| | | |

Command Central Station {Getting Organized with a Command Center in a Closet}

Are you in full-on organizing mode these days?

Does the onset of January inspire you to make changes and simplify your life?

It seems to for me…

Maybe it is something about cleaning up and purging after all the busyness and excess of the holiday season.

It’s like putting your house on a diet.

Getting rid of the excess and clutter and getting it all put away neatly.

Restoring a little calm and function to your life.

Which is exactly what a functional Command Center is all about.

Command Central Station Get Organized in a Small Space with a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy HousieWe have a little closet off our entry hall that most people would use as a coat closet.

But as a family we enter our house through the garage and use our mud room / laundry room to hang our coats, rendering the coat closet a waste of space. So we decided to convert it into a Command Central Station.

The closet started out looking like this…though you can see we already added the countertop in this image. Originally there was no countertop; it was just a wide open closet with one wire shelf at the top.

You can tell we were using the space really effectively before.

Get organized with a command central closet - the before at The Happy Housie

Step one: it had to be pretty. Of course.

So we added some tongue and groove paneling to the inside walls of the closet. Once the hubs installed it and filled the knots and holes, I went ahead and primed and painted it in two coats of Cloud White (the trim colour that we have throughout our house).

get organized with a command central closet - installing paneling at The Happy Housie

I also painted out the shelf/countertop in Cloud White, though I also top coated it with a coat of clear varathane to give some extra endurance. I must admit that the varathane did cause it to yellow very, very slightly which I am not thrilled about. In the images below you can see the way that we “hung” the shelf/countertop.

How to built a countertop surface in a closet at The Happy Housie

Getting Organized with a Command Central Closet at The Happy Housie-9

Getting Organized with a Command Central Closet at The Happy Housie-10

Then came time for the fun part.

The Organizing Solutions!!

Basically, I thought about what different purposes that I wanted the Command Center to serve. I wanted it to be or include:

1) A drop zone for kid’s homework and paperwork, mail, bills, receipts, and reminders.

2) A space for our calendar – both the monthly calendar and a weekly agenda.

3) A magnet board for cards, reminders, photos etc.

4) Storage space for our office supplies, envelopes and stamps, pens and pencils etc.

5) A spot for charging up our technological devices.

6) A place to sort and file all the “stuff” that comes into our home on a daily basis.

The system:

As papers come in, they can be BRIEFLY placed on the countertop. I try to deal with paperwork on a daily basis and decide whether it needs to go into FILE, ACT, or STORE bins.

FILE and ACT are pretty obvious- they are for papers that we either need to file or act upon/deal with. My hubs usually goes in and files away everything in the FILE bin every month. The key to the ACT bin is to make sure that you make note of what you need to do. If it is something that requires immediate attention, then we place it on one of the clip boards to the left of the bins. The STORE bin is designed to keep the Command Center ‘clutter free’ – meaning that sometimes you just have papers that you need to hang onto for a few days or weeks (activity catalogues, swimming report cards, etc.) so the STORE bin is the perfect out-of-the-way spot for herding all those types of papers.

In addition to the large filing cabinet below the countertop, we also have a little spot for files that we use more often. You can see it just below the clipboards and magnet boards on the left hand side of the closet.

Full Source Guide at the bottom of the post.

So now is the part where I show you a ridiculous number of pictures… you know what they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, if so, this just became one really wordy post.

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-24

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-2

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-26

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-13

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-14

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-15

I turned an outdoor light fixture into a sconce that operates on a switch (yes, I did the wiring!!)…and I will be back soon to share more details on how it went down. I love having a light in this space because there is no overhead light.

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-16

I love my charging station…

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-3

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-8

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-12

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-17

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-2

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-22

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-7

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-6

Command Central Station Creating a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie-18

The Command Center Closet lives directly beside the kitchen, just off the front entry, so it is the perfect central drop zone. I love how it means that we no longer clutter up our kitchen counters with paperwork and charging devices. Yay!!

Quite the before and after, isn’t it?

Small Space Organizing turn an underused coat closet into a fabulous command center before and after at The Happy Housie

Source Guide:

Chalkboard Bin Unit – from Home Sense (Canadian version of Home Goods)

Metal storage shelf – Home Sense

Mint Office Accessories (including the magazine file box, storage folders, pretty files, office organizer with drawers and shelves) – all part of the Martha Stewart Line from Staples

Bulletin Board for Calendar – from Walmart, spray painted white

Charging Station – Target

Gold desk top file/letter organizer – Target

Picture frames – Target

DIY Clipboards and Magnet Board (using wrapping paper)

Filing Cabinet Makeover

Coral Stool Makeover

DIY Outdoor Light Fixture turned Sconce on a Switch – tutorial coming soon!

