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Are you looking for an easy organization solution for your family? Try creating a clipboard command center! It’s cheap, simple to make, and it’s so effective! I love mine! Keep reading to see how you can make one  – one that’s pretty too! And be sure to grab the free printable planner – 33 pages! – to go with it at the end of the post!

Time for Home Organization with a Clipboard Command Center

It has been on my radar to create a command center in my home for a long while. As a former teacher, I’m someone who loves organization and systems and routines. 

I’m 100% visual, and while I love my paper planner (no digital for me), the problem with that is that it’s closed on a desk somewhere.

I need all my stuff out in the open, where I can see it multiple times a day.

As we’re heading into our 2nd year of homeschooling, I knew that the time was now.

My Vision for My Clipboard Command Center

The idea of using clipboards for a family command center appeals to me for several reasons.

First, I love the idea of clipboards because they are so versatile. You can swap in whatever reminders you need, for any season. You aren’t locked in to a specific category.

Second, clipboards are cheap! I got mine for just $1.50 at Dollar Tree.

Third, clipboards are great for small spaces! I also love that you can work with whatever wall space you have available.

The spot I needed to work with is pretty narrow, but it was perfect for 2 clipboards to go side by side.

And finally, and probably my favorite – you can make your command center pretty!

I can be picky with styles and designs, and let’s face it – bulletin boards and white boards can only look so cute.

With a clipboard, you literally can make it fit whatever style you like – farmhouse, trendy, colorful, boho. It just depends on the paper you use (more on that later!)

For the record, plain brown clipboards can certainly work, but I wanted mine to be just a little prettier. I actually really like the brown for more neutral decor (& the planner I created is minimalist, so it looks crisp and clean on the wood board!).

It’s your choice – the same concept works either way!

How I Created a Clipboard Command Center

This post contains affiliate links. See Disclosures for details.

These days, I’m really into fast and simple. A command center using clipboards totally fits the bill. I’ll also show you my weekly calendar that I made out of foam board, in addition to the clipboards. Let’s talk through the details.

Materials

First, here’s what you’ll need.

Clipboards (as many as you need) (I got mine at Dollar Tree, but you can also order a 6 pack from Amazon.)

White Craft Paint

Tissue paper or napkins (this is the tissue paper I used! And this one for my 2nd round of boards!)

Parchment Paper

Mod Podge (I like to use matte).

Paint Brush

Scissors

X-Acto Knife

Iron (smaller one works best)

Candle Lighter (optional)

Planner Pages (I’m sharing my free set at the end of the post!)

(If you’re creating a foam board weekly calendar, you’ll also need a sheet of foam board, washi tape, post-it notes, and markers/stickers.)

Instructions

1| Paint the clipboard white.

This is something of an optional step. Since tissue paper and napkins are thin, I didn’t want the brown of the clipboard to be seen. So, I threw a quick, sloppy coat of white paint on the clipboard before I did the next step.

If you do a quick check and see that you can’t see the brown, or you don’t care if you can see it, then skip to the next step!

 

2| Lay out tissue paper or napkin on top of the clipboard and cut.

Next, you want to make sure you have the tissue paper laid out exactly as you want it. 

If there’s a certain pattern you want visible, be sure to place that somewhat near the edges, as that’s the part that will be seen the most.

Then, using your scissors, cut along the outside edges. You can cut a little bigger than your clipboard, just to be safe.

When cutting around the metal part at the top, use your Xacto knife.

I cut the opening too ‘small’ so it landed on top of the metal piece. Then, I just gradually trimmed until the tissue paper was flush to the metal clip.

3 | Apply Mod Podge to the clipboard.

I’ve seen a blogger do this hack with Mod Podge where she applies it to the surface first, lets it dry, and then irons on the material on top.

Well, I tried it, and it works like a dream!

So first, apply Mod Podge to the clipboard and let it dry.

4| Iron the paper on the clipboard.

Here’s the fun part – well, one of them. Plug in your iron and set it to low, no steam. 

In the meantime, reset your tissue paper exactly where you want it and cover it with parchment paper.

Then, when the iron is hot, run it over the paper, back and forth a few times.  

The heat will activate the Mod Podge and paper will be sealed tight to the surface.  And no wrinkles. It is truly miraculous to behold.

5| Trim (or burn) the edges

Ok, maybe this is the most fun part. This was something I’d seen done but never tried – until now. 

Take a lighter and burn the edge of the tissue paper to get a clean cut. The flame will crawl around the edges and burn away the excess tissue paper, making your edges nice and clean!

You can see the burning in action over here on Instagram!

I did mine over the sink so the ashes wouldn’t make a mess (and so there was water available in case things went badly!)

 

Disclaimer: I only tried this with tissue paper, not with a napkin. However, you can search Youtube for videos where napkins are used. It is recommended to burn while Mod Podge is still wet, although I personally did not experience problems with dry Mod Podge. Always have a spray bottle, baby wipes or a wet towel nearby.

