Organizing Our Family Calendar with Amazon Echo Show

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With both of us traveling more for work and our son getting involved in more activities, I wanted a family calendar we could all update — and, more importantly, actually see.

I considered a Skylight Calendar, but ultimately chose an Amazon Echo Show. It gave us the shared calendar I wanted, plus enough other features to justify giving it a fairly prominent spot in our home.

Why I Chose the Echo Show

The calendar was the reason I bought it, and having everyone’s schedule visible in one place and accessible to my son has been genuinely helpful.

But we probably use the other features just as much.

We ask Alexa questions constantly — cooking conversions, random things that come up over dinner, whatever we would otherwise pull out a phone to Google. I especially like getting the answer without picking up my phone and inevitably getting distracted by an email or something else.

We use it for music while cooking and eating. And the Drop In feature has become the modern equivalent of calling the family landline when no one will answer their cell phone.

That’s ultimately why I chose it over a dedicated digital calendar: it solved the scheduling problem without being a single-purpose purchase.

Making the Echo Part of the Room

The functionality was easy. Making a large screen look intentional was harder.

Instead of creating a traditional command center around it, I treated the Echo like another framed piece of art. I had 2 other dark-framed floral paintings in that room, so decided to continue the botanical theme. This time, I opted for black and white to keep the gallery wall from getting too busy.

I placed the Amazon Echo Show between two black-framed landscape prints, which repeat the dark frame of the screen. Sculptural white pieces break up all the rectangles and keep the arrangement from feeling too structured.

When the Echo displays a photograph, it almost disappears into the gallery wall.

That ended up being the key: I didn’t need to hide the technology. I just needed to make it feel like it belonged there.

Sources

Amazon Echo Show, 21″ model — https://amzn.to/4dwTL2e

Crestview Collection Pritchard Wall Art — the black-and-white landscape prints. Bought locally, but the whole set is available here: Lamps Plus

Uttermost Abella Ceramic Wall Decor — the larger white ceramic flowers. Bought locally, but available here: Lamps Plus

Melrose International Sculpted Flower Plaques — the smaller dimensional botanical plaques – bought locally and I couldn’t find them online!

Would I Buy It Again?

For sure. I wanted a better way to keep track of our family schedule, but the Echo has earned its place because we use it for much more than the calendar.

And by building it into a gallery wall, I got the function of a family command center without having to look at one.