does anyone have a command centre/board...

[GreenGoth89]

or is it yet another bored American housewife/pinterest obsession?

I have a small door at the bottom of our stairs (the meter cupboard) which I want to have a space for a calendar (possibly superfluous as we use google calendar linked to our phones, but might be a helpful reminder), a white board (and markers attached), a wire thing for post to go in (because otherwise it gets lost on the coffee table), and any school stuff for DSS. Is there anything else which is worth using? A small cork board for any other bits? I'm not sure how I can do this cheaply and also not make stuff stick out too far as it is at the bottom of the stairs - theres a large step at the bottom so theres a fair bit of space but as I have mobility problems I don't want it to be any more difficult to navigate.

I have not idea where to find the wire A4ish baskets and whether its even worth doing??

[GreenGoth89]

bump

wondering if its worth my time putting into this now...any advice?

[ChampagneCommunist]

I have the calendar beside the kitchen table, it's also where we open post, empty school bags etc, so that's our equivalent- works well for us

[AnnaMarlowe]

I suspect these are the kind of Pintrest inspired things you spend ages setting up and never use.

I used to work with a chap who told me all about how he and his wife were very carefully designing their Command Centre.

I did a lot of smiling and nodding.

[GreenGoth89]

All our post just ends up on the bloody coffee table under all the other debris so I lose hospital letters, we almost lost our tax credits letter to child with a sharpie (iPad didn't get so lucky) so I need to do something. My DP is the most disorganised person ever and I'm not great myself - but with lots of hospital appointments and needing to put as much effort I can to get better and be able to get back to at least part time work, and a 4 y/o starting school (oh and now a legal battle with that too) we need to get seriously organised. I'm starting the konmari method to get rid of clutter and make it easer for me to actually get around the house (I have mobility problems), and I thought a command centre would make it better but it's hard to figure out what methods are actually going to work for us and what isn't. I also need to get my somewhat lazy but also overworked DP (full time carer right now) to work with me - teaching him konmari folding methods and getting him to do it isn't going to be easy!

Any suggestions at all would be massively massively helpful!!!

[AnnaMarlowe]

Some suggestions Green:

File or action all paperwork once a week (have a regular day).

Do laundry every day so it doesn't build up.

Institute a rule: if you take it out you put it away afterwards.

Everyone does 15 mins of tidy up once a day at the same time (choose a tidy up song to do it to)

[Flowersonthewall]

Have you a wall that you could get a whiteboard put up on? I write up the next two weeks of diary events and any letters invites or any other paper that's vaguely important goes up there too. Very handy and useful!

[GreenGoth89]

Anna my partner has to do laundry and it doesn't get taken out at the best of times - the load that's in there now has had to be rewashed three times now! I can't physically do it, but if/when I can get some help I think we do need to schedule it - there's only 3 of us so not a massive amount to do it every day.

[GreenGoth89]

Posted too soon - I do try to file it all one day a week but by that time it's already lost or takes hours of searching to find. I could do with a much better filing system - my current filing box is failing apart because there's too much.

I'm going to get baskets which live on the stairs during the day which everyone has to fill with their stuff and then take up to their room - DSS is not bad at tidying if there's a reward in it - even if it's just a sticker, but I do hate doing reward based stuff because I want him to learn that we all live here and have to do our share of the tidying - apart from I can't :/

[MirrorMirrorOnTheFloor]

I bought a magazine file and put it on the dresser in the kitchen when my older daughter started school, and just put every piece of school related paper in it. At the end of the year I take out all the stuff (except reports) and then I have room for all the school stuff next year. If you had one for hospital stuff, would that work for you?

The other thing that I did was put cheque book, envelopes, paper clips, pens, laundry pen, name labels etc in a kitchen drawer, with a pen pot above it. That way, I can fill in form / label a new piece of uniform / write a cheque and put it in a labelled envelope without moving from one place.

[GreenGoth89]

Flowers that's pretty much what a command centre board is - I think I'll need a wire magazine rack type baskets because I can easily have 4 different appointments in one week alongside normal day to day stuff but it might sort the urgent letters getting lost and the rest can just get filed away. I'll measure up tomorrow and see if an A3 whiteboard and maybe an A3 cork board? Might not be needed really especially if I get some magnets. Just need to make it all eye catching and not very missable now! :p and make sure bloody DP uses it!!

I also need to get pegs at my DSS height so he can put school bags and coats away too...

