A Simple Family Communication Center that Works

When you’re juggling kid’s school schedules and live in a busy home it is easy to forget important dates even if they are on the schedule. Important dates to remember, mail and forms laying around, and no one knows what to do for dinner at the last minute. This simple family communication center is a DIY must do!

Chaos was a daily occurrence in our home until I found this idea on Pinterest, and figured out how to make it work for our family!

The Pinterest idea that I used to gather inspiration was a command center for the family. It included baskets for different items, a calendar, and a whiteboard. We already used a family shared app for our schedule and didn’t have space on the wall for all of the other baskets that the pin suggested. I thought about what we needed.

The top 3

Whiteboard: We needed a whiteboard to write down the kids’ important school dates: projects due, tests and exams coming up, field trips, and deadlines for activity registrations. These were just visual reminders of items that tended to be mentioned in passing and were being forgotten.
Basket for Files: We needed a mail center that we could have files for forms, mail that needed reviewing, and bills that needed paying.
Visual Meal Planner: I wanted a way to communicate to the family, meals that were planned for the weekly dinners. It needed to be re-usable and something that didn’t add more paper in the house.

Our Family Communication Center

We bought a small whiteboard and two small pen holders to hold the chalk, markers, and erasers. The basket for the files was purchased to match the pen holders.

I didn’t want another whiteboard for the meal planner because I didn’t want to spend that kind of money on a large ugly whiteboard. I thought of making a chalkboard. Pinterest had some ideas on using a cheap mirror or painting the wall with chalkboard paint.

I purchased a cheap mirror and tried to paint it with chalkboard paint. It was a DIY failure. I found an inexpensive picture frame at a local store that would work for a chalkboard temporarily.

Surprisingly, this chalkboard has lasted over 5 years. After removing the board that came with the frame, I simply painted it with chalkboard paint with a foam brush. I gave it a couple of coats, but I’d recommend more than just two coats.

Once it was dry, we put it in the frame and planned out how we wanted to hang the items on the wall.

Looking for ways to stay organized and keep our meal plans visible, helped our family work together more. The kids put their important dates on the whiteboard. Mail and forms go to the mail inbox and not on the counter or coffee table. Everyone pitches in to figure out the meal plan for the week and this is put on the chalkboard.

When we moved into our new home, this simple family communication center was the first to go up on the wall. We were glad to have it back and it helped us get ready for the school year ahead.

WANT TO REMEMBER THIS? SAVE THIS SIMPLE FAMILY COMMUNICATION CENTER DIY TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD!