{Organized} Prepping for Back to School

Hi friends!! How was your weekend? And how fun were all those {20 Questions} posts last week?! I told you I had some doozies lined up! Thank you to Megan, Carmel, Jen, Chelsea, and Sherry for playing along!

We made it home from the beach late Saturday night, and spent all day yesterday shaking sand out of unseen body crevices. We had the best week spending time together, and it was so hard to go our separate ways this morning. I hope we are able to maintain this closeness once the craziness of school starts again.

That will be a lot easier if we take the craziness out of our morning routine. For my final Command Brand project, they challenged me with using their new products to create organized areas in the Kitchen, to help school mornings run a little smoother.

First thing's first, is having easy and quick access to caffeine...so that means a tidy, organized Coffee Corner. Since I've already got my Coffee Station set, I borrowed my aunt's gorgeous Kitchen for demonstration.

I know you're drooling over her tumbled marble herringbone backsplash with mosaic glass, but let's focus on the cool Command products I used for this set-up....Slate Terrace Hooks (I chose the darker finish so they'd blend in with the wall color), and two sizes of the Clear Caddies.

If your cabinet and counter space is limited, look for a nearby wall (even a smooth backsplash) as an alternative for organizing your coffee essentials.

K-Cups are tucked in the small caddy, while spoons and tea bags are kept tidy in labeled glass jars in the medium caddy. Just like all Command products, pulling the clear tab removes the caddy with no damage to the wall. (The tabs aren't really noticeable in person.)

Coffee mugs are held snugly in place on hooks....I mean really, are those hooks the handiest things ever invented?!

These glass jars are only $1 at Michaels, and are so handy for corralling smaller items.

I don't have any of the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks, but really want to get one. Which is your favorite?

Now that mama has her caffeine fix taken care of, it's time to make sure the kids know where to find their essentials. We hang backpacks in the Mudroom by the backdoor, but lunchboxes always seem to get left behind, and snacks forgotten. The backside of a pantry door is the perfect spot to create a Lunchbox Station for them.

I created name plates from small wooden plaques (found at Michaels), and attached them to the door with Command Strips. Each person has a hook for their lunch bag, and a small labeled caddy with snacks for the day.

Most days my kids actually prefer to buy their lunches at school, but if they decide to bring, the rule is they must tell me the night before! I make their lunches and keep in the fridge, then in the morning, hang them on the hooks. After school, they are responsible for cleaning out the bag, and hanging it back on the hook (no more yelling, "Where's your lunchbox, and what is this funky smell?!?!") 

By laying out the snacks, too, I can better control what and how much they are eating in between meals. I don't refill the caddy until all the snacks have been eaten (or else that banana would sit there a really long time!).

What tips do you have for keeping your school morning routine running smoothly? Please share them in the comments, I need all the help I can get!

I'm thrilled to be working with Command Brand from 3M to share this project I created. They provided me with product, but as always, the ideas and opinions are all me! You can check out all their products, along with many project ideas, on the Command website, the Command Twitter page (@CommandBrand), Command Facebook page, and Command Pinterest page.