My Tack Room. I mean, Dining Room.

For those who do not know me very well, I will begin this post by letting you know that I am a "horse person". In case you are not aware, "horse people" are a particular breed of the human race that are what we shall call, special. As a general rule, "horse people" wince during western movies when a horse gets injured, rather than worrying about the condition of the human character of the story line. Generally speaking, horse people are kind to animals, oblivious to the presence of dirt and often foul-mouthed in everyday  conversation. Horse people are by nature, unafraid of 'horse germs,' un-phased by manure, and perpetually worried that their own, "human children" won't be born with the "horse lover gene". 

All that to say....my name is Amy and I am a horse person. My pickup truck serves as a mobile barn, storing my grooming tools, horse treats, halters and lead ropes. I have a special section in my closet dedicated to boots. I compare all large purchases to what they would equate in terms of saddles, horse purchases or vet bills. I am one of "those" people.

So....naturally my home would reflect some of my horsey habits. My patient and wonderful husband, though unfortunately not a "horse person" himself, is tolerant and supportive of my addiction. The mansion, while a small downtown cottage rehab, not only serves as a beloved home but also stores many of my most precious horse supplies. If you know anything about saddles, you know they are expensive, and more often than not, heavy. They are also leather and require special care and appropriate storage.  It is for this reason that I have chosen to store my saddles in our dining room- obviously this is the most appropriate place for stable gear. 

In order to make the most of our space (1300 sq ft.=creativity required), we decided to build traditional saddle racks as high as possible. The racks we chose are a simple design, which easily collapses against the wall while not in use. The design is fairly simple, requiring rough cut lumber, stripped and cut to size, and some basic metal hardware easily found at any hardware store. While the materials for this type of saddle rack are not usually expensive, we already had the wood to assemble them on hand. 

Now, our saddle racks pretty much climb the dining room wall. The benefit to having high ceilings, is that they make a small room appear larger. Another benefit to high ceilings, of course, is that you can fit more saddles on the wall.

Now, this is not a traditional southern formal dining room by any means BUT it is functional and, in my opinion, decorative (then again...I am a "horse person").  All we have to do now is stain the racks and voila...a complete tack/dining room!

The purpose of this post? To encourage you to make your home functional to your lifestyle. No, saddle racks in the dining room are not really the norm in a traditional southern home, but I would be willing to bet that even the most distinguished Garden & Gun reader would relate to our particular storage dilemma. Homes are meant to be lived in. They are meant to reflect our loves, our personalities and our daily lives. If you have kids, let the legos and Barbie shoes  decorate the living room. If you have cats, don't stress over a scratching post in the bedroom. If you have a pig (ha....who has a pig in the house?!? that was sarcasm, people), let him sleep on the couch while you have dinner guests. 

Moral to the story: Your home is your habitat. The mansion...it's an interesting mix of horse person and bike/tennis/marathon runner. We live in our house and so should you.

 If you ever join us for dinner or a drink one evening, don't be surprised if you find a horse hair in your drink or a pig running around the house. That's how we roll in the "mansion".

"The End....until we run out of square footage, that is"