If you don’t want to burn the tissue paper, you can just use your X-Acto knife to trim the paper.

You can also add Mod Podge on the edges to seal any loose paper edges once you’re finished.

That’s it! I LOVE how they all came out!

6| Hang as desired.

I was a little torn between Command Strips or using a nail, but I definitely prefer hanging it with a nail. 

It’s sooo easy to take off the wall to swap on papers on the clipboard, rather than pulling it off the Command velcro.

2026 Update

I did an update with new clipboards and thought I’d share those, too! I’m still using the same system, just slightly modified with our new kitchen layout! You can grab this new tissue paper here if you like it! 

 

 

 

You can check out succinct and printable directions below!

What Do You Put on the Clipboards?

Well, I’m so glad you asked!

The answer will vary depending on what your family needs, but here’s what worked best for me:

Monthly Calendar

Weekend Plans

Point Chart for the Kids

Meal Planner

Snack Chart (you can grab snack list I used here!)

 

The beauty of the clipboards is that that you can have many of them, and you can easily swap in and out what you need most during a particular season of life.

For instance, you can also include:

Calendar or board for each child

Chore chart

Habit tracker

To-do lists

Seasonal Bucket Lists

Free Printable Planning PDFs for Clipboard Command Center

If you need a jump on some printables to hang on your clipboard, I’m sharing the one I use in my own house! I chose a more minimalist style for 2 reasons:

1. My tissue paper background was kind of busy, so a busy printable would be too much.
2. It’s light on ink. When you’re constantly printing off printables often or each month, minimalist with just black and white ink is the way to go.

This printable planner comes with

12 Monthly Calendars (not year specific, can be customized each year)

Weekend Plans

Weekly Calendar

Daily Calendar

Weekly Routines

Daily Routines

Weekly To-Do Lists

Daily To-Do Lists

Habit Tracker

Meal Planner

Chore Chart

Bucket List

To grab this one, just fill out the box at the very end of the post and you’ll be immediately redirected to the download!

Foam Board Weekly Calendar 

For my needs, a weekly calendar that fit on a clipboard wasn’t big enough, especially for our homeschooling needs.

I also wanted something that I could easily switch and amend, as our plans are always changing.

This is what I came up with. For this project, you need:

30″ piece of Foam Board

Washi tape

Post-It notes (a variety of colors – I also used these floral post-its)

Label Stickers

Box Cutter

I used a foam board, cut through the middle when held vertically. It measures 20″ across by 15″ down.

Then, I drew lines on the board to divide it into 6 columns and 4 rows, including the vertical and horizontal headings.

The measurements I used are as follows:

I drew five 3.5″ columns, starting from the right side, moving left (the first heading column – the 6th column – is slightly smaller at 3.25″.).

I drew three 4″ rows, starting from the bottom, moving up (the top heading row – the 4th row – is slightly smaller at 3″.).

Then I used washi tape (this is the one I used!) to cover the lines. I started with this black and white striped tape, but ended up switching it to a thinner, leafy washi tape.

 

 

My horizontal header has the days of the week (Monday – Friday only – I use a different planning sheet for weekends, which is available in the free planner set, and there wouldn’t have been enough room to include them anyway).

My vertical column has ‘morning,’ ‘afternoon,’ and ‘evening.’ We are somewhat fluid, so I prefer chunks of the day rather than actual times.

For the column and row headers, I just created stickers in Canva using an Avery round label template.

Below is what it looked like once it was finished, before I added the post-it notes.

 

Then, I made a ‘key’ with different color Post-It notes.

Green: Home Time

Yellow: School Time

Blue: Outings (field trips, play dates, etc.)

Floral: Mom Stuff

I especially like color -coding because at a glance, you can get a good feel for what your days or week holds. I chose colors that coordinated with my washi tape and kitchen, but use whatever colors you like!

Our schedule varies a little day to day, depending on our co-ops, so I have flexibility each day as well as the ability to move things around easily!

All together, this wall is where it’s at for my family. My husband and my 8-year-old sons aren’t as impressed by it as I am, but I already feel like things are running more smoothly!

Since it’s in a narrow space, it’s hard to get a photo of it all together, but here’s the best I could do (messy house mostly cropped out)! 

 

More Planners & Home Organization Ideas

If you’d like to check out some other free planners I’ve created, take a look at my Summer Family Planner Free Printable and my Homeschool Schedule Planner. The pages from this summer schedule for kids could also be used here!

I also have a post with 21 free printables that help you organize your life and home – you may find others that you need in this mix!

And if you’d like more tips on how to organize your home for an upcoming school year, whether homeschool or public or private, here are 30 back-to-school home organizational ideas including more command centers, backpack storage, and homework stations.

And if decluttering is on your radar about now, check out this post on 7 easy steps to decluttering when you don’t know where to start.

Grab Your Planner Here!

To get the planner showed in the pictures above, just fill out the box below!

If you try this idea, I’d love to see it! Please tag me on Instagram @100affections and I’ll share it in my stories!

Other thoughts? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment below!