Normally there is more junk sitting on the counter in that space (well, everywhere in the kitchen--that's why I "staged" the kitchen for my photobucket pics! LOL). I usually keep some dept store coupons there, perhaps a pending bill that I'd forget if it wasn't in plain sight... The drawers below hold our address book, pens, tape, stamps, yellow pages, and JUNK.

Under the msg ctr, as you can see, is our cats' feeding area--that was the first "must-have" we insisted on for the new kitchen. :-)

I am still several weeks away from cabinet install and my KD plans did not scan well so I can only describe what we are doing.

The message center is really more of a charging station and will be recessed into the wall just before you exit the kitchen into the rear hallway and out the back door. The width is 12" and the depth is 12" The overall wall width here is 21". The bottom half is comprised of a 42"tall upper cabinet (set on the floor) with a door. The top half will be an open 30"tall cabinet with the inside finished QS oak and no door and three shelves. Plug molding will run on the inside wall as well as a phone line and speaker wires so we can dock and play an MP3 player or cd player or something DH saw and thinks he needs to buy and have it run to speakers elsewhere in the kitchen.

The idea is for MP3's, phone and battery chargers to go down below behind the door and a permanent phone and two bookshelves for cookbooks above. There is a short ceiling pendant hanging just off to the side (centered over the doorway exit) so no interior lights.

The height, width and depth of the cabinets was dictated by several unmovable support beams and existing woodworking in the 95 year old house, not necessarily a dream message center but we think it is really going to meet our needs. The kitchen is small with an extremely challenging layout, lots of jogs and juts and little continuous wall space. Now that the message center is framed in we think its going to have that feel of the old built in phone nooks.

Skyedog You'll have to post pictures of your message center. It sounds great and I'd like to see it when it's done!

I haven't finished finding a space for everything, but my message center is an upper cabinet between my fridge and freezer. I used one that is from Medallion Cabinets. I think it will suit my needs. You can see the inside has shelves and some cubbies and is perfect for holding notes to school, stationary, index cards, a pencil bag the kids take out for their homework (but is always empty because no one put said pencils and pens back!). It also has magnetic white boards inside the doors which I use for the kids test/project schedule and lunch calendars. Its still a work in progress.

Inside my pantry I will have my big wall calendar where I write everyone's activities (color coded so I don't drop the wrong kid at the wrong place!) plus the hanging charging station from Pottery Barn with an attached white board. I purchased it awhile ago but haven't finished the pantry yet. Of course, now I see something very similar at Target (without the white board but big deal) for a lot less.

I as well am going to have my "station " in the pantry. I will work on that after my kitchen install. I am going to have one shelf in the pantry for charging station and notes and things for the kids school. A cork board and calendar will be in there too. Looking forward to having all of that hidden behind closed doors. lol.

We have this by our door into the garage, which enters into the kitchen.

The folders are a bit goofy/messy in this pic but are basically organized by child or content. (I have since labeled them.)
Next to it is a cabinet for storing cell phones, cameras and chargers.
Sorry the pic is blurry and so large!

Great thread, I am looking for ideas too :)

It's been awhile since I've posted on here, but let me see if I can remember how to post a picture. It's not the best picture, but it gives you an idea. I like it, because it's big enough to hold mail, a purse, and other stuff I don't want in the main part of the kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Message Center

Shoot, that didn't work. Let me try again....

Here is a link that might be useful:

We had originally planned to put in an upper & lower cabinet w/counter b/w the kitchen & FR that also happens to be right across from the garage door, but due to measuring issues, we had to eliminate it. However, we didn't want to lose it altogether, so we created a "Message Center Niche" in the wall of our pantry in the same location. Here's a picture of it:

Directories are stored in the pantry. The plugs & phone jack are also inside the pantry. I also have a cell phone charger on the sill/shelf now for my phone...it's plugged into a switch that I can turn off when the charger is not in use (to avoid the "electric vampire" issue). My children's & DH's phones & iPods charge elsewhere, but I will forget my phone if it isn't right next to the keys!

A couple of threads that might also be helpful:

Thread: Let me see your: Message Center

Thread: Kitchen Message Center Help

Here are a few..

{{!gwi}}

Question for those who have caulk boards - Does the caulk create a mess? Just looking at the board makes me want to sneeze. I also have flash backs to elementary school detentions and having to clean boards as punishment:)

Our message center holds our mail, cell phones, keys, note paper, pens, scissors, etc.

Our's is a cabinet built by my late FIL; hopefully it will get worked into the future kitchen.

Oh, and it usually has notes and stickies all over it and sometimes a phone book on the slanted front. It does have a writing shelf that pops out, too.

ne flyingdiver - You can now buy dustless chalk or liquid chalk. Both excellent options.

Thought I would revive this thread while I was looking for pics of message centers. I have a 12"x12" column of space that is about 80" tall that I can squeeze a message center into. Anyone hace a really tall a narrow cabinet as a message center?

Ok, the picture quality is not so great and I didn't get them sized correctly but here is my message center so far. Obviously we still have a lot of work to do but you should get the general idea.

The wider cabinet is a shoe/backpack cabinet with my calendar hanging inside the door. (It works for me). The side cabinet is 12" wide and has the phone up above and below has the chargers, a dock for ithings and a dvd player connected to the tv. There is plug mold underneath. We will probably change that out to regular outlets sometime. As you can see the shelves get pretty messy but that was the whole point in having it all behind closed doors.

I really like the message center on the end of the peninsula that judydel posted, does anyone know if it was custom built or a part of a cabinet line? My husband and I are just starting to plan our kitchen redo ~ So many choices!

skyedog-

That is a very similar size space that I am working with- that helps alot! Thanks!

Hi Nansea, glad you like our message center. Our cabinets are made by Cabico and I guess you'd call them a semi custom line. I asked them to stack the wine cubbies horizontally on top of a 30" wide base cabinet only 12" deep. And what you see is the result. I wanted the valence to match two other valences going into the kitchen. They kinda messed up on this detail, but I still like the way it came out. I also wish that they made the ends look more like false doors instead of plain ends. Oh well. I didn't use a KD (or architect) so I guess I was bound to have a mistake or two in the remodel.

We use the message center for mail, keys, cell phones, DH's wallet, note pads, DD's camera, etc. One basket holds tape, scissors, pencils, paper clips, elastic bands, etc. The other holds a few tools, the camera charger, tape measure, etc. We don't charge our cell phones there . . . we charge them in an appliance garage. There isn't a message board at the message center (which irks my husband, he's been wanting a message board for years) so we're going to put one in our mud room over the coat hooks.

Even still, I find miscellaneous "stuff" left on the counter. Whatever I find (miscell. business cards, notes, coupons, etc.) all gets hidden into a cubby or basket and the culpret has to hunt for whatever "stuff" they left hanging around. That'll teach em.