Planning center

For as long as we've lived in this house, I've wondered if I should do something with this little sliver of space:

Our kitchen cupboards are beadboard, and this cabinet end was nicely finished. Yet it seemed that this space could probably be put to some purpose. . . I just never could figure out what that purpose should be. For awhile I thought that I shouldn't do anything to make this space too informal, since it's right beside the door into our dining room. Then it occurred to me that, since this spot is where our dog's food bowl sits, the atmosphere there was already pretty informal.

So, inspired by this article from Southern Living, I created a planning center. And here it is:

The frames were both thrift store finds. The large one held a painting on hardboard, so at first I made it into a chalkboard, which was cute:

But we needed a corkboard more than we needed a chalkboard, so I cut some foamboard to fit the frame, then glued on a sheet of cork. Now we have a place for our calendars with some room left over to pin up other important papers.

The smaller frame was almost the same size as a magnetic white board I found in the $2.50 section at Target's One Spot last fall. ($2.50 for a magnetic whiteboard and the nifty pen, which has an eraser and a magnet built into its cap!) I had to cut about an inch off the white board, but that was easy to do. The note card and pen holder is magnetic, so I just stuck it onto the whiteboard.

The tin sign I found at Hobby Lobby, on sale for $4.99. This wall is one of the first things you see if you enter the house through the garage or the side door of the front porch, so I like this little blessing. My middle son says it's a little too reminiscent of the inscription at the entrance to hell in Dante's Inferno ("Abandon all hope ye who enter here"), but he's 16, so he's supposed to say things like that.

Maybe having this planning center will make me much more organized than I've ever been before. There's plenty of room on the large weekly calendar. In addition to appointments and due dates and practice times, I could plan and post menus! Or schedule my blog posts! The possibilities are endless.

Okay, maybe for those goals I should abandon all hope. But overall I'm very pleased with my project.

One more look:

I'm so happy with it!

I'm linking this to Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party and Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch. Check out all the cool before-and-after projects there!