Command Center

I have been trying to get my house in order for months.  I used to be so organized and my life was sooooooo much easier, I really need to get everything back under control!  I have been reading and watching some of those organizing shows on TV and they always recommend that you have a command center or launch pad, where you keep keys, backpacks, purses, out going mail, etc. and so I decided I needed one too!  Here is the area I decided to work with, technically this isn’t the real before shot, before there was a shoe rack and a pile of shoes here.  Yeah, it looked worse than this and yes that is an entire tote full of fabric.

I was shocked at my local office supply store to see that a combination marker board/magnetic board/cork board was $35.00 – $75.00! (you know I wanted the $75.00 one) and that did not include markers, push pins, or magnets, yikes!  I made a quick trip to my local “mart” store and found a magnetic marker board and some cork tiles fairly inexpensively.  At Hobby Lobby I found a nice upholstery fabric remnant for a couple of dollars and ta-daaaaa, a spiffy new command center.

First I cut the fabric into squares a little larger than the cork tiles.  The fabric I used was super easy to cut because it has a pattern of small dots on it (they’re black and not showing up on the photo)  Using spray adhesive I attached the fabric to the front of the cork.  I trimmed the corners diagonally, leaving a little fabric in the corners for turning.  I then used tacky glue to glue the edges of fabric to the backs of the tiles.  The marker board and cork tiles came with mounting squares to stick them on the wall with and I just eyeballed where I wanted them an stuck them up.  I think I need to move the key rack to above that tile on the top right to make it more symmetrical.

Obviously I still have some work to do, like draw up a calendar and tack up some more stuff, sort all the mail, and organize the basket of doom there on the left, but I think it’s really going to help.  I’m also going to make some covered milk crates to hold library books and backpacks/purses.  I would also be really cute to make some customized magnets and push pins.  The rest of my house is still a giant mess, but I’m working on it, little by little :)