Drop Zone. Command Center. Family Hub. There are many names for this type of space, but it’s the area in your home that helps to keep your family organized. We recently transformed an unused wall into a place where our kids can finally hang up their own belongings, hallelujah! And the dry erase calendar and mail holder help keep us all on the same page.
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Why a command center/drop zone is so important for families
So here’s the thing. I kind of went against my own mantra of “practical, yet pretty” when I created the first entryway/drop zone in our new home last year. I made this cute little welcome sign with hooks, but the girls couldn’t exactly hang anything on the hooks without standing on the bench. So I just had them place their belongings on the bench instead. Well, they did great putting their shoes away, but I found myself going on a scavenger hunt to find their lunchboxes & backpacks more times than I wanted.
Pretty, but not very practical. In order for things to run smoothly in our home, and most likely any home, there have to be functional systems and daily routines in place.
So with summer ending and school starting again, I started to think of a better solution to the hooks high on the wall. I had a small blank wall at the end of the hallway that I’ve stared at for months, not knowing what to do. I decided this was the area I’d turn into the drop zone.
Here is the wall before any work was done. Can you tell why it perplexed me? This is my view straight from the main living area. To the left is a hallway that leads to the front door and to the right opens up to the kitchen. That black box in the photo below is the side of our refrigerator and the wall basically what covers it up, or at least tries to. (PS: don’t judge the crumbs on the floor, k?)
The outlet, light switch, thermostat and security system didn’t help me love this wall, but they did give me a good design challenge which allowed me to flex my creativity. So, fixtures on the wall, you’re not so bad. Thanks for making me think outside the box to create this handy drop zone.
My original plan was just to add 6 hooks straight into the wall at a child’s level, but then one thing snowballed into another as it tends to do around here, and we created this board and batten (ish) accent wall instead to give it a more completed look.
Here’s what you’ll need to create your own board & batten drop zone:
- 1″ x 4″ x desired length pre-primed MDF
I used scrap wood I wanted to get rid of that I planed, filled, primed & painted… just make it easy on yourself and buy the pre-primed MDF. I’m a glutton for punishment. - Lattice Strips or any scrap wood/MDF for the vertical battens
- White paint & roller
- Stud Finder (prepare for any guy around to be located by said stud finder)
- 2.5″ deckmate screws to go through your 1″ x 4″ and into the studs
- Brad Nailer & finishing nails
- White Spackle
- Soft Iron Metal Hooks
Here’s how you’ll create the board & batten drop zone/entryway:
- The first thing you want to do is clean your walls. I used a magic eraser to get rid of as many marks as I could, but some didn’t come off as easily and I just opted to paint over them.
- Next is measuring where you want your horizontal board to go. This area is specifically for our kids. Feel free to place the horizontal board much higher if you’re going for a more traditional look.
- Once you have an idea of the height you want, you can tape off the bottom portion of your wall and begin painting. I have been super impressed with FrogTape lately. It really does give you such a crisp clean paint line. It didn’t really matter here because my board would be covering it, but I still thought you should know that their paint block technology is legit.
- Put on some comfy clothes, your favorite music and start painting. It actually didn’t take very long at all, but any reason for comfy clothes and good music, right? My grey walls required two paints of coat. The photo below is a screen grab from a video hence the horrible quality, but look at my sweet Stella. This was a few days before school started and she didn’t want to leave my side, literally. She’s in her cheerleader outfit cheering her mama on. Oh, how I love that girl.
- I’m back tracking a bit here, but we located the studs in the walls before painting. Since I painted over them (whoops), we just went back and marked them again once the paint was dry.
- With the bottom portion painted, we attached the 1″ x 4″ into the studs using deckmate screws.
- Once the 1″ x 4″ was on the wall, it was time for me to attach the batten strips which was just scrap lattice strips we cut down to fit the wall. Tip: Cut a piece of scrap wood the length between the battens and used this as a ruler/guide. Also, painter’s tape can hold your pieces in place when you get your measurements just right and need to free up your hands.
- Now it’s time to attach the hooks. The reason we screwed the 1″ x 4″ directly into the studs is because we would be attaching the hooks directly on to the 1″ x 4″ and it needed to hold up to the weight of the girls hanging their backpacks and lunchboxes daily. Again the tape comes in handy here when I need to visualize things and make the slightest of adjustments to make sure they’re aligned evenly.
- Fill all of your screw & nail holes with wood filler or spackle and let it dry. Lightly sand off any excess and use touch-up with paint, if needed. The screw holes required two rounds of spackle and I took these photos after only the first round because of my excitement so if you look closely you’ll still see little indentations. I should probably take an updated photo, but just take my word that you can’t notice after the second round of spackle.
- Ideally, you’d want to caulk all of the seams where the wood meets the wall, but since I change my mind so often around here and this isn’t our forever home, I’m leaving it as-is.
