The #1 rule is to keep it simple, & start small.
You can always add as you go - but if you make the center too complex or difficult to manage at first, you won't follow through. You'll create MORE work for yourself.
Pick one or two components that you think will be the most helpful - and start there.
Read below for some more tips but be sure to watch the video above first!
How do I know where to put this control center?
We want the control center in a typically higher traffic area. Someplace you are going to walk by multiple times a day. Why? Because out of sight, out of mind.
Think through how you move through your home. What door do you come in and out of the most? (Do you always go through the garage door? The back door? The front door?) Is there a mud room that you typically stop in and set things down? Do you always set things down on the countertop in the kitchen? In the dining room?
I believe that if you have the space close to whichever door you typically go in and out of when leaving the home - that's the best. It limits other areas you can drop things off at creating clutter -but it is also more "in your face" when you get home.
If you don't have any wall space near the door you enter into - another great place is in the kitchen.
I have had quite a few clients use a kitchen cabinet as their control center. You open the cabinet and calendars and key hooks are on the inside of the cabinet door - with varying baskets on the shelves.
If you have a smaller living space - you can also break your control center into more than one spot if needed, also. This isn't ideal - but better than not having. a control center at all.
Some of my fav places to shop for control center items are: The Container Store, Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, Etsy & Amazon.
If you are wanting to add a communication component to your center - a cork board, push pin board, dry erase, or glass dry erase boards are all great options. It really just depends on how you want it to look and who will be using it (for example, you probably don't want push pins if you have small children).
There are SO many great etsy shops that can create personalized communication boards for you, as well - to further customize your center and how you want it to look and run.
If you find yourself setting down packages, mail, school projects etc. on countertops - a larger drop basket on the floor will help contain.
The drop basket essentially acts as a holding spot for your things until you have the time (or energy) to deal with them - and keep them out of the way and off the busy kitchen countertops.
The key with this is having a daily (or weekly) routine where you go through your basket - otherwise it just becomes a basket full of long-term storage.
There are so many types of hanging wall baskets that can be used for different purposes:
You can assign one to each member of the family for their own personal drop zone.
You can have a school folder basket that the kids put their folders in after school to make it easier on mom to go through.
You can use a basket for keys if you don't like the look of keys hanging on a hook.
You can have a specific mail basket.
You can have an "outgoing" basket of things you need to return or remember to take with you that you check before you leave the house each day.
Be creative!
Checklists (for yourself & your kids) can live in the center, too!
Both of my kids have their own after school checklist, as well as evening checklists. They are laminated and stored on clipboards that hang on a hook in the control center. (well, they did at the old house and will definitely be continued at our new house!)
Even better - a dry erase marker is attached with a string so they aren't wasting time looking for one every day.
Below is a "do not forget" checklist - and while it has the check boxes, I don't actually check the boxes each day. Instead, it's laminated and hung on the wall in the control center - and I read it out loud right before we walk out the door:
"Backpack?"
the kids say CHECK!
"Lunch box?"
CHECK!
It's something fun that the kids enjoy doing each day and it helps us to not forget anything needed for their day.
You can get these checklists for your kiddo for free here: https://www.dianarene.com/checklist
Above all else - remember to keep it simple and start SMALL!
You don't need to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a huge curated wall. Start with one or two components, and build as you go. You've got this!
