The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Kristin at The O.C.D Life.
For the past 6 months, I have been trying to create a command center for my household. I cleaned out an entire cabinet that I had planned on devoting to our family’s command center. It was in the perfect location, it had a lot of space, and I knew it was going to work great. That is until it didn’t work.
I tried to force my husband to give up his prized catch-all spot without any success. It got to where it was almost a game. He would lay his things in his usual spot, I would move them to the new command center, he would get frustrated, and then, I would get frustrated. So, I gave up and embraced “his” spot.
You win some and you lose some. I definitely lost the battle on that one. But, through that experience, I learned a lot about family command centers.
1. Don’t Rush the Process
You want this change to be something that benefits your family, not something that is a nuisance. So, don’t be in a hurry to get something set in stone. Sometimes, organizing projects take time.
2. Notice Problem Areas in Your Home
Everyone has problem areas in their home. When I say problem areas, I mean the areas in your home that tend to collect the most “stuff.” Our problem area would be the kitchen. Everything lands in the kitchen! We come in the door from a long day and we immediately drop things on the kitchen counters, table, chairs, and even floor.
This was actually the step that got my mind thinking about a command center for my family. About 6 months ago, I was sitting at the kitchen table doing some work. One of my children grabbed the chair next to me because they wanted to come hang out with me. When they grabbed it, it almost fell ontop of them. The chair had several coats and bags hanging off the back of it, so all it needed was a little pull to fall completely over.
At that point, I knew something needed to be done.
3. Adjust & Readjust
It may take several times of changing things around to make it work. This was the cabinet that I swore was going to be the best solution to our clutter problem.
But, time and my husband’s frustration decided it wasn’t the best solution. So, I had to start back at the beginning of the process. I sat and evaluated why the command center didn’t work and what solution may work better. When doing this, I determined that the cabinet never would’ve worked. First, even though it was the perfect location, my children couldn’t even reach it. My children need to be considered because this special place is for them too. And, knowing my daughter, she would’ve gotten her mighty stepping stool and climbed on the counter to get into the cabinet. That would’ve started a whole different set of issues and concerns. Second, a cabinet may not have been the best solution. Yes, the contents would’ve been out of the eyes of visitors, but what would go in the cabinet? The whole time I was moving my husband’s belongings, I couldn’t figure out what I was going to do with the other two shelves. That alone should’ve been an eye-opener for me.
If mail and paperwork already have a place in your home, then a cabinet may not be the best solution to your command center problem.
4. Make Sure it Fits Your Family
This goes along with #3. If your family’s problem area is the living room, then the command center doesn’t need to be in the kitchen. Or, in my situation, if your family’s problem centers around coats and bags, then a cabinet is not going to fix the problem. It will only add to it.
Every family’s needs are different! The best solution for one family may be completely wrong for another.
5. Don’t Get Frustrated
Every time I moved my husband’s belongings, I told myself this statement. Creating a command center takes time. Embrace the process and know that every wrong solution is leading you one step closer to the right one.
After following all of these steps, in the next month, I will be creating a command center for my family on this wall…
So, stay tuned till next month to see how this wall looks after some changes and additions.
My name is Kristin and I am a high school career education teacher by day and a mommy/wife/blogger by night. I am married to my high school sweetheart and we have two loving children. We live in the bootheel of Missouri in a home that is always under construction. I get excitement out of finding new creative, functional, and cute ways to organize things! I also enjoy writing and documenting life as it happens. So, I put these three loves together and created The O.C.D. Life. With the help of my husband, I am attempting to turn our house into a home. So, check out this special place of mine and take this journey with us! Learn more about me here and the meaning behind my blog’s name here.
Linking up: Design Dining and Diapers, Six Sisters Stuff, Your Homebased Mom, A Bowl Full of Lemons
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