[SlightlyperturbedOwl]

Yes it's buried somewhere under the big heap of papers and other crap that needs sorting out

[BoaConstrictor]

We don't have a command centre but our system is:

• massive, open wicker basket in hall which shoes go in as you come in (it appeared to be too much effort for the DC or DH to put shoes on the much nicer looking shelves that were previously there)
• low hooks so the DC can hang up their coats
• bit of shelf where book bags live overnight. I go through this as soon as I get home, action anything that needs actioning (sometimes this may just be a reminder in my calendar to deal with it)
• a specific cupboard in the cloakroom where ballet, football, swim etc bags live;
• we have an open magazine file in the "corner of crap" in the kitchen & any post that needs filing goes there. Theoretically, this is regularly filed. What happens is that when the file is bulging, I put it in the study as is and buy a new file

- a cardboard box (think it was originally a gift box) in which I put party invitations, vouchers etc

• a Tupperware container in the kitchen containing chequebook, loose change, stapler, paperclips, writing pad & envelopes, money envelopes as that means I can deal with any school related requests at the last minute;
• everything goes on the calendar. If it isn't marked on the calendar, it doesn't happen (eg if DH tells me he is out on a certain date but doesn't put it on the calendar & I then arrange a night out for the same night & put it on the calendar, I go out)

- email to everyone involved in childcare in the final week of one month detailing what is happening the following month. Some months, this may say "as usual" but usually there are at least a couple of changes a month such as the childminder having the children for an extra 30 mins one night, not having to collect them another night, DH doing pick up on a different night to usual etc;

• everything goes in my work calendar with a reminder one business day in advance ... Sports Day, non-uniform day, Harvest festival donations required ... absolutely everything

From September, both DC are doing an extra activity & I feel as though my brain is already at capacity so I have a white board to put up in the porch which will detail what each DC needs to take with them on each day. Some weeks, it won't change (eg Monday - ballet stuff X 2) but others I will add a reminder if a DC needs anything extra.

[SlightlyperturbedOwl]

Don't worry Boa I think Marie Condo says that just filing papers in the order you get them is the most efficient way of doing it

[SaggyNaggy]

We have a notice board in the kitchen. Its cork, it has pins and bull dog clips. Its where our 2 week meal plan is pinned. Its where monthly slips oif reminders are kept and where any important letters are hung if they need actioning.

[LittleBee23]

I have a letter basket on my door where mail just falls into (it was there from previous owners and is a bit unsightly but I love it). I then have a wooden letter holder where I sort mail into filing or shredding. Then on a Saturday it's dealt with and either disposed of or filed.
I used to have a total paper monster but I love this system now.

I've yet to find a solution for shoes though. Hubby leaves 3-4 pairs lying in the hall every day and thinks I'm unreasonable for asking him to put them away.

[CharlotteCollins]

Cork board and wire baskets sound nice. If you want cheaper than that, I put mail and letters from school by the kettle. (There's a bit of worktop there I don't use for anything else.) Hospital appointment letters: I enter them straight into my phone calendar, then either shred or put in my handbag if I need to take it with me. I write reply slips over a cup of tea, or breakfast, and if I need to hold onto a letter for a few days (say if it's reminding me a trip needs packed lunch and change of shoes), I'll slip it down the side of the kitchen cupboard above the kettle! Then it gets recycled once no longer needed.

I expect that's rather individual, but it works for me! The family planner-style calendar and paper recycling box are in easy reach, so I guess you could say my command centre is my kettle!

[CharlotteCollins]

Oh, and tax credits and other time-consuming things that I don't want to deal with immediately go in a letter rack thing next to the computer and then I get a visual reminder every time I sit at the computer.

[monkeywithacowface]

I have one. I covered the end of the tall larder unit in the kitchen in a chalk board sticker that covers the whole end. Have a weekly wipeable planner on it and a blank wipe able bit for shopping list etc. There's two clip boards, one for each of the dc's for school letters, homework etc and there's a small rack/pot for letters and one for pens and chalk.

[DoItTooJulia]

I'll fess up to having a command centre! I have a calendar, a cork board, a clock, a shelf with a pen pot and two ikea magazine racks on the wall at the bottom of the stairs. I want to add one of those fabric covered cork boards with criss-cross elastic too.

It's useful and keeps everything out of the way: takes no space up and all the bits of paper have a home! The main filing cupboard is at the top of the stairs, so it's easy to file the stuff that needs putting away.

[picklypopcorn]

I super glued magnets to the back of a whiteboard and stuck it on the side of the fridge then wrote out all my daily housey tasks on it to keep on top of things.

Then I got one of those cardboard magazine holders and did the same, so glued strong magnets to the side of it and it's also on the fridge. I have 2 of them, one of general mail and one for things that need doing :)

[caramelchaos]

Me me me! I've got one, just finished it actually. Got days of the week blackboards from tiger which I have in the middle, a black wire letter rack from ebay, a menu board which I made myself out of pegs and decoupage and lots of wee photo frames. I've also got two sets of pegs, one up high for adults and one down low for kids. I love it!

[BakewellSliceAgain]

I have shelving next to dining table which has a thin A4 file for each child. Any letter or school info gets put in as it enters the house. As children get old enough I tell them to " put it in the file". No hole punch, just bung it, it looks ugly but it has worked. I also have plastic holders in there at the back for documents and things of theirs I wish to keep tidy.

Files are there to hand to be pulled out at breakfast or dinner when we seem to need them most.

[GreenGoth89]

Could anyone put up photos? I'm still confused with what to do with my space. I'll still a photo of the space I have very soon too!!

[GreenGoth89]

This is the space I have for the command centre. Is this big enough?

[GreenGoth89]

bump