Place the teacher's desk in a place where you can monitor all students when you are having to enter attendance or take care of other tasks while students are at centers. You'll want to spend most of your center time moving from section to section, helping students stay on task.
Make your centers user-friendly. Items should be easy to read and tasks should be manageable for your students with a minimum level of facilitation. Here, you'll be the expert at setting levels of rigor based on what your students can do.
Organize your centers around a common theme. This could be winter holidays, St. Patrick's Day, American history or any unit of study. Having one common theme will help your students avoid confusion.
Give enough distance between the centers that students working at one will not be distracted by students working at another. Depending on the size of your classroom, 10 to 12 feet would be ideal. Organize chairs at each center so that students are looking at the board of the center instead of at students in other areas, which can also be distracting.