And there you have it, a board & batten drop zone for the family. Of course that is only the bottom portion of the wall and that’s mainly for our kids. Sam and I have our own space to put our belongings, but the top portion of the wall here is perfect organizing mail and keeping track of dates on the calendar. I’ll add the links to everything below:
Welcome Home Sign
Dry Erase Wall Calendar
Boxwood Wreath
Leather Pouch (I cut off the bottom portion and will be using it near the front door to hang keys)
Ceramic Wall Pocket (This is from our shop and it’s perfect for holding chalk, markers, etc.)
Vintage Ruler Growth Chart (This exact one doesn’t seem to be available, but there is a similar one from the same shop I purchased mine)
What do you think? Will you give it a try? Don’t forget to pin the image below or any of the other photos from this blog post (just hover over the image and save.)
What is this paint color on your walls? Love it!
Thank you so much! So it is color-matched to Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter, but made by Home Depot in their Glidden Line. So even though the formula between the two paint brands are different (BM and Glidden), the color is very similar and it’s a more affordable option if you ask to color match. As for the color itself, it’s a very neutral, somewhat warm grey, what many would call a “greige” as it changes depending on the time of day.
I love the color too but do not have a Benjamin Moore near me, nor do I want to spend that much. Did you bring a sample in for them to match, or did they have it in their system? I tried using Menards, and it turned out way too dark. Maybe I will try Home Depot because that color is nice. I also loved your tutorial. We just bought a brad nailer, and I actually would like that look in my bathroom!
I don’t blame you for not wanting to spend that much. I just paid $8 for the tiniest Farrow & Ball paint sample (they have the prettiest colors) and Home Depot was able to match it in their Behr line pretty closely for SO much cheaper. Believe it or not, if it’s Benjamin Moore, you may be able to just tell the paint workers at HD the name of the color and they should have it in their system!
I love your wall color too!! We are remodeling and looking for a nice gray; such a hard task! Does your gray ever take on a purple hue? That is what we are trying to avoid. I am hoping I can find a spot in the remodeled kitchen for your DIY board; LOVE it!!
Hi Cathy! Thank you so much for your sweet words. It does not, I would say the revere pewter color match is a warm neutral gray so if anything, it takes on a tan/beige hue (versus silver mist – a grey we have in our master, it tends to take on a silver/purple hue)
Where did you find the hooks?
Target! Here is the direct link for the hooks: https://www.target.com/p/wall-hook-soft-iron-threshold-153/-/A-51989309?clkid=492bd758N309b2a7c3dcf67835743ac00&lnm=81938&afid=EllisonMade&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002
Where did you get the hooks? I LOVE them.
Total new blogger fail, lol. I’m so sorry I never linked the hooks. Here is the direct link for them:
https://www.target.com/p/wall-hook-soft-iron-threshold-153/-/A-51989309?clkid=492bd758N309b2a7c3dcf67835743ac00&lnm=81938&afid=EllisonMade&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002
Love this! Thank you for the links for all the decor. Where did you get the hooks?
Thank you! I can’t believe I forgot to link those, my apologies. Here is the direct link for the hooks:
https://www.target.com/p/wall-hook-soft-iron-threshold-153/-/A-51989309?clkid=492bd758N309b2a7c3dcf67835743ac00&lnm=81938&afid=EllisonMade&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002
Where did you get the hooks?
I am so sorry I didn’t link it in the blog post, going to edit it now. Here is the direct link to the hooks. They’re pricey, but so darn cute!
https://www.target.com/p/wall-hook-soft-iron-threshold-153/-/A-51989309?clkid=492bd758N309b2a7c3dcf67835743ac00&lnm=81938&afid=EllisonMade&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002
Love this! Where did you find the hanging leather envelope?
Thank you so much, Sabrina! I linked it above, but will link it here for you, too. It’s from Target, but keep in mind I cut off the bottom portion so it looks different from the store photo.
Here is the direct link: https://www.target.com/p/entryway-metal-hook-rail-with-leather-folio-brown-threshold-153/-/A-75661136?clkid=492bd758N309b2a7c3dcf67835743ac00&lnm=81938&afid=EllisonMade&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002
Hi! Do you have a link to the backpacks?
Hi there. Unfortunately, I don’t. I purchased them at my local Walmart a few years ago and I couldn’t find them anywhere online, but I did find a similar adorable style here:
https://www.amazon.com/Abshoo-Causal-Backpack-Lightweight-Backpacks/dp/B072XDJLP7/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=gray+and+white+striped+backpack&qid=1565117432&s=gateway&sr=8-2&linkCode=sl1&tag=ellisonmade-20&linkId=57a7da2431a88a67e06e04c0bc95ffbd&language=en_US
and this one: https://amzn.to/31E2Aj8
And here is another one that’s even cuter with better reviews:
https://amzn.to/31E2Aj8
Just stumbling across you for first time- love your style! Need to know… where did you get that ruler all way over in left of picture? Do you use it to measure your kids? I love it!
Aw thank you so much! This is the shop I got it from, but they no longer make the style I have, unfortunately. Here is the link for the alternative ruler:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/595511715/growth-chart-vintage-inspired-oversized?ref=shop_home_active_1&source=aw&utm_source=affiliate_window&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=us_location_buyer&utm_term=3657&awc=6220_1571764931_7e6a0973e33dc8027e19dd18b07c6016&utm_content=566489
Hello,
Do you have a link for the dry erase calendar? I love the wood framing.
