Getting Organised for 2018 – Launch Pad

Last week I shared our Command Centre. Today I share our Launch Pad.

Do you find yourself trying to find your car keys/purse/wallet/phone/bag/shoes etc whilst also trying to get out the door in the morning? No fun at all! Our Launch Pad came about when I was preparing to go back to work after having Miss 6. I wanted somewhere to store all our bags so that we weren’t trying to find them when rushing out the door in the morning. It was a great place for storing the nappy bag/daycare bag etc and has evolved from there.

This is our Launch Pad.

This is the place where we store all the stuff we need to get out the door in the morning – bags, sunglasses, items we need to take with us etc.

Here is my handbag, our daughters epipen, a hat for hubby, an umbrella for Master 4, a plastic bag with my daughters old school bottoms to give to a friend for her daughter this year and a plastic bag of bags which we give to or daycare centre for rubbish/dirty nappies.

All the sunglasses, a spare epipen and a selfie stick – don’t judge, they have their purpose 😜.

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is cupboard I store any items that we need to give/return to other people. I have a few items in here at the moment but they should all be dispersed by Australia Day. On the top shelf I store the kids swim bags, ready to go. The kids lessons are very early on their respective days so it's good to know they are there ready to go when you're rushing out the door!

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e other side of the cupboard are the kids school bags. Master 4 still goes to daycare so his sheets and hat are in the bag, ready to go. We just add his drink bottle before we walk out the door. Miss 6 is heading into year 2. Miss 6 is responsible for emptying out her lunchbox and drink bottle and putting the bag in the cupboard. All we need to do in the morning is re-add a full lunch box and drink bottle and head out the door. The box at the bottom has our picnic rug, umbrella's and gloves ready to go.

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mer addition is this great bag from IKEA. It has all our swimmers and towels in it and clean underwear for once we're out of the water. This means we can head out the door at a moments notice for a trip to the beach or Mum O's house!

Our Launch Pad has removed the stress of trying to locate items when rushing out the door in the morning. I catch a train three days a week and am conscious of the time we are heading out the door and no one wants to start the day frazzled and leaving their loved ones in a grumpy mood. The added bonus is it eases the mental load knowing that everything is here where it should be and hubby knows where it all is too, thus sharing the load with someone else.

Do you have a Launch Pad in your home? Have I inspired you to create one?

Getting organised for 2018 – Command Centre

I don’t know about you but I feel like 2018 is only just starting today as today is my first day back at work.

I thought I would share with you what tools I use to organise my family. This week I am sharing our command centre

What is a command centre? It’s a place that each member of the family can access to find out information on what’s happening.

This is our command centre.

It is located in our kitchen. It is in a space we access everyday. I think this is important or information won’t be seen and the area will have been set up for no reason.

Let’s take a tour through our command centre.

The “hello” sign was purchased from Target about three or four years ago.

The cork board is from Office Works. We use this for items without magnets.

The magnetic board is also from Office Works.

You all know how important family is to me. Whilst this photo needs updating as my niece was in her Mum’s tummy, I love looking up and seeing everyone there. The frames used here are from IKEA and are the Fiskbo frames.

Next is the “What’s for dinner” frame. This is in the Fiskbo frame and I write on the perspex with a whiteboard marker which rubs off each week. This is a great tool as if Hubby gets home before me, he knows what to cook for dinner, without having to call and ask me.

The empty space there is where we hang out daughter’s homework plastic envelope. It was annoying me being on the kitchen bench or dining room table when she was in Kindergarten so I re-jigged our command centre to make room for it. Easily accessible and easy for her to put away. Worked for two years so far!

Below these are the kids chore charts. These were $5 each from Kmart.

I wanted another piece of pretty amongst the mundane. A simple few words in Microsoft in different fonts did the job!

The pencil holder holds a pen, permanent marker and whiteboard marker. There is usually a pair of scissors here too.

And finally a plastic sleeve for all things school. I store the school term calendar, any permission notes, school reports, certificates etc. I clean it out at the end of each term. I keep some envelopes and post it notes here for letters to the teacher/lunch orders.

I don’t really like the Dyson stick vacuum living here, but it is the most handy spot for us to grab it and do a quick vacuum around the kitchen and dining room. I think I’ll commit and get Hubby to hang the bracket for it here.

Some people have a calendar with their command centres. I use a diary and all dates are entered into that. Will share my diary in the coming weeks. My diary is usually found on the kitchen bench. I’m not a fan of this and am thinking of hanging a shelf on the command centre wall to put it on. Other items you might like to include in your command centre are a clock, key holder, charging station for phones and other devices and a plastic sleeve for takeaway menus.

Here are some images from Pinterest that may provide more inspiration for you.

So tell me, has this been helpful? Do you already have a command centre? Is it working for you? Will you set one up if you don’t already have one? Let me know!