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DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

by | Apr 17, 2019 | Decorating Inspiration, Entries/Mudrooms, My Entry, My Seattle House, Organization, small houses

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DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

You might remember seeing this cabinet in our home over the years. We’ve even repurposed it a couple of times to suit our needs in two different homes! Today I’ll share how we set this cabinet up as our home command center.

Life around my house gets a little hectic sometimes. Simplifying, editing and staying organized has to be a daily task. I’m not obsessive about detailed organization, but I definitely feel more at peace when I have a few simple systems I can rely on.

I’m a big fan of creating “destinations” or designated “stations” for organization! Coffee stations, gift wrap stations, mail stations, family command centers, I enjoy them all.

Since the task of decluttering or organization itself isn’t a big passion of mine, I guess thinking in terms of a creating a specific “destination” for things I like to do in my home is more inspiring to me. It’s how my mind works.

You may remember seeing this cabinet in my books (Simple Organizing), or in our last house, too, when it had an entirely different purpose.

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

In our old house, this cabinet was in our dining room. We used it as a hospitality cabinet! It’s where we kept things like our cloth napkins and napkin rings, dinner candles, serving utensils and special glasses. So handy and fun to have a spot for table setting.

When we moved to this house, the cabinet ended up in our little entry. Early on I realized we didn’t have a good “spot” for “those things” that you need to keep track of in a busy household. So I decided to reinvent this cabinet and give it a new purpose as our command central. (This cabinet is out of stock, but this one is similar and I’ll link to others at the end of the post!).

We don’t have a lot of room and our budget for completing this project was probably less than $30, so we had to get creative and use what we already had. I’ll put a source list at the bottom of this post with what we used and similar sources!

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

The glassware and entertaining items were relocated to a different cabinet to make room for the new command center. Once we emptied the cabinet, it was easy to reimagine it for a new purpose.

We still use this organizational system today, so this isn’t one of those projects bloggers might show that never really get used. A couple of years later I can say this continues to be a useful and (fairly) organized destination in our home that we still use every day!

It actually didn’t take much to make this cabinet useful for our needs. A few peel and stick cork boards on the inside of the door became a spot to stick things like emergency numbers, addresses, contractor business cards, lists, school forms or invitations.

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

My cork came in the shapes of triangles, but you could (of course!) use any shape or size to suit your needs.

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center
DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

Paper trays keep our most important, currently relevant and more time sensitive papers sorted so I rarely have to panic wondering where I put something. The answer is usually “in the cabinet.”

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

Wire bins can hold anything. Eye glasses, receipts…we’ve used them in different ways in different seasons, depending on our needs. The key with baskets is to give them a designated purpose and stick with it. If they become a catch all it’s time to pare down to a more defined purpose.

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

Press and stick hooks on the other door hold an extra set of keys and an emergency flashlight. This is a handy location for these items in case the power goes out, or if a guest is staying in our home and might need to easily access them. We also have a magnetic clip (stuck onto the door with a command strip) to clip notes.

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

Keeping certain items handy in this cabinet means we also feel prepared with some essentials in the event of emergency. If we need to flee in the middle of the night with keys and a flashlight, we’ll be all set. Safety first, you know?

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

One drawer holds stamps and envelopes and the other is for phone chargers.

Do you have a cabinet in your home that you’ve set up as an organized destination?

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

Similar Cabinets:

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

Similar Organizers:

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

Similar Small Lamps:

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

My Decorating, Organizing, & Homemaking Books:

DIY: A Free Standing Cabinet Command Center

11 Comments

  1. Linda Grubbs

    I basically have the same kind of cabinet as yours…..however it’s no where nearly as organized as yours! As always you’ve given me some great ideas that will make it easier to find things! Thanks Melissa!!?

  2. Jo Jo

    Such a great use of your cabinet! And it’s so attractive too! We have a built in bookcase with a similar sized doored cabinet in the middle of it. We store similar items in ours as well. There is an outlet in it and we haven’t used it..but now that I see you charge your phones in yours you gave me an idea to do the same! Thank you!

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Oh yes, I bet your built in is wonderful! So great that you already have an outlet to create a designated charging station, too. <3

  3. Pat M.

    I have a similar piece with all drawers inside. It is organized in a very similar manner and makes for easy retrieval of necessary items. It’s only me, so it stays organized, but if any unnecessary items appear in there, I have only myself to blame.

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Ha! I love it Pat….so many times I think ‘why is it getting crazy in here’ and then I realize I am to blame. :)

  4. Cheryl Kohan

    Well, I do have a cabinet that is SUPPOSED to be organized but the shelves have really become catch-alls. So this post is inspiring me to do something about it. I like the wire basket idea and I just looked at my cabinet doors and think those hooks and pegboard would work. Thanks for the nudge.

  5. Debbie - MountainMama

    I love anything that helps me be more organized!! That’s a great cabinet….sadly I don’t have a proper entry but I do manage to keep myself fairly organized regardless. The keys go in the same place every day, I have a little ‘file’ system on the wall by the stairs where paperwork stays until I grab it and take it down to my office…and my fridge holds my shopping list on the front and on the side another magnetic organizer and a calendar. It works!

  6. Monica

    Love it! My command center is a deep drawer in my kitchen (though we put car keys in a spot right by the front door). he drawer is deep enough to stand files on one side and misc. stuff we use daily on the other! I love it because when I open the mail, I immediately recycle non necessary stuff immediately (the envelopes, junk mail etc) and put the stuff to be saved directly in a file. I mostly have a “to be filed” file that has bank statements, utility bills or other things that will eventually go to the office. Then I have files for each kid, myself, the pets, for things that we need often when in the kitchen making phone calls or appointments etc.

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      So smart! And love that your family files can fit into the kitchen. That makes it so efficient!

  7. Becky

    Dear Melissa, thanks for sharing your home details with us, it’s all definitely inspiring! I’m learning to keep my things simpler and tidier. I love to see all styles of command centers. As a daughter at home, my command center is in my bedroom closet. I have a wide shelf at elbow height that holds files, trays, baskets and such, very handy for all my personal files and office supplies. Pretty gift bags also make great places to hold notepaper, stickers, cards and letters. One little floral bag even holds …er… uh…my chocolate stash! (wink) A cork board on the wall, and a calendar that collects sticky notes display lots of lists, reminders and inspiration. It’s great to have a specific place where these things belong. Most recently I designated a little office bag that holds markers, micron pens, scissors, tape, erasers, scrap paper etc. easy to grab and go wherever I am studying or making notes. All very delightful! And it being behind a closed door keeps my bedroom looking very clean.

  8. Jules

    I don’t have a cabinet but I love your ideas! Do you have suggestions to do this on a countertop that is seen?!! Argh! It looks awful almost all the time. I do have metal magazine racks with folders that we organize bills and sale flyers. But I love all the things you keep in your cabinet and have hidden. Advice or a link to something for my counter? It is the opposite side of the kitchen so I don’t use it for cooking. (flat surface = collects “stuff”!)

 

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