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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 725
  
| It seems like my barn is always messy! Do you have any organization tips or know the best way to store everything? I always am looking for something and have a bad system for storing my tack. |
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
 
Location: Where I am happiest | We have a old big file cabinate we keep pretty much everything in. It's got 8 drawers and we have a drawer for everything. Brushes in one, grooming products and shampoo's in another. Leg wraps in one, and boots in one. It's not real pretty, but it sure works and the drawers are really deep so it fits all the shampoo's and spray bottles upright organized so it holds alot. Then my husband welded a bunch of old horse shoes together and nailed them to the wall for halters and bridle hooks. 1 1/2 shoe's per hook. |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | I use Sterilite tote bins to store blankets (once they are clean)....and label them with size / type of blanket. I have a four-drawer chest I bought at Wal-mart I use for general storage. I also have several "boxes on wheels" that I bought in the tool box area at Lowes. They are very sturdy and I use them to pack for shows - then they stack well in the trailer. Sometimes I use one for feed. One holds my stall drapes / stall set up items. They make it very easy to load and unload the trailer. The Sterilite boxes, I think, are good for long-term type storage -- so easy to stack and label. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 927
Location: Iowa | Get rid of the extra stuff!! I use totes, bathing stuff , fencing stuff, brushes, leg wraps, running boots, clippers, leather goods, blankets all get their own totes. Take once a week to clean up and organize. Deep clean every fall and spring. Hang up what you use and if you haven't used it for a season, pack it or sell it. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2154
Location: USA | I have a big metal cabinet that I use to store stuff. I have extra brushes and stuff on the top shelf. Medical stuff on middle two shelves and then whatever on the bottom two. I have velcro attached beside the tack room door to hold boots. Stuff I don't use or only use seasonly, I put in totes and put in the loft. I also have a corner shelf built next to the tie out to hold brushes, hoof picks, etc.. the stuff I use on a daily basis before/after I ride. Shelves above my feed barrels hold a couple extra buckets and supplement drawers. |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | My barn is super organized and clean. I keep bare minimum stuff though. I'm not a hoarder or collector of anything. If I don't use it in a year, it's gone. Sold or thrown out.
I clean stalls every day, rake my aisle way about once a week, and in the summer time I fight with cobwebs on a daily basis. I hate a dirty barn! |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | every time you use something put it back in its home. sweep up after yourself, clean your stalls daily. when you hang something up hang it up right.
just general tidiness will save you a lot of time.
I like to use shelving units instead of rubbermaids for a lot of things because I always forget it's there or I forget to do something about it come winter time. These bad boys usually line my tack rooms. https://www.schooloutfitters.com/catalog/product_info/pfam_id/PFAM44... Not currently since my tack room is filled with saddle racks and hooks. Maximize your space, if you have a bin of stuff you use only on occasion, then file those things in a rubbermaid tote and label what's in there and slide it under a saddle rack. Blankets, fold them up before you store them. bridles/extra reins/lunge lines, wrap them up in uniform manner before you hang them up for the day. It will take you an extra 5 minutes each time you're working your horse or cleaning your stalls, but it saves a lot of face when you have surprise guests, and your barn is guaranteed to stay organized that way!!
My rule of thumb is if something doesn't have a home or a look nice where it is, proactively do something in a way to store it so it looks okay to the inexperienced eye. Also before I shut the lights off for the night everything is put away where it is intended to be. I would be embarrassed if my neighbor walked into my barn and it looked like a pigsty. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 232
Location: Winging It in KY | I use heavyduty plastic milk crates that I stack on top of each other sideways. They are great for leg wraps, boots and polos. You can stack them 3 or 4 high and then have storage on top of them. Then I keep a medicine cabinet in the tack room next to the hot water heater box for all the salves, oinments, etc. That way they kind of stay warm and don't get frozen during the winter. I hang all the blankets on the wall in a certain area of the barn. Then I have another area for all the racks, pitch forks and stall forks. The key is putting things away when you are done with them. Keeping the isle way racked and clean is another thing I do once a week, or at least I try to do that. My husband is a pack rat and hoarder of stuff. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with his clutter which makes the barn look messy. He does not always put things away.  |
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