The Seven Essential “Stations” Every Home Should Have
When organizing our clients’ homes, we teach people there are some common “stations” that virtually every home should have. Here are the seven that we feel are most important:
1. Destination Station - This station belongs where you come in and out of the house. It’s where you put all of your things down when you come in, such as purses, keys, and backpacks. We often drill a hole in the back of a drawer and run a power cord through the back of it for cell phone chargers. You can use simple shelving, you can convert an existing coat closet, or you can use a piece of “mud room” or entryway furniture like this one shown from Pottery Barn.
2. Communication Station – This station is for the family calendar, messages, mail, and other communications that help the house run smoothly. One thing that we encourage is having a Family Binder that will contain all of the frequently-used information such as contacts, medical records, school handouts and lists, and sports team rosters and schedules.
3. Donation Station – Every home should have a designated place to collect items for donation, and when it’s full, the items can be taken to your favorite charity drop-off location. It’s also helpful to keep a clipboard here for listing the items you add to the pile, so that when it’s tax time, you will be better able to value your donations.
4. Gift and Shipping Station - You may not have a permanent station set up for this one, but at least gather all of these items together in a bin or drawer for easy retrieval when you need them. You should have gift wrap, scissors, tape, and all of the other items needed for wrapping and mailing.
5. Education Station – This station is the homework and reference area, mostly for the kids. You’ll need a comfortable flat surface, preferably a desk, where the kids can do their work. There should be good lighting, good chairs, plenty of office supplies, paper, a dictionary, a thesaurus, and probably a computer in this area. And don’t forget peace and quiet!
6. Creation Station – Homes with children and/or other artists need to have a place to paint, draw, sew, or pursue other creative outlets. Craft and art supplies can be stored here, nearby an available surface to work with plenty of light. Like the Gift & Shipping Station, you may not have this station set up permanently. We like using rolling plastic drawer carts for a mobile version of this station that fits easily in a coat closet.
7. Administration Station – Also known as the home office, this station is where the bills get paid, forms get filled out, medical claims are filed, and phone calls are made. Here you’ll need a desk, storage for all office supplies, a computer and printer, a filing cabinet and filing supplies, and a comfortable, functional chair. This station is where all of your basic office systems are centralized.
Lorie Marrero is a Professional Organizer and creator of The Clutter Diet, an innovative, affordable online program for home organization. Lorie’s site helps members lose “Clutter-Pounds” from their home by providing online access to her team of organizers. Lorie writes something useful, funny, interesting, and/or insanely practical every few days or so in the Clutter Diet Blog. She lives in Austin, TX, where her company has provided hands-on organizing services to clients since 2000.
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Comments
Susan Sabo says on March 28th, 2007 at 7:29 am
Lorie ~
I can always see your articles coming - they’re clear and action oriented. Well written and thoughtful. Kudos!
Susan Sabo - fellow Lifehack writer
Gord says on March 28th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Those are all great stations. I wish I had the time to create them all in my house. Maybe soon, who knows.
What about a cleaning station? This would be a place to keep everything needed to clean the other stations. Vacuumns, dust busters, rags, paper towels, mops, buckets, dust pans, cleaners, etc.
Expendable says on March 28th, 2007 at 9:54 am
A First Aid or Medicine Station - usually this is just the home Medicine cabinet in the bathroom where you’ve got soap and water. If you don’t keep medicines here, it’s important to have one place where everything is kept like thermometers, bandaids, antibiotic cream, etc.
Lorie Marrero says on March 28th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Hi everyone- thanks for the comments! Of course there are many other essential elements to a home– obviously people cook and clean and sleep. These stations I wrote about are the ones that are most often missing that we end up adding as organizers when we work with people. These stations represent functions that are often scattered around in different places and are being done haphazardly with lots of running around looking for supplies. We centralize these functions around these stations to make things more efficient. - Lorie
scott says on March 28th, 2007 at 11:02 am
yeah, great idea…..not. By leaving all your important stuff by the door its not very hard for me to reach through your letterbox and steal stuff. kinda pointless article for the average home, but nice none the less.
Lucky Lenny says on March 28th, 2007 at 11:13 am
A battery station - for the battery recharger and extra batteries. A good place also for extra flashlights.
Jeremy Friedland says on March 28th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Pretty good list, especially the destination station.
Matt says on March 28th, 2007 at 11:35 am
Scott, how many houses have a “letterbox” by the front door or a any attached mailbox at all? What’s a letterbox? UR dum.
Mark says on March 28th, 2007 at 11:46 am
essential eh?
Well somehow I’ve managed to survive for almost a quarter of a century without a single ’station’ in my house.
I’m like Ray Mears.
