items at good prices, so I was bummed when the store nearest to me closed. This shelf wouldn’t be too hard to make if you can’t find anything to fit your fancy. Actually, writing that makes me want to make one myself! The whiteboard was from Target, but you can find them anywhere. I liked this one for the pen holders and the cork strips.

Finished Family Organization Command Center
The girls had a place to hang their backpacks, see the dinner menu and store their papers.
It went from clutter to clean just like that.

A Mom Must Have

With the numerous activities on our schedule between the five of us and the dog’s training and vet appointments, I have found this calendar serves us the best. Family schedule organization at its finest. It’s got a row for each of us to distinguish between activities. I also keep a color-coded Google calendar to alert me, which has saved me a few times. We’ve used like versions of this paper calendar for the last couple of years. It was actually very difficult to find this year. Last year, I got one at Books a Million. They didn’t have them this year. After searching many places, I finally found one at Big Lots. So if you’re looking for one for yourself, I’d recommend checking there first.

Phase 2 of Family Organization

We got a Greater Swiss Mountain puppy this past year, which ended up meaning our shoes were no longer safe. I decided to use some extra wood sitting in the garage to create a shoebox to keep them safe by the back door.

Our puppy Skye, particularly enjoyed our flip flops.

My Materials

  • 3/4″ plywood
  • 1/4″ plywood
  • 2 hinges
  • Spray paint
  • Stain
  • Drawer knob
  • Painter’s Tape
  • Screws

Tools

  • Painter’s Tape
  • Nail gun and nails
  • Kreg jigs
  • Circular saw
  • Drill
  • Saw horses
1/4″ plywood for the bottom and back
3/4″ plywood for the sides
Using the circular saw, I cut the plywood to the width of the wall space and the depth of my husband’s shoe. If I had had enough 3/4″ plywood in my scrap pile, I would have done the bottom with it as well. Unfortunately, I didn’t, so I used 1/4″ plywood instead.
My favorite tool, the Kreg jig, used to make it easy to attach the sides to the top.
I decided to use this Rustoleum spray paint I had from an ombre project I completed for my niece. The pop of color was a nice surprise on the inside.
I used some inch long wood screws to attach the bottom to the sides. Since it was just a simple project to keep our shoes safe, I didn’t worry too much about having 1/4″ board on the bottom being attached with glue and screws.
I thought it’d be fun to give the top the look of panels. To achieve this, I taped it to allow for the stain to create lines. The darker stain was first with two coats to make sure it would be dark. I switched the painter’s tape to cover the dark stain and then did the lighter stain. After that, I did a second coat on a few of the spots to have a third variation.

I put on two hinges I had handy. It seemed better that we’d have to pull up on the door to open it and make it puppy proof. I drilled an easy hole in the middle of the front panel and screwed in a knob to finish it off.

Safe and sound

The finished product for family shoe organization and safe keeping!