# Tack room ideas?



## dianneS (Apr 27, 2011)

I have decided that a certain room off the end of my house very near the barn is going to be my tack room.  This room just isn't really suitable for any other purpose so why not make it a tack room!  

Its a terrific room with vaulted ceilings and big windows.  Its about 12x12 and even has a little bump-out that's about 6'x6' that I'm thinking of turning into a dressing room.

I need ideas for furnishing and even decorating a nice tack room.  Since its attached to the house it has to have some decor.  I do have a leather recliner for out there. I plan on using this room as my general mud room as well, housing all muddy boots and barn jackets.  I can come and go through that room from the house to the barn and avoid tracking dirt into the house.  I'd like to have it look nice but be functional too.

I'm open to any suggestions!  I like pics too or links to helpful sites.


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## patandchickens (Apr 27, 2011)

I would be leery of putting a leather recliner in there if there is _any_ chance you will _ever_ use this space for temporary confinement of a cat or dog. But, if it is really close enough for your barn to be convenient, I have to say that keeping your tack in the house, especially if it is a slightly heated-in-winter part of your house, is an excellent idea and makes it much easier IME to keep things in good condition.

If you know anyone who does welding, there are lots of nice and useful fittings of all sorts that can be made from old horseshoes, if you like that sort of thing. Hooks, racks, shelves, hinges fake or real, curtain rod holders, etc.

Can't help with decor, that's too individual, I'd just say pick what you like 

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## dianneS (Apr 27, 2011)

I'm going to be putting new flooring in this room too.  I'm pretty much stuck with vinyl or carpet.  I can't decide which?  I'm leaning more toward vinyl with some rugs thrown down, especially in the dressing areas, but I'm still not sure?  

I need a good boot rack/shoe containment system.  I can't seem to find anything specifically for boots besides boot trays?  I need ways to keep mud out of the house too.  Boot scrapers and scrubbers outside the door and really good mats for wiping feet.

I'm also debating between wall hung saddle racks or free standing racks?  As often as I re-arrange and change my mind I probably should go with something free standing.  I'd be willing to build something myself too, anyone know of any plans for custom saddle racks?


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## patandchickens (Apr 27, 2011)

Vinyl!!!! (or anything else smooth and semi-waterproof and easily cleanable, e.g. ceramic tiles or some forms of laminate) 

Not carpet!!!!! Seriously, seriously!!!! 

Throw rugs are ok although I'd suggest keeping them away from the exterior door and out of the main path of traffic, unless you really LIKE vacuuming/washing rugs.

In my experience free standing saddle racks are a giant PITA unless you have a ginormous room, and even then they are still a *small* PITA   They get in the way, they fall over, they catch crud underneath them and then fall over when you go to move them to clean.

If you fear the urge to rearrange, I would suggest putting your wall-mounted racks not directly on the wall but rather mounted to a board of some sort so that you can then easily relocate the whole board. Or post, that is also bolted to the wall (not freestanding), same deal, easily relocatable.

Saddle racks are super easy to build yourself but note that unless you are the kind of person who changes their saddle pad after ever ride and thus stores the saddle "naked" it is generally better for pad and saddle to use one of the metal-frame type racks than ones where the saddle is sitting on solid boards of wood. And of course anything you make is going to be more along the lines of solid boards of wood, unless you are a welder. 

If you DO want to make wooden ones it is super easy, honestly the easiest thing is probably to page thru catalogs and magazines and websites til you see a design you like (there isn't THAT much diversity ) and then just copy it, exact measurements are totally not crucial.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## Be Bop N Bubba (Apr 27, 2011)

Definetly go with the vinyl and use earth tones. are you leaning towards english motif or western?  There are so many neat ideas to take and run with...   I would look into earth tones and wooden saddle racks and such.  wood tends to "warm" up a room and also has a feeling of homey comfort.  Theres alot you can do with it.  What do you tend to lean towards?


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## dianneS (Apr 27, 2011)

> Vinyl!!!! (or anything else smooth and semi-waterproof and easily cleanable, e.g. ceramic tiles or some forms of laminate)


When I tore up the carpet in that room I discovered that its just concrete underneath.  What if I just painted and sealed the concrete?  Then I could actually hose the floors!  I'd be afraid to hose vinyl that water would get underneath and cause mold.  I'd love to do ceramic, but this room just isn't worth the expense or time needed to install it.  Plus the floor is a bit wonky and would make it a tough job.  This room was the house's original summer kitchen built in 1880.  Probably had wood floors that rotted away years ago.




> If you fear the urge to rearrange, I would suggest putting your wall-mounted racks not directly on the wall but rather mounted to a board of some sort so that you can then easily relocate the whole board. Or post, that is also bolted to the wall (not freestanding), same deal, easily relocatable.