Pin it to remember it

Command Central Station Get Organized with a Command Center in a Closet at The Happy Housie

A Little More Inspiration

This week is all about organization!

Sunday is the first DIY Challenge of the year… and getting ourselves organized is the name of the game.

1502196_898782660132005_2819420843483129827_o
Here is what my cohosts have been up to for this challenge!

Get Your DIY On Organizing Our Lives

12 Weeks to a More Organized Life at The Hankful House

10 Tips to a Better Closet at Confessions of a Serial DIY-er

How to Organize Storage Bins at Just a Girl and Her Blog

Necklace Organizer at House by Hoff

Command Central Station {Command Center in a Closet} at The Happy Housie (you are here!)

Hope to see you Sunday with your organizing projects and makeovers!

 

signature and quote

pinterest  facebook  http://instagram.com/krista_thehappyhousie  twitter  bloglovin  google+  rss

 

Similar Posts

49 Comments

  1. How did get electricity in the closet? Did you hire an electrician to wire an outlet for your light and charging station?

  2. I love everything about this!! I have been staring at my desk area trying to figure out how to get it organized and I love your “File”, “Store” and “Act” bins as well as using the clipboard for immediate action stuff. So awesome. Plus, I can’t wait to hear how you turned the outdoor light fixture into one that works in the closet. It’s so cute!

    Virginia
    More to Mrs. E

    1. Thank you Virginia! We love how this space helps us to keep on top of the daily paper clutter – it is definitely one of the most used places in our home:)

  3. This is absolutely stunning! The only other place I’ve seen a command center so gorgeous is a Pottery Barn catalog. Thanks so much for sharing your amazing organization skills with us at Merry Monday this week!

    1. Wow! That is a fantastic compliment! Thank you so much – it is definitely one of our most used spots in the house!!

  4. I’m dying to have the Metal Storage shelves, but I’m here in the US and can’t get access to even purchase them online. Is there anywhere else I could look?

  5. Hi Krista, just wondering if you were going to be doing a tutorial on the DIY Outdoor Light Fixture turned Sconce on a Switch? I love this space btw, I’m hoping to accomplish something very similar, but I too need to install a light. Thanks!

    1. I bought that a few years ago at Walmart, of all places! You could probably DIY something similar… or make a printable version. I just love the saying. I always have to remind myself to live more in the moment:)

  6. Wow! Great job, especially adding the light. Really makes this space inviting and unique as well as functional. I have the opposite problem… no front coat closet. Haha. I might take some inspiration from this for another command center spot in the house. Love the colours you used too!

    1. Thanks so much Nikki! This is one of the most frequently used spots in our house! I love how it lets me keep all the paper junk OFF my kitchen counters:)

  7. I initially saw this in your other post about the light fixture. And then when I came here I realised it was in a closet. But you cannot tell, because it is so light and airy – so bright, fun and of course organized. This is a great job. Very well tho ught o ut and very creative! Kudos to you!

  8. Oh Krista!! It’s perfect!! I’ll be pinning this for reference when we tackle Gabrielle’s bedroom. I’d like to make her a work-space in her closet.

  9. Good job! Thanks for such good explanations and photos! I also like to add personal decorative touches even if I’m the only one who will see them. You’ve created a really pretty space.

    1. Hi Melanie! I just checked and I don’t see it on the target website either. I bought it in store – I think it was only about $10. It was in the summer but they may still have them in store? It is metal (white painted) on the outside and then cork inside, with slots and openings for the cords and charging devices. Best of luck with your search!
      Krista

  10. I’m so impressed! How handy that you had an outlet in your closet too! Always looking for ideas on managing the paper clutter that seems to reside in the kitchen. I’ll have to see about incorporating some of these ideas into our extra closet – which is the kids’ “backpack/school supply” closet right now. Great job Krista!

  11. Beautiful! I love everything you did to the closet. I am fortunate to have a spare room for my office, but I will be incorporating several ideas you shared. Thanks so much for sharing with all of us. I look forward to your wiring post!

  12. Wow, Krista! You transformed that closet into such a functional space! Love how organized it is and everything has it’s place!!

  13. This is SO cute and functional, Krista! I love that you took the time to add the paneling, paint everything, add a light fixture…all those details make this tiny space completely amazing!

  14. I love everything about this, Krista! I wish we had a closet we could empty to create something similar! XO

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.