Who else can relate to this picture? School notes, calendars, schedules for after school activities, checks, thank you notes, birth announcements, bills to pay, spelling lists. Seriously, where do I put all this stuff?
For me it was a pile all over the counter that was stacked neatly and then moved all over the place. The most important covered my refrigerator. But I’m a little sick of seeing a refrigerator totally full of papers. Anyone else? And as much as I would like to pick them all up and trash them all right away, I can’t! They are all important for something! So this year I decided to start off the school year with a little more organization for me.
I’ve seen all kinds of beautiful command centers that involve a desk space in the kitchen with room for everything. Or a large tray or container that holds everything that the kids could need for homework and a place for all of the papers for the parents. Also a nice idea, but I have approximately 2.45683 square inches of counter space in my kitchen. {okay, yes, that was a slight exaggeration} So I knew I needed a spot for bills to be paid, kids to store their papers that couldn’t be tossed, and schedules and calendars, and it couldn’t take up much space. No problem…
In the end I decided on a two part command center. A space to hang the most important papers that must be seen, and a place to store all of the rest.
The first part is a space on my walls to hang papers. Yesterday I shared how I took a vintage metal tray and mounted it on my wall to create a new magnetic space. This gives me a space to put the most important papers, and gets things off of my refrigerator. Check out more pictures of this tray here.
The second part is my hanging file box. I found this wooden hanging file box and folders at Target. If you want to find a file box of your own you MUST check out this list of 9 file boxes that are both useful and totally beautiful!
I picked up six folders and labeled them:
- One for each of the three kids. This is where they can stash and important notes about field trips, school activities, current spelling list, study guides, and anything else that we need to keep on hand. I put these at the front so the kids can find them easily.
- A folder for calendars. Here we will store school calendars and schedules for activities.
- A folder for home. In this folder I will keep bills, instructions, warranties, or any other papers that can’t be filed away in the basement. The idea is not to let this folder grow and grow, but to only keep things in it for a short time period. If I don’t need to look at it in the near future then it goes in the basement files.
- A folder for the farm. Since I take care of the farm records and books there are a lot of papers piling up every day. This is where I will store the papers and bills that I need to take care of. Like with the home folder, this is not a long term storage, but a place for papers needing immediate attention.
My favorite part about this file box? It can be easily moved. It’s not huge, or heavy, and so it can be stashed on the counter in the dining room, and moved back to the kitchen table when needed, or into the laundry room when I want it out of sight. A great solution that is user friendly, easy to create, and mobile. Win, win, win!
So tell me, what do you do with all of the papers that pile up in your home? Do you have a solution or do you find them covering all of the spaces in your home like me?
Beth Ann says
Great organization. I have found that as soon as I get a paper or piece of mail—if I take care of it immediately and file it or put it in the trash or wherever it needs to go it is so much easier and keeps the clutter down. I love your system!
Val - Corn, Beans, Pigs and Kids says
I love that wooden hanging file box! We have a desk in our mud room where my goal is to get it re-organized once school gets started. It is usable right now but has gotten cluttered over the summer. This is our first year of having a child in school. So good to know about the amount of folders you need for your kids in school!
Debrashoppeno5 says
I like this idea since it doesn’t take up a lot of space and is portable. I always start off organize and then quickly get out of control. Maybe this will help me.
Becky says
It gets out of control pretty fast here as well. I’m happy to report that a few months later and we still use the organizing system!
Leslie says
I’ve been working on a command center for our home. Love how simple this system is!
Becky says
Thanks! It has to be simple or I just won’t use it. 🙂
Julie @ Loggers Wife says
I love how pretty it is. We live in a small house too and I end up with stuff shoved into a small, metal desk filer shoved in a closed section of my desk. It so does not work well. I think I might actually have space for something like this! (visiting from This is How We Roll Thursdays)
Becky says
For me it has to be functional and pretty or I end up never using it! I’m actually keeping more of my kids papers now that I have this system set up!
Crystal says
I love this! I don’t have a lot of space for a command center but I think I could pull this off. Thanks for the idea.
Becky says
Thanks for stopping by! I love & use this system still!
Julie says
Sometimes I feel like we are drowning in paperwork, this is great for a small space!
Oh My Heartsie Girl says
Hi Becky, thank you for sharing on our Wonderful Wednesday last week. I love your idea of the portable file center, I will have to find something similar. I have a question, how long do you keep utility bills before purging them? Don miss this weeks WW already started, stop by when you have time!
Have a great week!
Karren
Oh My Heartsie Girl
Becky says
Thanks Karren! We run our family farm out of our home office so we actually store all of our bills for 5 years, for purposes of possible audits. But those stay in a filing system in the basement. This box is simply for things that still need to be paid, or recorded, and then a file for each kid to keep track of their special papers for the year.
Jennifer Dawn says
Such a great use of space! This is being featured at our weekly link party! http://www.thelifeofjenniferdawn.com/2016/01/diy-projects-for-home-and-little-bird.html
Becky says
Yay! Thanks for the feature!
Diane Steinbach says
Great post! Love this idea and really need to put it into action! Thanks – found you on the Inspire me Monday Hop! Check me out on http://www.danielclaybrook.com/importance-of-branding-yourself-to-be-successful-in-home-based-business/
Thanks
mfoht says
Wow. You really have made the space useful. I love command centers. It’s just keeping it organized is my struggle. Love your file box!
themultitaskingmissus says
Love this idea! And your command center is so cute! That wooden file box is just fabulous!
Cristina at Ava's Alphabet says
This is great! I am so tired of the giant mountain of papers on my kitchen island that I can never quite get under control. I might have to try something like this. Thanks for the inspiration!
Beverly says
Your command center looks great and it’s so practical and functional. Pinned and Tweeted. Thanks for sharing at Snickerdoodle Sunday.
adrianscrazylife says
Hi – I’m the newest co-host of the Family Fun Friday linky party. I have chosen your post to be featured in next week’s spotlight feature. Congratulations! I’ve also pinned it to my Family Fun Friday board. Great tips!
Becky says
Thanks! Glad you stopped by!
FrugalHausfrau says
Very nice and I love that tray! Thanks for sharing on Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
Organized 31 says
Beautiful organization makes me so happy and your command center is definitely beautiful. I’d love if you’d share it at Simple Organization Ideas (you can find it on the far right of my navigation bar). Projects are featured each week and shared across social media.