I was just thinking that!  I've got an idea for racks mounted to a board that would then be mounted to a wall.  I can't find the "perfect" saddle racks anywhere, but I'm getting some ideas for building some.



> are you leaning towards english motif or western?


English.  I'm not going to be keeping grooming supplies or first aid, feed or medications in this room, just tack, boots riding clothes and gear.  I've got room in the barn for the other stuff.

I want to make use of the over-head space on the high side of the room where the ceiling goes way up.  Perhaps wall hung cabinets and a step stool for access?  I hate to have all that space go to waste.


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## patandchickens (Apr 27, 2011)

dianneS said:
			
		

> When I tore up the carpet in that room I discovered that its just concrete underneath.  What if I just painted and sealed the concrete?  Then I could actually hose the floors!


On the one hand, just-concrete is a perfectly respectable flooring, especially for a mudroom, although usually not *as* cleanable as vinyl in a household situation (unless the concrete is super flat/shiny, in which case it is slipperier than vinyl IMO)

On the other hand OH NO, DO NOT EVEN THINK OF HOSING OUT A TACK ROOM OR HOUSEHOLD ROOM. You may think "oh I will just dry it out afterwards" but in reality it don't work that way and you will get massive humidity problems damaging your tack, wood fixtures, furniture, any drywall or plaster, etc. NO hosing in the house! 

I don't recall what climate you're in, and if this room is heated then it may not matter, but if by any chance this is a poorly- or un-heated room and you are in a cooler climate, it would be better to do something that provides a bit more insulating value than just bare concrete, so you do not get it "sweating" and creating humidity/mildew problems on warm days in late winter (e.g. what we're getting right now, up here -- the beams in my barn are dripping and the floor *looks* hosed ). 

Youd' want to convince yourself that the unevenness of the concrete was not going to cause problems installing vinyl though. Vinyl tiles are more forgiving of unevenness than sheet vinyl but only up to a point and of course they are also more apt to come loose or water get underneath. Think about whether it's worth doing a proper levelling job on the concrete before installing your flooring.



> want to make use of the over-head space on the high side of the room where the ceiling goes way up.  Perhaps wall hung cabinets and a step stool for access?  I hate to have all that space go to waste.


Sure, sounds good   Or just open shelving for horse blankets being stored til next season, with or without curtains over the front, as per tastes.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## dianneS (Apr 27, 2011)

I'm also trying to figure out an attractive way to store girths and keep them with the saddle they are most often used with?

How do most people store martingales and things like that?

I'm in the north east.  It gets cold here in winter and my room is heated, not well.  In the past I used this space as my massage treatment room and I used three space heaters to keep it warm enough.  I won't need to heat that much for a tack room.

I've got this great window too, its almost like a big garden window that bumps out a bit.  I wish I could think of something to do with it?  If I were into houseplants it would look really nice with shelves and plants on it.  Maybe I could make a window seat?


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## patandchickens (Apr 27, 2011)

dianneS said:
			
		

> I'm also trying to figure out an attractive way to store girths and keep them with the saddle they are most often used with?


You *can* just flop the girth over top of the saddle (preferably having been removed from all billets, not bending the billets around under the flap), which is not optimally good for girth or saddle but not the end of the world  

Or, a lot of people have a hook where you can hang the girth by the buckle/s, hanging underneath or next to the saddle the girth usually goes with.



> How do most people store martingales and things like that?


On bridle racks, usually. If a particular horse usually goes in a martingale then usually you'd just put that all on the same rack as the bridle, keep it all attached. If it is an occasional-use-only thing, e.g. for the occasional trail ride on a blustery day when you wish to have a little extra protection vs getting a bloody nose, most people have a bunch of 'spare' bridle racks off to one side where they hang things like that. 

Some people store spare strapwork on one of those four-way hanging hooks meant for cleaning tack but it is really bad for the leather to be bent over a single hook like that.

Leather generally stores best out in the open air and used periodically (and cleaned/etc periodically), rather than stored in trunks. If you MUST store it in a trunk for long-term storage, I would suggest either coat it with that stuff whose name escapes me at the moment but it's a leather restorer/mildewcide sold for tack, or coat the leather all thinly with vaseline and put in sealed plastic bag before putting in the trunk.



> I won't need to heat that much for a tack room.


You will probably want to heat it enough to keep the mildew away though.

The more you can keep wet blankets, wet saddlepads, and puddles of water off yer boots out of the room, the less it will tend to breed mildew, but just winter cold can be enough to do it.



> Maybe I could make a window seat?


Sure, why not 

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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