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I honestly can’t believe we have lived here for 3 years before having this command center! It functions so well and I love having the little desk and cubbies for mail and bills. It was pretty easy to make and not very expensive either!
Here is the “before”: 
The little green and black dresser held mail supplies and pens and table clothes (click here to see how I made this dresser over with chalk paint), the top of the dresser had a basket crammed with mail and other paper work for the kids’ school, we never used the calendar…but we had a few take out menus tacked up! All in all, it didn’t function very well for us and was a general eye sore.
Here is a run-down of the costs:
- 18″ unfinished oak wall cabinet from Home Depot: $56
- Oak piece (1″ by 2″ by 8 ft.) for border from Home Depot: $12
- Sanded plywood project boards (1/2″ by 2′ by 2′) for upper/lower cab: $5.50 x 6= $33
- Sanded plywood project board (1/4″ by 2′ by 2′) for side panel: $4.50
- Crown moulding (Home Depot) 3 1/4″ for the top: $19
- Trim for the side (Home Depot): $4.50
- Cork board (already had it): $0
- Cabinet knob (Home Depot): 3.50 (get a similar one here)
- Hooks for keys: 2 x 8.25= $16.50
- Paintable Caulk : $4
- Behr Semi-Gloss enamel paint (1 quart, Polar Bear): $14
- Kreg Jig, screws, nails, wood filler, cabinet screws (already had them): $0
Total: $163.00
Here’s how I did it. I bought the supplies from Home Depot, and then used the cabinet to measure and create 12″ by 18″ boxes for the upper and lower cubbies (used the 1/2 inch plywood). I had to do some careful measuring and plan out how the boards would be connected. They are identical, except the lower cubby is divided into 4 sections. I used the Kreg Jig to put the boxes together, and then also used some screws where they wouldn’t show to put the lower cubby dividers together. I didn’t really have a plan for that lower cubby, I just put it together piece by piece, leaving one of the sides un-screwed until the end, so I could get the dividers in there. Where possible, I tried to do the Kreg Jig holes on the outsides of the cubbies, where they wouldn’t be seen, and I wouldn’t have to fill them. In the picture below, the upper cubby is not quite finished (it still needs its top and bottom plywood pieces), but I continued to check my measurements by setting it on top of the cabinet, as you see below. I won’t lie, hubs was helping me cut the pieces, and I did have tell him the wrong measurements once or twice.
Below, you can see where I got the Kreg Jig holes on the wrong side (you can see them), but decided at that point it would not be worth it to un-screw the whole cubby. I did fill them with caulk a bit later as best I could, but they aren’t perfect. They’re not that noticeable in the small cubby however. 
Here’s the upper cubby, where I got it right with the Kreg Jig holes– here you can see them on the outside. 
Once the cubbies were built, I but and nailed on the oak 1″x 2″ trim. I used the cabinet as a model, and put on the trim so that it would match the main cabinet. I used really skinny finishing nails to do this, and it was harder than I thought, I think because the oak is such a hard wood. Since I was going to paint it white anyway, in hind sight, I might have gone with pine, which would have been easier to nail. I actually ran out of the oak (I split one when I was nailing it up), and used a scrap piece of pine. You can see it in the picture below on the top left. It was MUCH easier to nail in.
Once the two cubbies were finished, it was time to screw them into the wall. I located the studs, and then marked where they would be on the inside of each of the three pieces, using cabinet screws on both the back and left sides for good measure. After I screwed up the top one, I realized that I had measured incorrectly for the moulding, and had to have hubs help me redo it, moving it a bit higher so the crown moulding would sit correctly. (There is space between the upper cabinet and the ceiling for that.) There are no exact measurements, I just figured it out as I put it up, where I thought the moulding would look good. I did put some smaller screws in through the main cabinet’s upper and lower pieces to connect all three together, but I don’t think this was necessary for stability, they were pretty stable without that step. I attached the moulding next using nails on the lower edge, and used this tutorial to help me figure out how to cut it (Jane is amazing, I love all her tutorials. So clear.) I didn’t use any other nails to secure it to the ceiling or walls, there wasn’t much of it and it wouldn’t bear much weight. 
Below you can see a close-up of some of the nails in the trim, and the space between the cubby and the cabinet. No problem, caulk to the rescue (later). 
Next, I put up the 1/4 inch plywood on the visible side. I set it between the wall and the trim, attaching it with nails and wood glue. 
I used two sections of plywood (it wasn’t long enough to do in one piece), but just used the 1/4 inch trim to cover it up. I started by nailing a piece across the top, then down the sides, and finishing with the bottom and center pieces. I just measured the lengths as I went, since I was making this part up as I figured out what looked good. 
Below is a weird shot, from the bottom of the lower cubby. I wanted to show you how I had to add some extra wood shims in-between the plywood and the trim due to the oak trim that overlaps. I was not concerned about how this would look, it would be pretty hidden in the end. 
Once that was done, it was time to paint! I began by tapping in the nails, adding wood filler, sanding down the wood filler, and then caulking. I caulked anywhere there was a noticeable gap between any pieces so that it would have that true built-in look. You can see that I caulked one of the edges between the wall and the cabinet, but left one of them un-caulked since it was pretty flush with the wall. I took off the cabinet door and painted that separately out in the garage, giving everything 1 or 2 coats of the white semi-gloss paint, depending on where it needed it. You might need 2 quarts of this paint, depending. I left the inside of the main cabinet unpainted, since it would be hidden by the cabinet door. I used a small roller to help me get into the cubbies. 
Once that was done, I put the door back on, added the door knob, and then put on the key holders. This is the perfect spot for them, since we walk right in here from the garage. I had to trim the ends of the key holders using the saw a little so that they would fit. 
Next, I put up the cork board, very carefully using small screws to attach it to the door. I was a little too aggressive with one of them using my drill and switched to a manual screw driver to make sure I didn’t go all the way through the door. 
The final step was to put on some fun chalk board labels and label using a chalk marker: 
Next came the best part: decorating! I rolled up my table clothes and put them in the upper cubby, put in our keys and mailing supplies, and added our family binders, kids’ school binders, as well as hubs’ work-related stuff to the main cabinet.
I also added this fun arrow clip board, metal pencil holder and two small baskets (one for sunglasses, one for hubs’ wallet and phone, since he is always losing track of them!) All of those items were from my favorite store: Hobby Lobby.
Below you can see the small baskets as well as the little built-in desk I made next. You can also check out the Command Center Part 3 post to see how I made hooks and a shoe drop station for the kids on the opposite wall. 
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