As a planner coach, I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of having a home command center in the household. Our family has found using this specific tool in our home puts calm in the chaos of life. A home command center is a designated area in your home where you can organize all of your family’s important information, schedules, and tasks in one place. It is a physical space that helps your family stay on top of everything that needs to be done. Let’s talk about the purpose of and how to design your own home command center.

The Purpose: 

The purpose of a home command center is to simplify your family’s life by providing a central hub for all things related to running a household. By creating a space for important papers, schedules, and tasks, you can eliminate clutter and reduce stress in your home. Here are some of the benefits of having a home command center:

Centralizes important information

1. A home command center can help you keep important papers, like bills, school forms, and medical records, in one place. This can make it easier to find what you need quickly, without having to dig through piles of papers.

Helps manage schedules

2. By having a family calendar in your command center, everyone can see what events, appointments, and activities are coming up. This can help prevent scheduling conflicts and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Encourages communication

3. A home command center can be a place where family members can leave messages for each other. You can use fun dry erase boards or even a simple notepad for writing messages. This can help facilitate communication, especially if family members have different schedules and don’t always see each other.

Promotes organization

4. A home command center can be customized to meet the needs of your family. You can include a to-do list, a chore chart, and other tools that will help keep your family organized and on track.

Reduces stress

5. Having a home command center can help reduce stress by providing a sense of control over household tasks and schedules. When everything is in one place, it’s easier to see what needs to be done and prioritize tasks.

The Design: 

When creating a home command center, consider the needs of your family. It should be easily accessible and visible to everyone in the household. You can use many aspects and products in your home command center. Whatever you choose will be items that help solidify the purpose we talked about before. Here are some items you might want to consider adding to your home command center: 

• Calendars
• Receipts
• Bills
• Shopping list
• Incoming and outgoing mail/mail center
• School papers
• Chores lists/charts
• Notes between family members
• Menu Planning
• Bulletin Board to display School Art
• Pen Holder
• Charging Station
• Emergency Contact Information
• Filing System
• Key Holder
• Shelving and hooks for Shoes and Coats

It definitely doesn’t have to be all of these things, but if it is something that your family is constantly looking for or asking about it is a great idea to put it all in one central location so they know where to look and what to expect in the designated place in the house.

The best things to add to a Home Command Center are the things that are going to function best for your family. I have listed a few ideas, but what you ultimately put in it, is going to be up to you and your family needs.

Where do you put a Home Command Center? 

Where you put your home command center will depend completely on where in your home gets the most foot traffic. You want the command center to be in a central location that everyone in your family has access to. The reason for this is you want it to feel like the place where they can go to get all of their questions answered about schedules, finding family information, and a place that makes the most sense for your family. Below you will find the most common areas that you will find a home command center: 

• Kitchen
• Office
• Dining room
• Mud room
• Laundry room
• Hallway
• Living room

In conclusion, a home command center can be a valuable tool for any family. It helps centralize important information, manage schedules, encourage communication, promote organization, and reduce stress. By creating a home command center, you can simplify your family’s life and make it easier to manage the day-to-day tasks of running a household. You can and will go from chaos to calm using this method in your home.