thirty*by*thirty: #9 establish a well functioning command center

WANTED: a new & improved command center
because the older I get the more I need a place for everything and everything in its place

With less than 2 weeks before school starts, it's time to regroup my current overwhelmed and overworked command center,

into something a lot more functional and well, if at all possible, a little cute.

High ho, high ho, it's off to Pinterest I go (or went).

I was immediately in love with every other center. But first things first.

Because this is a make-over, I already had the grunt work complete; meaning I knew what I wanted in my command center and where, in my house, I wanted it.

The goods that needed organizing (again):

bills/check book
home binder (itself in need of a MAJOR overhaul)
dry-erase calendar
school calendar
misc important papers (i.e. invites, class calendars, sports schedules)
cell phone
stationary box w/addresses
binders for flex spending account & debt management program
hoards of folders (school specific, 2011 tax papers, etc)
catch all tray holding sticky notes, calculator, etc.
magazines
coupon book & sales papers

My problem is not that I don't have a place for everything, because I totally do. My problem is that I have four big kids in three different schools and two little kids in preschool; all with their own papers and no space to work with!

I need a lot out of the tiny space I have to work with so my primary goal here is to make everything visible so that no paper goes unnoticed. Let's face the cold hard truth here, there's a lot going on in my kitchen, lol!

I lusted after this ultimate large family command center alter:

But I have neither the space nor budget to make that happen.

Yet my eye kept going back to this little gem here:

Unfortunately, I couldn't quite convince Mr. 30by30 that taking over an entire wall where I previously took up a mere quarter of one was a do-able task. Woe is me.

But the clipboards?

I could work with clipboards.

Clipboards have a secret that cool folders or even hanging folders do not...they keep papers exactly where they are suppose to be-i.e. no slipping and hiding in the bottom of the hanging folder. I like.

While still perusing Pinterst, I came along this little guy; please note the heavy ovaled (a circle just wouldn't work) floating shelf, dubbed a landing strip (giggle) by the site.

Now that would work...the wheels kept churning as my fingers kept clicking through the vast oasis that is Pinterest.

The simplicity of this little caddy caught my eye as well.

Hmmm, dare I say I have the inspiration necessary to revitalize my humble command center??

clipboards
floating shelf
open top filing center

With a little bit of planning, a lot of creating & sorting, and, okay, the occasional ill tempered thought, I was on my way to marking #9 off my list.

Check it.

Or maybe not.

Walmart didn't have any old school clipboards (just the newage plastic neon business), nor did it have a shelf suited to my needs.

Bummer.

Then again...

In my browsing I came across this site that gives a tutorial on making a 'menu board.'

I wasn't overly inspired by the menu prospect (I don't need a fancy space-taking up board to do what a sheet of paper & a well organized recipe binder can do), but something about that board spoke to me. And if you recall, I already had a cork board on hand. Hmm.

thinking thinking thinking

cork board...check.
leftover high-gloss white paint...check
binder clips...check

Oh yes, I can.

A few minutes over the course of an afternoon, 3 coats of paint, and some ~~hot glue~~ super glue later, voila! A tidier, streamlined version of hanging clipboards.

While in the practice of re-purposing, I spied my well-loved, albeit fugly, wire organizer. I happened to recall that the bottom drawer is removable. Two nails and borrowed bi-ceps (thank you teenage son) later, I had my own version of a floating shelf to hold my bills. If only I could find someone to pay them too...

Keeping in mind me goals of function and beauty, I zeroed in on a recently acquired (via a dying plant) basket just wide enough to perfectly hold folders. BEHOLD, a pretty(er) filing cabinet of sorts.

Next stop, purge city USA.

And at last, I can officially cross #9 off my list.

DONE.

Please note the handy dandy command hook now holding our recycling off the floor-a necessary move for our soon to be crawler ;)

Okay, okay, so maybe there isn't a radical, awe-inspiring visual change, BUT, nothing beats function baby.