Get the Paper Clutter Organized with a Mini Wall-Mounted Command Center

I am on a mission to get organized this year! Last year having a school-age kid kind of snuck up on me.  I had no system in place to actually deal with it.  I was overwhelmed by all the school papers.  I did not know how to stay organized and not forget things.  This year I am making a big effort to get really strong systems and routines in place.  I am starting with a fun little project in our mud room to create a command center.

We have never actually had a command center.  We used to have the play kitchen here with just the memo board above it, but that doesn’t really count.  Now, I want to maximize this couple of square feet as an ultra-organize command center.

The first goal was to use the vertical space more affectively, or at least what little space there is.  We love the memo board, so that stayed.  Next to it, in the corner, we have this little tiny wall where I wanted wall files.   I thought it would be a great way to keep important information on hand, and fit in an in and out box.  I went to the office store and looked at all the wall files, but they all look like they belong in some corporate cubicle.  That was the last thing that I wanted in my house.

Then, I found this navy blue accordion file holder at Target on clearance.  I have seen these used on top of the desk to have all your files sitting upright.  I played around with it and discovered if you extend it further until it is almost flat it works mounted on the wall.  It was the perfect size for that little space and I love the graphic look of it from the side, which we see when we enter through the garage.   Much cuter than a boring plastic wall file, right?!

This is a super quick project to install, but I spent more time thinking about it than I did actually doing it.  I wasn’t sure how to mount it to the walls securely.  I wandered the hardware store looking for fasteners.  I ended up using copper pipe hangers, normally used to mount pipes.  I didn’t want the copper color, so I sprayed them gold along with the screws that I used to mount them.  I used small wall anchors and screws to mount it.  The hangers fit over the rubber feet that came on the accordion file and hold it tight against the wall.  I used two on the top and two on the bottom.  I love the sort of glam industrial look of the hardware, especially the gold touch mixed with the navy.

I’m just starting to get everything organized, but basically we want to have an outbox for things that need to be mailed out, a spot for our home management binder (which I just ordered from Jen of I Heart Organizing),  a place for coupons that we can check when were heading out to the store, and an open spot for important things that need action.

On the nearby glass memo board, I keep a small calendar where I have marked all no-school dates and important dates, like birthdays and anniversaries.  The board also works with dry-erase markers, which I use to write out important weekly reminders.  There is also a spot on the board for receipts.  It is not meant to hold all of our receipts, but just ones for recent big purchases that we want to keep handy.  Last year, we misplaced one too many invitations and missed some events because of it.  This year there is a clip on the board just for invitations.  The last spot is simply labeled important.  Anything that needs attention goes here.

We love this glass memo board (from Ikea), but the faux silver clips always seemed so boring.  That was nothing a little washi tape and my label maker couldn’t fix.  I learned from Jen, that clear labels on top of washi tape makes anything cuter.  The cute labels spilled over onto the side of the accordion file.  We will always know where things belong.

This is just the start of what I have planned for this corner.  I am finishing up a great piece of furniture that is going below for even more organization. I really think this little corner is going to change the way we live and how we process the never-ending stream of paper that comes in and out of our house.