Mat Ripley says on March 28th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Oh get a grip woman! I mean, I am into my productivity in a big way. I GTD and Ect. But there has to be a line….
We need a point in the archtechtonics of productivity beyond which the accepted increases in productivity are inversley proportionate to the mental goblededook we must say to ourselves in order to faciliate the productivity increase. In other words, take a chill pill and waste a little time:
Life is to short to live like a robot.
@scott says on March 28th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
How long is your hand?!? Of the few houses I’ve seen with them, the mail slots are far too small to fit the width of my arm more than a few cm beyond the wrist, and my arms aren’t exactly built.
Melissa says on March 28th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
I agree with Matt.
If you have a family with more than one child than having at least a couple of these stations will help or you’re about to be or are already knee deep in papers. I’ve got all these stations and I’m still drowning in school work, mail and repair invoices.
@scott III says on March 28th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
So I’ve finally found you — the man who stole my baby through the letterbox
Charlie says on March 28th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
7 essentials for people who aren’t living in pampered yuppie wonderland:
1) Entrance Security Station (prevents intruder survival)
2) Weapon Station (blades + guns storage and maintenance)
3) Starvation Prevention Station (secure food storage and preservation systems)
4) Water Station (purification and storage)
5) Medical Station (for treatment of damage sustained gathering food and water and preventing intrusions)
6) Sleep Station (protected core habitat for sleeping, infants, and post-medical recovery)
7) Fabrication Station (for creating and maintaining clothing and footwear)
closer says on March 29th, 2007 at 9:40 am
you should include photos for each station.
THAT would be helpful. nothing says how-to like a great photograph.
Michael says on March 29th, 2007 at 10:23 am
I second the vote for a battery station, but at my house I’ve expanded it a bit.
I was tired of having chargers scattered throughout the house with tangles of cords everywhere: Cellphones, the kids walkie talkies, the PDA, misc battery chargers, … I’ve centralized them all in a charging station with holes drilled for cords and a couple of power strips hidden at the bottom.
m says on March 29th, 2007 at 10:45 am
geez, you people are cranky. why bother reading LH if you feel this way? go play over in the corner with the other pouty children.
Sean says on March 29th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Maybe these are the decoded names of the Dharma Initiative stations
Logical Extremes says on March 29th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I’d add an eigth station to the list: a reuse/recycle station. Donations are one aspect, but clutter builds up quickly without good ways of getting rid of stuff you no longer need.
aghast says on March 29th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
I’d add a “kill myself now” station in anticipation of realising my life was so freaking banal.
Cindy says on March 30th, 2007 at 7:55 am
Destination station placed where you go in and out??? If you have guests over, it would be very easy for them to steal something if “keys and purses” are placed where you go in and out. The hands are quicker than the eye.
tao says on April 2nd, 2007 at 9:08 pm
> Maybe these are the decoded names of the Dharma Initiative stations
Good one, Sean.
I agree with one who questioned why some are so cranky? Not every tip is for everyone so you chill. You’d be surprised at how many people, when asked for wrapping paper, tape, and scissors have to go to three different places in their home and hunt for these items.
Yes, these types of things can be done in a studio apartment. It’s the same as ‘zones’ as many organizers call them. I find it interesting that some posters called this a waste of their time, but so is searching or zig-zagging around for things that could/should be kept or done together.
If you’re concerned about valuables, your ‘destination’ station can be away from the door (even in another room), but still convenient and ‘like with like’ as the professionals say. Or simply use cabinets/cupboards with drawers or doors, even locks.
I also second the need to include a recycling station. Too many people don’t do it simply because they think it’s inconvenient. I’m getting ready for a big move and am looking forward to making sure everything runs smoothly and that certainly includes setting up stations before wayward clutter can take hold.
nah says on April 3rd, 2007 at 6:32 pm
This should be titled “Essential Stations Every Breeder’s Home Should Have”.
Motorcycle Guy says on April 22nd, 2007 at 9:47 am
I would’ve thought the communication station would’ve been #1 instead of the destination station.
Tormolen says on April 24th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
About the donation station clipboard: if you get extra blank receipts from your favorite thrift store and keep them on the clipboard, you can fill them out at home and just get the people at the store to sign or stamp when you walk in, which saves time at the store.
Eugene says on October 25th, 2007 at 9:13 am
I’ve never liked keeping things by the front door, it makes that area look cluttered no matter how well you store them. I put everything on the shelf in my closet. I put my clothes on from the closet and then fill my pockets. When I empty my pockets everything goes on that shelf with the rest of my personal items and the closet door closes and its all hidden. This way everything is accessable in the middle of the night when I get woke up hearing a bump, I don’t have to stumble to the front door to find anything.