Monthly Organization: Project 2 "Mom's Center"

I am a stacker and a dumper.  I stack papers and dump things into drawers.  I am a very neat stacker and dumper but just not an organized one.

A few months ago at a mother's meeting I attend, a professional organizer came and spoke with us.  She highly believes in these little "command centers" for moms.  We all have a place where we dump and stack...mine is in the kitchen.  It's the place I first come to when I arrive home with "stuff."  I have a little metal basket that I dump things into daily.  This sad little basket gets so overwhelmed with "stuff" that I often don't know what the contents are.

So, this month I thought I'd make my own little "Mom's Center."  I used the ideas of the professional organizer and tailored it to fit my needs.  I used a desktop file to make files for all the papers I usually "dump."  I went to this lovely store to get the file and folders.  I made files for the following areas:

Shopping List
Menu
Coupons
Preschool
Kid Activites
Home Projects
Babysitter
Pet Sitter

You can make whatever files you need.  These are just some of the files I created.  I am sure I will create more as I use the "center" more often and find out what my specific need are.

I also found a little matching box of sorts that sticks to the file box with magnets.  It is perfect for the keys, pens and notes.

Because the file box is metal, I can also use these hefty magnets to attach little notes or photos.

The trick with the "Mom's Center" is to go through the files weekly.  We'll see if I can commit to that....

At least the overall look is much more organized than the old dump basket!