It’s from Hobby Lobby, here is a link to it: https://www.hobbylobby.com/Home-Decor-Frames/Storage-Organization/Memo-Chalkboards/Monthly-Calendar-Dry-Erase-Board/p/80770454?gclid=CjwKCAiA5o3vBRBUEiwA9PVzaj9iSxNAmkHS91VD9robeP-r_Q2bc5L-85psJkQYi7m-BYXHqmH4KhoC3D4QAvD_BwE
It goes on sale often so if it’s $59.99, just wait for it to go on sale and then it’s a really good deal at 40-50% off!
This is REALLY pretty and practical – which is so hard to achieve sometimes! You did such a great job! I am looking to do something like this in my home. Thanks for the great idea and listing where you got the decor items. 🙂
Natalie, Thank you so much for your kind words and I’m so glad you were inspired by it. Not everyone has a formal entryway so it’s nice to be able to make a family hub on any wall. Have fun with this in your own home!
Where is the white bench from?
Hi there! It was from Kirklands store, I bought it about two years ago, but it appears to still be available. Here is the link for it:
https://www.kirklands.com/product/Distressed-Ivory-Pew-Bench/209083.uts
Love this! I am working on a command center wall in my kitchen, as we speak! Do you happen to know the size of the leather envelope, minus the hooks? It just has the overall measurements on the site. I love the look of it, but I’m trying to find something that will hold my toddler’s preschool papers/workbooks. I’m worried they will be too tall and just fall forward.
Hi there! Thanks so much, I will have to measure, but I will say that regular size paper fits fine when it’s placed in there horizontally, but yes they do fall over when placed vertically so I often fold certain papers in half so they are leaning out, if that makes sense??
I have a similar challenging wall with a vent and thermostat. Thanks for the idea!
You’re most welcome. I’ll never understand who designs some of these things, haha. It’s like they were playing darts to decide where to put all the wall gadgets. I’m sure you’ll figure out something creative. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment 🙂
Hi Brittany! I love your Drop Zone with the backpack storage!! Can you tell me where you got the hooks at that you hang the bags on? I have been looking through hundreds of different hooks and I really like yours!
Thank you so much, so sorry about the hook link, they are from Target and you can find them here: https://www.target.com/p/wall-hook-soft-iron-threshold-153/-/A-51989309?clkid=492bd758N309b2a7c3dcf67835743ac00&lnm=81938&afid=EllisonMade&ref=tgt_adv_xasd0002
Do you board and Barton on any of your other walls or just this one? Just curious… we have a similar wall that I’d love to do something like this on, but not sure if it would look right with that being the only wall in the house that has board and Barton… I’d eventually like to do the large Hall that we have right next to this wall in board and Barton as well, but we are not prepared for that yet… and don’t want it to look awkward until we get to that point, or if that never happens…
This is actually the only board & batten wall in our home for now, haha. But it is its own little halfway so it doesn’t look too weird. This is an easy DIY though so you could very much extend it to other parts of the house. We have chair rail & frame molding in the dining room.
hallway* not halfway.
Sorry to send again but meant what is the width between each batton. Did you do 16 inch or wider?
No need to apologize. I simply took the length of the wall and divided it by three since I wanted each girl to have her own space with two hooks each. Let me go measure for you now.
The two battens create three spaces and from the inside of one batten to the inside of the next one is 17″ exactly. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions.
Thank you. I appreciate your response.
Thank you so much for your post! I have the same Revere Pewter in my home, and I love the white you have it paired with. Can you share the name of the white paint color you used?
I’m so glad to hear that ❤️ Of course! It’s actually just Behr’s Ultra Pure White straight out of the can. You don’t have to wait to have it mixed or anything ❤️ and it’s in flat cause that’s what I had but you may want to match the sheen to whatever your Revere Pewter is! Good luck, let me know if you have any other questions ❤️🙏🏻
I wish I could post my phot o somehow. We just added this to our laundry room/mud room area, and you were the inspiration. I even have the calendar and brown leather pocket. My husband gave me a hard time about wanting it, but now it’s his favorite part of the house. A place for everything how.
Oh my! I wish you could post your photo, too! I’d love to see it. I’ll have to look into that option. I know you can on Pinterest under my pinned photo of this blog post and also on Facebook or Instagram and you can tag me at @ellisonmade – I’m so happy it turned out to be such a helpful (and beautiful) space for your family!
Hi I was wondering if you can tell me the width between the battons. I am doing the same thing and did mine 32 apart but loved that you added hooks.
Would you mind sharing how far apart your hooks are?
Not at all. From the center of one hook to the center of the next hook is approximately 9.5″
Hello! I was wondering where you got the wreath, pen holder and the welcome home sign. Thank you!
Hi Laura! All of the items you mentioned are linked in the blog post towards the bottom of the post (above the final reveal image). Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing 🙂