hidden message center anyone?
Comments (17)
angie_diy
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Message Center
Comments (5)I have one that I just love right now! I stuck three pieces of cork board and 1 piece of dry erase board (12" X 12" each found at Staples in packs of 4) onto our pantry door. I have labeled each one with what they are for. In our house it's Calendar, ToDo, Menu Plan/Grocery List, & Msgs. This has worked REALLY well for us. I printed out a year's worth of blank calendar pages from Outlook and then write in the activities (each person in our family has a color and the activities are highlighted with the person doing the activity.). This was relatively inexpensive....See MoreOur message center in mudroom with DIY magnetic chalkboard
Comments (10)Thanks all! The chalkboard was my first "crafty" thing I've done in a very long time. I have three kids under 5 and this past year was just nuts in terms of paperwork and artwork from school... so I wanted a place for the kids to put up their artwork but didn't want a corkboard with pins that I thought would be dangerous with a one year old in the mix. A magnetic chalkboard seemed perfect. From there it was a matter of finding more things that kept all the mom stuff organized. The mail cubbies above will be for mail/school forms, etc. And I love that I have a place for my keys as well. We have a basement level garage so this mudroom is somewhat of a walkway between the stairs to the garage and the kitchen. We have cubbies on the other side of the message center. Thanks again for all the kind words!...See MoreMessage/appointments/to-do list/mail center
Comments (19)My central calendar is my dayplanner. It's "central location" is my purse, but I'll pull it out and leave it on the kitchen counter on weekends or home and I'm working with it...but it goes in my purse no matter what. I have a small spot at my counter near back doo where I keep pencil can and misc office-supply stuff...pending bill pile, etc. It's not a lot of stuff either. Is this a calendar used by you...for you & keep you going with family things, or does your husband refer to it, add to it, and/or have any responsibilities to keep it up? I tried a central calendar when I was married...at H's request...but his input to the calendar ended up minimal and not worth the effort to make it public and useful for the masses. My calendar was all me & my responsibilities. It was harder to manage more than me when I was the only one doing the work on it. I'm a big dayplanner user, and by adding pockets & tabs, the lists, info, my stuff is always there, and nowhere else. As for the mail, I go thru right away. Catalogs & mags get put in the living room where I would sit to read them. Bills go in my pending bill stack (in the kitchen office/dayplanner corner), junk is just out right there on the spot, and anything to keep or address later is inserted into my dayplanner or put in the files. That's how I do it. I do not have a home office anymore...just the dayplanner and few necessary supplies in the kitchen corner. My laptop can go in whatever room I want. My file cabs/archives are parked in the library. That's all I do. I painted the inside of several kitchen cabs with chalkboard paint for lists and to-do things. It was fun for a couple months...but a chalkboard cabinet is not a portable paper list I can throw in my purse/dayplanner and run out the door. I was finding myself re-writing lists because I had to transfer them to paper to take to the store. Easier for me to list quick in the dayplanner and go...and...the lists are always with me in my purse no matter where I am. Good for impromptu shopping when I'm at a particular store and KNOW I had a list going already for things already. Gayle...See MoreShow me your message center!
Comments (16)Thanks Teacup Princess and Kelleg for sharing your photos and ideas. I think I'm now leaning towards something that meshes together both of your layouts. I would like to have the cubby spaces in the top cabinet and drawers in the bottom cabinet. At the side of the pantry adjacent to the top and bottom cabinets we could hang a calendar and message board. I'd appreciate any other feedback as this is still a work in progress until tonight, when we need to finalize our design!...See Morebob_cville
12 years agoMichelleDT
12 years agoI can't remember who posted this but I liked the idea...message plus other storage. Mister didn't think we would actually use it after the newness wore off.
M
plumberry
12 years agokaysd
12 years ago
aa62579
12 years agokaysd - Have you thought about putting it in a charging valet/station. Although it is still out, the cords are mostly hidden and everything stays pretty organized.
Several different options, but here are some examples. The one we have has a power strip in the bottom that you plug all the chargers into. Then you just feed enough of the cord up through the top to reach your device. DH has a personal phone and a work phone and a MP3 player that he charges in ours.
{{!gwi}}
laurajane02
12 years agoWe're planning a hidden computer desk area for our new build. Something similar to the image below, only deeper so that the chair can fit inside. We expect that the doors will stay open most of the time but can be closed when company is over.
kaysd
12 years agoeleena
12 years agomjsee
12 years agojessicaml
12 years agoI saved this idea a while back. I may still do something like this beside my fridge if I have the energy.
Fori
12 years agoigloochic
12 years agoJust for grins and giggles and a 3 year old (who was one when we started doing the kitchen) we put in a chalk board on the end of our island. It's one inch thick with the doors.
I'm going to do the same thing in this house but I'll be putting it up higher on the end of a run to use as a message center or menu board (DH likes to make one up to keep him on track when cooking a big meal). Anyhoo...closed it looks like this:
and open (this was taken while curing the board...it's normally cleaner):
farmgirlinky
12 years agoLori Ryan
12 years agoI wanted a place to organize all the paperwork and junk that comes into the house. so I incorporated it into a cabinet so it would not be unsightly. Sometimes I do forget to look in there for coupons etc.
igloochic
12 years ago
Bunny