Under stairs makeover plans: command centre

Do you wish that you had one spot in your house where you can organise EVERYTHING? Well then you need a family command centre! Preferably one that’s functional and beautifully styled too.   

Let me start by telling you that my husband is a total plonker! Not in the ‘Rodney, you plonker’ sense I might add. Nope, my husband is literally a plonker – merrily plonking his belongings on whatever surface happens to be handy.

IT DRIVES ME NUTS!

We have a more than ample coat closet, a logical place to store your boots and bag after a hard day’s work, you might think. Well not in my husbands mind – he likes to put them right outside the living room door for all to see and frequently trip over. GRRR!

His keys, wallet and phone get dumped anywhere and surprise, surprise when he needs to leave the house in a hurry he can never find them! DOUBLE GRR!

Now don’t panic, I don’t intend to spend the entire duration of this blog post bashing my husband or whining about my first world problems. Thankfully, what he lacks in ability to put things away, he more than makes up for with cooking skills, fixing things and generally being an all round good egg.

But it was his incessant plonking that spurred me on to dream up this little idea. A little station to get this family organised and curb his plonking ways. In america it’s know as a command centre – I’m not sure what us Brits would call it. Basically it’s going to be a family organisation area – where we can see at a glance upcoming events, our menu plan and keep paperwork/husbands random crap.

My ideas grew and grew into a total under stairs makeover, complete with reading den, fairy lights and a place for my son to store his school things. Cool huh?

Under stairs area currently

A while ago we had the idea to put my son’s table in this space, but unfortunately it has become another cluttered surface. Here’s how the space is looking right now.

I’m cringing at the thought of you looking at this sad little space – but I promise it will have a happy ending.

So what does a family command centre consist of exactly?

Well, let me run through the plans with you:

• Calendar
• Menu plan
• Somewhere handy to keep mail and paperwork that needs actioning
• A place to file paperwork
• A space for shoes*
• Storage for my husbands keys, wallet and phone
• Phone charging spot
• Reading den
• A place for J’s school bag and PE kit

*Now I do love living in a townhouse, but there are certain issues you face as a townhouse dweller. Whilst the aforementioned coat closet does indeed provide plenty of space for all our shoes, our front door is on the ground floor and access to the garden is up on the first floor. I know #townhouseproblems. So we do actually need a few pairs of shoes on the first floor.

As always it all needs to be transformed on a small budget!

Here’s a little mood board so you can get an idea of the look I’m going for:

(photo credit: Planner – Primark, Succulent & Brass Container, Letter Rack – Sainsburys, Basket – Home Sense) 

So here are my first actions:

• Clear out under stairs area
• Decide on a paint colour for the back wall
• Paint the back wall

You don’t want to miss the command centre reveal!

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Want more interior inspo? Take a look at my nine favourite place to get decor ideas.

What would you include in your command centre? Let me know in the comments!