Do you find yourself constantly feeling overwhelmed trying to ensure you and your family makes every appointment, come home to a stocked fridge, and all the bill are paid on time?

Just keeping up with the appointments, grocery shopping, and household bills feels like a full time job at times. It’s enough to drive you totally mad if you let it.

Girl let me tell you…

So I totally dread seeing my husband walk in the door with a hand full of mail. Because I know exactly where it’s going to end up.

On my dining room table. Yes all those opened envelopes will be sprawled on the table. Left for me to clean around or find somewhere to stash them. Leaving my house looking like a disaster, as soon as you walk in.

Does this sound familiar or is this totally a me problem?

As a stay at home mom, I take a lot of pride in keeping our home clean and neat. Especially since our little one is officially walking and in everything. So it’s important that I give her as little opportunities as possible to get into stuff.

Maybe your a stay at home mom, working mom, or a busy full time entrepreneur. Whoever you are, I know you don’t always have the time or energy to sort through every bill when they arrive.

Heck, you may not want to look at that credit card statement and see the damage you did this month. Either way your busy. And when you walk into your oasis you don’t want to be slapped with paper clutter.

If you enjoy this post, you may find these home organization blog post helpful when it comes to organizing on a budget.

Of course, you could go paperless. But you still need a way to track what bills are due and what bills have been paid for the month.

Even more important than bill you gotta figure out what you gone eat. Because there is nothing worse than coming home from a long day at work to open your fridge and realize you don’t have a thing to eat.

You’ve been there before. Taken off your shoes and bra all ready to relax and eat. Just to realize you gotta go back out to get something to eat.

Well I have a simple solution that will take care of all the above. Have you ever heard of a family command center?

A family command center is a designed area in your home, where you keep track of your family’s needs.

Your command center is a great place to store your mail or paper clutter, grocery list, meal plan, and family calendar. You can use your family command center calendar to keep track of upcoming doctor’s appointments, birthdays, kid’s activities, and household bills.

You will be able to use your family command center to write down all those lists that are constantly running through your mind. Who knows it may even save you from repeatedly having to tell your husband the kid’s schedule and what’s for dinner.

This is our family command center. Excuse the real life that is happening in the photo. We tend to shred our mail once it starts looking like this.

But I didn’t want to sugar coat things. It’s not Pinterest worthy but it serves it’s purpose. A place for our keys, meal plan, my apron, bills, and mail.

7 Ideas to Create a Beautiful Family Command Center 

I’m going to share with you 7 items I think you should include in your family command center. Along with where you can find affordable family command center must haves, all in one family command centers options (for those of you who need a quick and ready to hang command center), and how to customize the family command center to fit your family needs.

P.S. This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more) – read full disclosure policy.



1. Weekly Menu for your Family Command Center
Meal planning can be intimating. I get it not many are in the habit of monthly meal planning like I am.

But if you took the time to go grocery shopping then you are meal planning. Because it’s almost impossible to grocery shop without considering what you plan to cook. After all, meal planning is just writing down the meals you plan to cook.


Meal planning is an instrumental part of a family command center because we all have to eat. You are more likely to make bad food choices when you’re rushing to figure out what to eat because you don’t have a meal plan.

Including a weekly menu in your family command center will help get everyone involved. It gives your husband and kids the opportunity to give there input about what’s for dinner and get them excited. Once you get in a habit of meal planning for your family, you will quickly find that it saves you money and time.

2. Grocery List for your Family Command Center
Now this one is key because how many times have you gone to the grocery store only to come home and have your husband tell you that your out of xyz. Every bone in your body wants to scream why didn’t you tell me that before I went to the store. But you know it won’t change anything.

So instead you just make a mental note to grab it next time. Or you make another trip if it is something you can’t do without like soap (yes, this has totally happened to me can you tell).

You don’t have to write your entire list on your family command center but making it a central place where the entire family can communicate there needs will save you a lot of time, energy, and frustration. This way you will get in the habit of checking your command center before you go grocery shopping.


3. Calendar for your Family Command Center

We use to keep a calendar in our command center but I just found that we didn’t have that many appointments. Plus we found it easier to share our appointments via our Google calendar. But if you have a lot of family activities having a calendar in your family command center is crucial. 
A calendar is a great place for upcoming doctor’s appointments, birthdays, kid’s activities, vacations, your overall family’s schedule, and household bills. This way everyone knows what’s coming up and you don’t have to spend hours sending reminder text to your husband and kids.

4. Hooks/Hanging Area for your Family Command Center

I can’t tell you how many times I pick up keys off the dining room table. Can you say scratch?

Needless to say including hooks in your command center will give you a place to hang up your keys. If you are like me (and enjoy baking), it is also a great place to hang your apron.

5. Filing Cabinet for your Family Command Center

I know it’s tempting but don’t do it. You absolutely need somewhere to put your paper clutter. A filing cabinet is like a neat I will look at this later area. It is a great place to keep your mail, coupons, and notepad.

6. Chalk/Marker Holder for your Family Command Center

This one can be hard to implement but believe me you want a marker holder for your command center. I opted not to and instead threw all our markers in a nearby drawer. Only to find that we also had a permanent marker in our little junk drawer – you know you have one too. Let’s just say our whiteboard was almost ruined.

7. Whiteboard/Chalkboard for your Family Command Center

No command center is complete without somewhere to write down all those mental notes. You can’t go wrong with a whiteboard or chalkboard. I chose a peel and stick whiteboard because it can easily be moved. Let’s just say I’ve ruined my fair share of wall with whiteboards. Be sure you purchase a whiteboard with hanging fixtures.

Personalize your Family Command Center

Finally, feel free to make it your own by adding wall art, family monogram letter, or family photo. You will enjoy looking at and using your family command center.

All in One Family Command Center Option

Just in case you’re in desperate need of a family command center right now. But you don’t have the time, energy, or interest in creating a Pinterest inspired family command center. Here are several ready made family command centers that you can buy, hang, and use right now.

Momma Friendly Add-ons for your Family Command Center 

  • Chore List If you’re lucky enough to have kiddos that can help with chores. Having a chore chart would be a great addition to your family command center. This will also help your kids take ownership of completing their chores.

  • Kids Activities If you little ones are very busy with activities having a separate calendar for there activities is helpful.
  • Folders for School Work A file system that is strictly for your little ones school work is definitely helpful and will reduce the paper clutter around the house.
  • Hooks for book bags You will want to hang these hooks low enough so that the kids can hang there own book bag. Of course this is a separate hanging area from where you hang your keys. Because the last thing you want is for your kids to have access to your car keys.

If you love this look be sure to check out my Shopstyle list inspired by this farmhouse family command center.

3 Tips for Creating your Own Family Command Center

  1. Where to put your family command center? Location is key. You want to chose a high traffic area for your family command center. Because your family command center is useless if it’s in an area that you don’t use. 
  2. What to include in family command center? Take the time to find inspiration photos. Inspiration photos will makes it easier to create your own family command center. Finding inspiration will help remind you of what you want to include in your family command center.
  3. How much does a family command center cost? What you spend on your family command center is totally up to you. Before you begin shopping though be sure to set a budget. Find your key items. And most of all don’t be afraid to shop around to ensure you get the best price.

I hope this inspires you to create a family command center for your home. A space that helps your family better communicate with one another and takes the guess work out of family planning.

Hopefully once you implement these 7 must have for your family command center it will free up more time for you and your family to spend together. If this post inspired you to create an affordable family command center be sure to share it with your friends on your favorite social media platforms.

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