School begins and all intentions to stay organized for the year can quickly deteriorate as kids lug home backpacks filled with art projects, handwriting practice, permission slips, sports equipment, and more. Keep things under control by creating a personalized “command center,” where every family member can unload, reload, and store their everyday gear – and Mom can more easily see what, when, and where everyone’s going. Use these 38 ideas to inspire your family’s command center, drop zone, landing zone, organization station, after-school station, or whatever else you want to call it – and get organized for good!
1. We love this command center setup with its multi-purpose shelf unit for catching loose items, storage, and hanging coats and bags.
2. Make your own modern organization board with Girl Loves Glam’s free printables and tutorial for making a fun stained backdrop.
3. A great idea from The Container Store to use simple labeled bags to corral gear for individual children, plus some tips on what to include when building your command center!
4. This organization station serves a purpose but looks amazing too with its fun abacus feature.
5. If you’ve got two small areas to use for your landing zone, consider some of these ideas and make both rooms feel cohesive.
6. This idea comes directly from the Pottery Barn, and although it’s pricey to buy, it could inspire some fabulous DIY-ing!
7. A couple of simple storage rails or towel rods can go a long way in keeping a small station together. And the corkboard backdrop? Perfect.
8. Use a basic shelf system and some creative accessories (that mirror!) to give your command center some real flair.
9. A hanging tote for each family member makes it easy to transfer items collected during the week to be carried to their rightful homes.
10. A kids’ art gallery and a fun set of reminder boards? Clever ideas to add to your landing zone at Achieving Creative Order.
11. Sometimes all you need is a pretty shelving unit and a collection of bins and baskets.
12. Industrial baskets and an oversized clock are great pieces to use when organizing on a small section of wall.
13. Don’t forget to add patterns, colors, and fun details to add some great aesthetics.
14. If you’ve got some free time and want to try something permanent, this is a great command center to add to a home! Check out the full chalkboard wall and large photo print.
15. A mounted pocket for homework, permission slips, bills, and more make it much easier for busy parents to keep track of the needs of each family member.
16. Give an unused kitchen corner a useful makeover by turning it into your organization station. And framing recipes from vintage cookbooks? Pure genius when it comes to personal touches.
17. Get access to some weathered wood from an old barn or fence and follow this tutorial to create a rustic command center like this one. Our favorite feature is the painted clothespin family!
18. There’s a lot to love in this landing zone – the clipboards, family rules sign, key holder, chest… And if the frames and accessories you have don’t match, give them a quick coat of spray paint for instant unification.
19. The base for this project consists of two cheap wooden doors. Paint, textures, and patterns make it a fun and functional part of the home. Simply lean it against a wall or screw it down for a more permanent, sturdy unit.
20. A command center doesn’t have to be elaborate to be useful. Choose accessories that make the most sense for the space and fit your family’s needs.
21. Here’s a unique idea for helping kids keep track of their daily tasks, all made with plexiglass so the pieces can be used like dry erase boards. And take a look at the simple string of photos and artwork adding some family love to the wall!
22. If you’ve got a lot of space to work with this command center will give you some great ideas! A big chalkboard painted onto the wall and surrounded by a simple frame makes the perfect background for a three month calendar and some practical add-ons.
23. Sometimes all you need is to repurpose an old piece of furniture. This buffet makes the perfect organizational unit for a command center and a large mirror can double as a message board.
24. Can’t quite find the command center boards and accessories you need? Try building your own with these instructions from The Elusive Bobbin.
25. Make use of kitchen appliances in a kitchen command center! The refrigerator that hugs this wall becomes a great place for little kitchen extras like a menu planning system and cleaning schedule.
26. Keep things simple with a coat hook and clip for each family member. This organization station uses a magnet board and magnetic clips.
27. This great find from LegacyStudio is up on Etsy—you can buy one or use it as inspiration for your own single-unit command center.
28. Another more permanent unit, this one can be built and customized with these plans from Ana White.
29. Check out these creative customizations – chore boards, baskets for snacks and school supplies, and a special notice board for Mom.
30. We love the artsy details and crisp colors of this command center. A basket for backpacks is a great alternative to mounting hooks on the wall.
31. This build-it-yourself unit has a great old-school look and the pegboards add a lot of versatility. See the tutorial for a list of inexpensive materials and all the details.
32. Helping kids keep track of their own gear is easy when they can clearly see their names (and initials!) in the command center.
33. Dress up a plain dry erase (or chalk) board by adding painted frames to highlight important lists. Another fun idea – magnets stating the days of the week that can be moved wherever needed.
34. The clean lines in this command center really make things feel organized, and Kikki.K gives five simple steps to creating yours.
35. Oh So Shabby definitely gets the award for sweetest accessories! We’re totally in love with the idea of using mini-mailboxes to stash each kid’s electronics and the cute flower and banner details.
36. An in-box and out-box for each family member is another great organizational tool to consider when designing your command center. Plus you can snag some free back-to-school printables to go with it at Living Locurto.
37. If you’re looking for something versatile but not sure how to put it together on your own, get some inspiration from this command center, then head over to Staples’ Martha Stewart section here to pick your own pieces!
38. As the family grows and dynamics change, it’s nice to be able to make appropriate changes to your command center as well. Achieving Creative Order does just that with her family’s wall.
Remodelaholic has 10 more great ideas for Family Command Centers! Check them out here!
Kayla Lilly is a photographer, writer, wife, and mama making a house a home in eastern Idaho. She met her mister while working at an amusement park and married him a year later after deciding there was no way to live without him. The amusement has continued as they’ve added three kids and a passel of pets to their lives while finishing college and starting a photography business. Drawing inspiration from the whirlwinds of marriage, parenthood, and the media, Kayla blogs at Utterly Inexperienced, and spends the rest of her time chasing chickens, organizing junk drawers, diapering toddlers, and photographing everyone willing to step in front of her lens.
Featured image via Better Homes and Gardens.
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