Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Demo Day

One's mind tends to wander while cleaning saddles,
and mine wandered to how I was going to store them for the long term.
I considered large plastic bins or gargantuan garbage bags,
but neither solution would be good for the saddles.
What I really needed was a dust-free, mouseproof closet.
Perhaps I could build a closet in the garage. How hard could it be?

I googled around for construction plans and started developing cost estimates
when I'll swear I heard dad's voice whisper, "You already have a closet."
 That dad...always full of good ideas.

First I removed everything from the coat closet to see if the saddles would fit.
Too small.
Then I removed everything from the guest bedroom closet.

 Just right.
Except for that pesky shelf in the way.



I screwed a 2x9 board into a wall stud, then bolted the saddle racks
to the board, which heretofore served as my redneck tailgate.
(Improvisation is the key to success in the middle of nowhere.)


Ta-da.

As long as my guests don't mind the subtle fragrance of oiled leather,
I think this is a win.



27 comments:

  1. If your guests don't like the aroma of well-cared for leather saddles, then you have the wrong guests!

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  2. Looks great...and you still have half the closet left for guests. I actually have a guest room with no closet so I put a row of hooks on the back of the door with 5 hangers that overlap....works fine as most pepole don't have more than that they need to hang up. And cudos for finishing the tack clean up so fast.
    Lisa G in TN

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  3. Keep it simple :)

    I don't have access to u-tube, so maybe I can watch later.
    Anyway, you have easy access, they are in a climate and hopefully rodent controlled area and it didn't take a construction crew or multiple visits to the 'hardware store'.

    Now, do you still need the redneck tailgate?

    M in NC

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    Replies
    1. Yes, but it will be easily replaced during my next trip to Home Depot.

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  4. Perfect! Beautiful. Good serotonin flowing, for sure.m

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  5. I think they add to the decor!

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  6. Great idea!!

    Sydney
    NE Oklahoma

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  7. Well done!!!

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  8. Girl, you are a genius (with help from Dad)! That looks great and I bet it smells wonderful.

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  9. Like I said- keep them in the house! That looks great!

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  10. Personally I love the smell of leather!
    Ha- take that mice! Good solution.

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  11. Not much better than the smell of a well-loved/cared for saddle!

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  12. When I read you were Googling construction plans I thought "There's that retirement thing" again! Luckily Dad stepped in. Whew!
    ~ Linda K.

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  13. Your Dad is smiling, perhaps a bit smugly. Your guests would pay extra for that oiled leather smell :) Sure of it.

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  14. Awesome! You never cease to amaze me.

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  15. I thought I saw you cleaning three saddles. Do I remember wrong?

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    Replies
    1. The third one – a lightweight, inexpensive model – fit inside the tack trunk.

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  16. These are beautiful! You are a genius retiree.

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  17. Love the simple project. Your saddles look great, I can't imagine cleaning all that tooling! However, that is the same process in which my re-labeling some spices turned into reorganizing the kitchen (where did the closet stuff go now?)!

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  18. It looks great to me! Nice job. 😊

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  19. This is great - if my guests couldn't love the smell of saddle leather, they'd have to sleep on the couch. ;-)

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  20. An American in Tokyo1/16/18, 4:55 PM

    BEAUTIFUL~!!
    It's the perfect fit!!

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  21. I keep certain tack items in my bedroom closet - I as a guest would love finding saddles in the room! :)

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  22. Oiled leather is an amazing smell. I wish it could be bottled and sold!

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  23. Awesome! I love that you too have developed the knack of making your 'extras' your first go to 'hardware store'! We laugh sometimes about how often we wander around the house or the barns looking for an idea ... and find we don't need to buy anything new ... there is always something to recycle instead! Good one! Looks great.

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