Operation: Organization–Command Center Kitchen Cupboard by Eleven Gables

Organized command center in a kitchen cupboard

Operation Organization Back to School Edition Series at 11 Magnolia Lane

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the second day of Operation: Organization {Back to School Edition}. Today, we’re happy to welcome Emily of Eleven Gables, who is an up-and-coming blogger with a great eye for design. She’s showing us one little corner of her fabulous house, but be sure to follow her for more great decorating ideas!

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Summer is coming to a close here and it is time to get back into the swing of things with SCHOOL!

I always dread going back to routine. It seems this summer went especially fast. (Okay, I say that every August). My boys are great sleepers and it only took the early risers a week to settle in to an 8:30 am wake time. The late sleepers strolled out around 10-10:30 am. This should have given me ample time to have peace and quiet time before the chaos began, but let’s be honest, I slept until at least 8:00. I am the night owl, catching up on IG, FB, Blogs, Decorating, etc. until the wee hours.

I met three darling gals at Haven Conference who co-write a blog called 11 Magnolia Lane. They graciously invited moi to participate in their Back To School Project Organization Series and I jumped at the opportunity to get something organized. You see, I am not by nature an organized person. My sister and I shared a room growing up and she constantly complained to our mother how DISORGANIZED I was. I am married to a darling man who likes to pile things. And let’s face it, I have my share of piles… you should see my desk in my master! Remodeling the Kitchen here and the Laundry Room/Butler’s Pantry/Craft Room here gave me the opportunity to pull myself together and find a solution to all of my disorganized woes.

You don’t have to tear out walls to get organized. That is what I am going to show you now. Start with a cabinet and GIVE IT PURPOSE!

This wall of cabinets is on the north side of my kitchen, opposite my sink. Since we tend to be a bit cluttery, I wanted to designate a cabinet for my “desk space” where bills could pile up and kids projects could “land” before filing them away. I wanted a place I could “Shut the door” when unexpected guests drop by. I used to grab the pile and pile it in the laundry room, but now I want to keep my laundry room/butler’s pantry pretty.

And here she is in all of her glory. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that this cabinet was stuffed with things to file away. It starts every August looking neat and clean, then I purge periodically through the year. (The cabinets next to this are a fun surprise… stay posted for a reveal soon!!)

On the door, I have a Dry Erase Decal that I love writing my to-do list on.

This is my phone station. I used a tole tray as a message center. Magnet clips work perfectly on it! I keep my coupons in this slim magazine file holder. Gold binder clips come in handy for an assortment of uses. The brass tray is from Target and the acrylic note holder was a gift.

Magazine File Folders (from Target) keep my boys’ stuff organized. Every day, they come home with a “project” they “really want to keep.” I will put them in their designated file folder, then at the end of the month, we I will go through them and purge the junk. The “keeps” go upstairs to the linen closet where I keep tubs for each child to collect whatever “project” they would like. I toss anything made with food (i.e. cereal or pasta). I like to hang on to things that have handprints or self made pictures. I sometimes have the gene “packus-ratus” so I really have to work on that. 🙂

This shelf has an acrylic file system that I separate “bills to pay,” “Paid bills to file,” and important directories/work schedule. The acrylic frame was a gift and the brass turtle is from Target.

These photo boxes are labeled “Receipts” and “Taxes” for the calendar year. I just incorporated this into my cabinet and my husband is thrilled he doesn’t have to chase stuff down anymore! I’d like to replace them with something bright and cheery, but I happened to have these in the study. Next year’s boxes will be fun!

Thank you, again, to the darlings of 11 Magnolia Lane for inviting me to this fun series on Organization. Be sure to follow all of us on

the Operation: Organization group Pinterest board,

and I will be pinning as usual over here.
One last look…

Thanks again for stopping by! Be sure to visit all of the other wonderful ideas for Back-to-School organization!! I would love to see your organizational projects. Tag me @elevengables on your Instagram account!

xo, Emily

The entire Operation: Organization {Back to School Edition} series is here:

Wednesday, August 6th–Sam at Simply Organized

Thursday, August 7th–Emily at 11 Gables

Friday, August 8th–Amanda at Dixie Delights

Monday, August 11th–Julie at Less-Than-Perfect-Life-of-Bliss

Tuesday, August 12th–Megan at Honey We’re Home

Wednesday, August 13th–Rachel at Useful Beautiful Home

Thursday, August 14th–Paige at The Pink Clutch Blog

Friday, August 15th–Terry at 11 Magnolia Lane

All of the participating bloggers will be pinning their favorite projects to the Operation: Organization Pinterest board, and you can follow that {here}.

Thanks for stopping by–