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There are several tackrooms at my barn. One for the lesson program, 2 general ones for boarders, and one was dedicated to a specific trainer and her students. Well, that trainer has since left for greener pastures, so the tackroom became available. Our program currently has the most horses/boarders, so we were lucky enough to get to take over the empty space. Problem was, the other trainer who had it before us built the whole thing- and she took it with her when she left. So we had a shell of a room, but not much else. Working on a tight budget, we were able to complete the whole project under $250, and I am pretty dang pleased with how it turned out!
Although the room was empty, it did have a linoleum type flooring, and the walls were painted. We went to Lowe’s and purchased the following supplies:
1 x 6″ 8 ft sections (3) lumber to use as the anchors for hanging saddle racks: $10.12 ea ($30.36)
1 x 4″ 12 ft sections (4) to use as baseboards: $9.14 ea ($36.56)
1 x 12″ 8 ft sections of primed MDF boards for shelves and bridle rack (3): $16.62 ($49.86)
8 ft landscape timbers (3) for the saddle racks: $3.99 ea ($11.97)
Eye hooks, 6 pack (2): $6.20 ($12.40)
Stanley tarp/rope hook (12) for attaching saddle racks: $1.48 ea ($17.76)
Horizontal bike hook, gray (4): $1.18 ea ($4.72)
Steel shelf brackets, multipack w/ 5 (2): $17.48 ea ($34.96)
At hobby lobby we also picked up 3 yards of brown fleece for just under $20.
We found a can of brown stain at the barn, and I used some left over white paint from my house, so these items ended up being freebies. You will also need some tools. Thankfully hubby had a plethora of those, so we borrowed him (and his skillz).
Last Sunday hubby, MM, and I did the initial planning and shopping. This took about 3 hours to measure the room, decide on a design, and go buy all the supplies.
On Thursday evening hubby came with me to the barn, loaded with tools, and the 3 of us got to work. 4 hrs later we had made good progress hanging the saddle hooks, shelves, and getting the baseboards cut.
We ended up taking one of the MDF boards home so hubby could use a different saw to cut it in half length wise, to use as the anchor for the bridle hooks. That took both of us together about 20 mins.
Saturday I brought back the necessary tools and the (now) 2 pieces of wood. MM and I spent 3 more hours getting the fabric to cover the saddle racks and finishing assembling everything.
Words of wisdom- get hooks for bridles at Hobby Lobby- if you catch a sale you can get them for $1/hook which is way cheaper then Lowes. We did not need to purchase these, as barn owner already had them. You could probably get cheaper board then the MDF board we used for the shelves- but it was already white so we went with it. Otherwise, we pretty much got the cheapest of the cheap. It was also good that we already had the wood stain because that would have been an additional expense.
Total cost for supplies listed including tax: $234.97
Total man-hour cost: 27 hrs 40 minutes
Stock photos of some of the smaller stuff that isn’t shown well in the pics:
It was a TON of work, but I think it turned out really well!! Not bad for under $250!
About HUNKY HANOVERIAN
My name is Kelly and I’m a late 20 something who is living the dream of owning a horse as “an adult”. I have officially become the Adult Amateur that I once dreaded as a youth- and I’m loving every horsey moment of it. Over the years I’ve dabbled in most English disciplines, and have firmly landed in hunter land. Now that I am finally living the horse owner dream I chronicle the excitement, disappointment, and general hilarity in this blog.
