Friday, February 18, 2011

Extreme Makeover: Tackroom Addition

One of the (many) benefits of P's current home is the fact that our BO has a) a great sense of style b) a willingness to constantly upgrade her property and c) the gumption to actually finish projects.

On a good day, I'd only manage one, maybe two of those traits.

Tackrooms (like trailers) are one of those things that I always notice and enjoy when they are particularly impressive with their features and use of space. It's hard to maintain a clean, well organized tack room, so whenever I visit a new farm and see that they've mangaed to do it, I take note.

Having had my horses on my own property for so many years, I'm mindful of how easily "piles" start to form, whether in corners or on hooks. Somehow those hooks of unused cavessons always creep in and the "specialty pad" shelf, turns into a house where seldom used former gadgets go to die.

The tackroom at my current boarding facility has always been neat, tidy, and uncluttered, but recently, our BO has been working hard to upgrade the aesthetics of the space, without losing any of it's critical functionality (store saddles, bridles, pads and training equipment in a warm, dry space that's free of mold and vermin).

Anyway, she's been attacking the space with a VENGEANCE recently, and it looks stunning for her efforts. It started with the gorgeously routered and painted paddock signs that coordinated with her bright red doors and gold trim that she constructed a while back. They turned out so nicely and looked so polished that the BO figured she could apply the same principal to the tackroom. First she took to reupholstering all the saddle racks, both in the tackroom and out in the grooming areas. They now are quilted, with a gorgeous black and gold cloth and trimmed with gold piping.

Following that, she swapped out traditional tube steel saddle pad racks and simple bridle hooks affixed to the wall for coordinating red/gold headboards and saddle racks. A simple change, but once that made they whole room look "designed" and not created by default from expanding storage needs.

Drool Worthy Bridle Racks
Coordinated wall of saddle racks

Additionally, the plain exposed cedar shelving (that once housed saddle pads, standing wraps and helmets, has been replaced with two matching armoires painted in a flat black that makes their imposing pressence a little more understated (they are, of course, completed with decorative gold tassels). Finally, a coordinated red rug and sleek black ottoman/bench for getting boots on and off.. and you've got a seriously sleek and organized tackroom that's totally drool worthy.

Yesterday I walked into the tack room to find yet another addition - a new drying rack for saddle pads that sits just under the window and allows all the single bar drying racks to come off the walls. It's low profile, functional and cleans up the look of the room without any sacrifice in functionality. I'm seriously impressed.





The room still boasts the exposed cedar walls and ceiling that keep
it feeling like a barn, but the matched racks, beautiful handmade drying rack and armoires keep everything in its place, and clutter behind closed doors.

All in all, it's a gorgeously styled room, that somehow still fulfills all the needs of a functioning training barn. It's a room that provides that "aaaaaahhhhh, tackroom" feeling every time you enter it. Which, let's be honest, is really the most important factor.

14 comments:

  1. Wow! What an impressive tack room! =D

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  2. What a beautiful tack room. You're BO is very talented and hard working to pull it off.

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  3. That is one GORGEOUS tackroom!! ...jealous!

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  4. Wow! That's seriously inspiring.

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  5. That's not a tack room! That's a living room. Wait...it's nicer than my house. LOL. Wish I had that much motivation. The tack room at my current barn is nice, but simply functional.

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  6. hot damn that is a sexy tack room. I second the "it looks nicer than my house"

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  7. I recently did an overhaul on the tack room at work. Wish I'd thought to take pictures.

    That is a GORGEOUS tack room. Wow.

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  8. WOW! Thank you SO MUCH for posting these pics. Construction on our barn starts today (woohoo!) and I've been trying to figure out exactly how I want to finish out the tackroom. I love what your BO has done to make it look so finished yet so functional - this gives me some great ideas! Thanks!

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  9. O. M. G. That's stunning! Never in a million years will I be able to make anything in my barn look that nice!

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  10. I'll be sure to pass the compliments on... I absolutely adore the space. it's DEFINITELY tidier than my own living room... :)

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  11. Wow! I love it. I'm so jealous hehehe. When I get to build my dream barn I'll be taking notes. :)

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  12. Love it! www.timsboots.com

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