How we made a Custom Family Calendar & Command Center

The world has been upside down for a while now, and we figured it’s about time to start to take control, even if only in the smallest way.

We used to have a family calendar on our fridge, but our new French door refrigerator made the setup obsolete.

So it looked like it was time for a command center. The thing is most were either too ‘college dorm room’ or far too expensive, at least before deciding to commit to layout and design.

Enter this IKEA hack.

IKEA item used:

IKEA PJÄTTERYD canvas frame (We used one we’ve had since circa 2010 but you can get a new one to fit your home decor style.)
SKÅDIS pegboard

Other materials:

Acrylic top layer from a generic poster frame
White paint pen
Seafoam green frosting paint
Small screws

Tools used:

Gridded cutting mat
Straight edge for cutting and inking
Blade knife
Tape to hold down the sheet
Drill with small bit
Windex to clean the acrylic
Q-tips to touch up the lines

How we made our Family Calendar and Command Center

First, align the acrylic sheet to the canvas frame and mark where to cut. We aligned one corner so we only needed to make one long cut.

Using a utility knife, we trimmed off the excess acrylic. Read our blog for best way to cut this.

After cutting it, clean the acrylic sheet with a window cleaner.

Next we moved to drawing the grid on the acrylic sheet. Place the sheet against the gridded cutting board and mark where your calendar boxes and lines should go. We used a liquid chalk pen and drew the lines on the back of the sheet so they won’t be erased.

We decided on a monthly calendar on the left and a weekly chart for daily reminders or menu planning in the center and an open area for notes on the right.

After drawing the lines, we removed the excess chalk with Q-tips to ensure neat lines.

Then, we sprayed the side of the acrylic sheet we just inked with frosted glass. This was to give the sheet a slight opaque finish to obscure the painting and make the calendar clear.

Once dry, line up the sheet with the painted side down on top of the art canvas. Make pilot holes and fasten with small screws.

Lastly, we fastened a SKÅDIS pegboard to the right side of the frame.

And there you have it: a functional and personalized family calendar and command center.

The only thing left was to hang it up and fill it with our appointments and tasks.

See the full tutorial on our blog.

~ by Laurie & Doug

The post How we made a Custom Family Calendar & Command Center appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

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