So…still on the laundry room theme here…sorry about that. I promise I will change it up here soon so as not to bore you to tears! We updated our family organizational boards here recently. I shared with you earlier this family work station that has really worked well to keep me on top (ha…ya right!) of all that comes with raising five kids. You can see that post here:
Kids Organizing Bulletin Boards
I wanted to style it up a bit and make it look like an actual piece of “furniture.” But I could not have it stick out from the wall as the outside door opens right into it. (see the black door mat?) So we added a few more changes to it. I tried to show on the picture below what pieces we used to create this bulletin board. It is really pretty easy and you can make it to your own tastes as well. Here is what we used:
I will not share the lengths we used unless some of you would like the exact specifics. Just leave a comment and I would be happy to add some edits to this post. I figured since every one will have different wall dimensions and kids, etc, you would have to come up with something that will work for you. This picture should be able to help you visualize it better.
After we added all of our molding and MDF pieces with nails (we always use nails rather than glue…just in case we ever want to take it down), we caulked all the seams with painters caulk. After it had time to dry properly we sanded any areas that needed it. Then we painted it with our white trim paint in a semi-gloss finish.
I also wanted to add some magnetic days of the week for each child to help us to organize their individual schedules.
I printed up some 1 inch circles with the days of the week on them and printed them onto some magnetic paper using my Xyron machine. ( You can always save those restaurant magnets and Mod Podge them onto there too).
Then printed up some of the kids activities on strips of magnet paper too. Such as piano lessons, soccer, ballet, basketball and so on. We also are including things at school like PE days (so we wear the right shoes), library and computer days so we don’t forget to turn in our keyboarding homework or library books *ahem*!
This wall is right at the front of my laundry/mud room as you walk in a side door of our home. So this is the door my kids use when they get home. It also happens to be the door all of my friends and family enter my home as well. So this room NEEDS to stay clean…ha…whatever.
In theory…the kids are supposed to come home and put up papers and assignments on their boards (which each have been labeled with their names) and then hang up their coats and backpacks…MOST of the time they are pretty good and only need “gentle” reminders here and there.
But for me it has really cut down on a lot of the searching and chaos of the early morning rush or the evening homework routine. It was really pretty easy to make and wasn’t that expensive. We were able to use a lot of scraps we had on hand, but my estimates for this project would be about $50 depending on the hardware (hooks) you bought.
If you were to ask me which DIY project has been the most useful to me as a mom…hands down…this would be it.
