Take Command!

Recently I posed the question to my friends "what's an area of organization that you're struggling with?" The response was amazing, but not surprising. I think it's safe to say that every home has an area where all things congregate, only to be dealt with later. A lot later. If I'm a betting woman, and I am, it's located somewhere in the kitchen. (Or pretty close to it, i.e. the dining room table.) Some call it the drop zone and in our family it's a part of our command center.  The more people in your home, the probability that your "stuff" grows at an alarming rate. I don't need years of research or mathematical equations about proportion to demonstrate this, just my own personal experience.  No matter what you call it, or where it is located, this hub is a vital aspect of any household and contains some pretty important information. So the time is now that we're going to claim this space back!

Our kitchen is not the biggest, but we have designated a set of cabinets next to our fridge that houses all things important. I don't care what house we have lived in, the kitchen has always had a space where the medicine lived, the junk drawer existed, and all the other odds and ends, paperwork etc found their home too. With each house I tried to relocate this to another space, but it eventually found it's way back to the kitchen. With the completion of school, I have begun to see this space spill over into the adjoining room and the fact that my eye is starting to twitch is not a coincidence.  (And as a reminder, this is a judgement free zone, just saying'. :)  )

(EEEEEEEK!!!!!)


In order to make any space better, unfortunately you have to make it worse. Before you touch anything, take inventory of what you have living in that space. Is there anything that truly doesn't belong there and if so, take it back to its home. Pulling everything out can become a bit overwhelming, make sure that enough time is set aside to deal with it properly. Otherwise you'll find yourself shoving it back where it came from and that's not productive. Trust me... seriously learn from my mistakes.

Remember those ABC's of organizing we talked about earlier? Use that to quickly sort through what you have and determine that items fate. In our space we keep our medicine, all kinds of school supplies (I have a slight addiction), electronic devices, and the mounds of paperwork that comes in and out of our house.  This is what works best for us and your family may have other things that you need to live in or near your command center. Keep your family in mind when you're trying to figure out what needs to be in that space.

Most people store their medicine in the bathroom, however due to the humidity levels it's not recommended for some medications.  Read the labels to ensure safe storage. I used the top two shelves of our cabinet to keep out of the reach of little hands. I found these handled containers at the Container Store, but you can easily find something similar that works just as well.  The upper containers have the big bandages and items that we don't need access to as often. The shelf below we have three containers: one for daily medication, children's medication, and the last for adult medication. I saved a wipe container from when the kids were babies to house the small bandages and ointment because we seem to visit this box pretty frequently.

The last shelf I keep the office supplies that I don't want the kids getting into, but that we need from time to time. The best investment I have made is my label maker since I'm not the only one who uses this space. It's not only important to tell people where things are located, but also eliminate the excuse "I didn't know where to put it back." The little drawers are great for keeping little bits and bobbles together.

As for our junk drawer, I try to limit what goes in here only because this is the space that seems to live by its name sake and gets junked up the fastest. Having two little girls means that they have a ton of odds and ends that they want to keep hold of i.e. their games and lip gloss. This is also where we keep the chargers and headphones. Usually the girls come home with a plastic school box at the end of the school year and I try to snag it before they get a chance to destroy it, this is just one of their many functional uses.

Down below the junk drawer I keep the bigger items like batteries, plug in refills, candles, packaging material, emergency radio and flashlights, and lastly I have those cute boxes the girls can grab when they come home from school to help them do homework. If you have smaller children, you will want to be really careful about what you put in this cabinet. (I would recommend moving those batteries to higher ground.) It may also be a great idea to have a cabinet lock just to be on the safe side as well.

The countertop is where I try to keep things clutter free, which can be quite a task. I have a metal basket that I've places folders labeled for easy access. Paper that comes into the household be it mail, school items, coupons, bills all have a place to live. And if I don't want it on the counter, it's easy to stow it in the bottom cabinet. My girls have their own folder for passwords on websites, permission slips, and each week I keep one to two items from their work that I really like (and when they're not looking recycle the rest...shhhhhh) I love my kiddos, but you absolutely cannot keep every single piece of paper they've wrote on or crafted, at least I can't.

We found out the hard way that our new fridge is only magnetic on the side so this cute galvanized metal envelope from Target is held on with the super strong magnets. This is where I put the party invitations or tickets for upcoming events. We also use a magnetic spice container to hold the box top labels for school. The printable is from my most favorite website i heart organizing,  found the plastic holder at an office supply store, and we use dry erase markers to update each week.

Keep in mind this is just one example of how you can utilize the space. I've considered putting a little tool kit in this space so we don't have to run in and out of the house for a screw driver or tape measure. However you decide to use remember that you're not the only person who will be using it and they may need certain items to be there as well. It could be a good idea that once you've finished your space that give your family or housemates a tour.

                                                  After!!