Kitchen Command Center

Like in most families, the kitchen is the hardest working room in our house.  Sometimes it feels like a full time job just to keep up with everyone else's schedules in my house, let alone my own schedule.  As my family's needs change as my boys get older, I try to pause and consider what is working for us in the house and what isn't.  I decided to remove our kitchen desk because no one ever actually sat at it anymore.  My kids tend to do their homework at the kitchen island.  However,  I still needed a place to keep some of the important things that had been on the desk.  I ended up creating a kitchen command center on the cabinet side of our refrigerator.

I started with a wire basket, just like the one I have hanging on our kitchen island.  I love how versatile these baskets are.  I added my recipe binder (I keep print-outs of our favorite recipes here and also some frequently used take-out menus).  I added a small notepad and a folder to stash the things left on the counter that I needed to fill out or sign.   It's a never-ending cycle around here.

Above the wire baskets, I added a magnetic memo board from Ikea.  It is nice and large.  I also added a couple of small plastic containers (also from Ikea) with command adhesive strips.  I have had this magnetic memo board for years.  It used to hang horizontally above my kitchen desk.  It works better vertically here as shown above.

On the front of our non magnetic stainless steel fridge, I added a small magnetic chalkboard with command adhesive strips.  Now I can keep a list of things needed from the store right on the fridge.  I also keep a print-out of our monthly calendar.  My husband's schedule is crazy.  The shift he works changes every 6 days (he works a 4 days on/2 days off schedule).  To only complicate things more, he swaps with co-workers all the time so it is hard to keep up.  We have found it easiest to keep our calendars on our phones and computers.  I print out a copy to keep on the fridge so the kids can check to see if dad is working and if I ordered lunch for that day.  Inside our fridge, I have been using clear plastic bins to organize our food for about a year now and they work so well to keep things contained.  And they are easy to pull out and clean when there are spills.  I purchased mine at TJ Maxx.

Just remember not to put them in the dishwasher.  Oops.  I am now down to three bins.

For other paperwork, I keep a small file organizer on our hutch.  Each person in our family gets a folder and when they leave school work, paychecks or whatever else on the kitchen counter, I move it to these folders.  Inevitably, they will still ask me for whatever it is they are looking for.  I haven't figure out a way to solve that problem yet :)

Finally, here are a few sources for our new Command Center.