Home organization with a purpose

Melissa Rayworth, The Associated Press 

Home organization with a purpose

Designer Brian Patrick Flynn turned a disorganized catch-all room into a clean and colourful creative space.

Brian Patrick Flynn, Sarah Dorio / The Associated Press


Getting a family organized requires more than a few well-chosen new year's resolutions. Increasingly, homeowners are carving out a physical space - anything from a single kitchen cabinet to an entire spare room - that can function as a family information centre and workstation.


"These days, it's pretty much a given that families use their kitchen islands, dining tables and/or coffee tables as prime real estate for laptops, school papers, iPhones and mail," says Flynn, founder and editor of decordemon. com.

"When I'm designing entire homes, especially ones for young families, the first thing I focus on is locating a seldom-used corner, section or nook somewhere easily accessible to create a creative and organizational hub. This usually follows my tirade of, 'No more using the dining table or breakfast nook as a clutter station!"' Here, Flynn and two other interior designers offer tips on creating the perfect family headquarters to wrangle homework assignments, invitations, permission slips, calendars and more.


The key pieces are:

- A calendar (paper, digital or both) that the whole family can access

- Accessible storage space for incoming mail, invitations and permission slips where things won't get forgotten


- A labelled bin or section of corkboard space assigned to each family member


Ideally, the space will also include a work surface where kids can do homework and parents can handle tasks like filling out permission slips. Many families also include a laptop or desktop computer for homework or checking email. If you have a computer handy, you're more likely to enter information digitally and eliminate paper clutter.


Homes built in the past few years often come with what Flynn calls a "bonus room" with no designated purpose. These small, spare rooms work well as a family organization centre, as do mud rooms.



If you lack a spare room or closet, designer Cortney Novogratz suggests choosing one corner of your kitchen, since it's a room the entire family uses daily. Novogratz, co-star of Home by Novogratz on HGTV in the U.S., lives in Manhattan with her husband and seven children. She often works with clients who have limited space, so she advises them to use a single kitchen cabinet as their organizational hub.

Novogratz suggests lining the cabinet door with the calendar and corkboard or dry-erase board. Then add small bins on the cabinet shelves for each family member's items. A small laptop can be kept inside the cabinet and taken out for use at the kitchen table.

For additional storage, she suggests buying a rolling cart with labelled drawers where each child in the family can keep things like pending work or art supplies. This can be wheeled around the kitchen or other rooms as needed.


The costliest option is hiring a carpenter to install a built-in, custom work station with a desktop, shelving and closed storage.


To save even more, he suggests plundering the rest of your home in search of old furniture. He placed two old dressers next to each other, using their surfaces as a place to collect mail and pending paperwork. He outfitted the dresser drawers with a hanging file system, then brought in an old table and chairs from a child's playroom.


Even the best system won't work unless you use it. Flynn says beautiful, bright colours can help draw you to your organizational space, and successful homework projects and tests can be posted alongside your kids' artwork for added inspiration.


