I’m currently living in a small apartment, and I’m trying to come up with some better ideas for storage of spare tack, blankets, etc that can’t be kept at the barn. Hopefully I will soon be moving to a larger space, but I still want my spare stuff neatly contained and organized. I would love to hear what other apartment dwellers do!
We have a small patio space and I keep things in a storage bin out there. A few small things are in a box in the spare room as well.
Oh oh oh!!! Raising my hand! Your question brought back fond memories of my youth and my teeny apartment and boarding my first horse at a cheapie barn. I never left anything there then because I was so excited and proud to have my own first bridle and saddle etc etc. So I used them as interior design flourishes. I draped my saddle on the back of the couch, I hung my bridle on the wall by the door, I proudly displayed my brushes and goop on the top shelf of my bookcase, I even used the horse blanket as a wall hanging. Very horse themed.
Have fun with it. I miss those days sometimes. 
I sell any tack that I’m not actively using so that I’m storing a minimum number of things.
And then all my furniture doubles as storage. I wanted something to sit on in the hallway to put on/take off muddy shoes, so I use an old wooden footlocker instead of a bench. That has my tack (draw reins, extra bridles, etc) in it. I have a big travel trunk that acts as a side table for my couch and extra seating if needed; that holds horse blankets. I use an old wooden cantilevered sewing box as my bedside table; that has my bits in it. My laundry supplies are sitting on a stack of plastic drawers that have extra grooming supplies, show setup hardware, spare medical stuff, etc., in it. I have rows of plastic bins on top of my book shelves that have light stuff I can easily pull down/put up (not horse stuff in my case, but could be a bin of polo wraps, bandages, etc.) My bed is on risers so I can put storage bins under it as well (mostly my camping stuff right now, I think).
Basically, everything I own and the way I arrange the furniture is all designed to give me more room to store stuff.
If you have room for an armoire, you can convert those to nice, big tack lockers pretty easily, although you might have to reinforce the back if you want to hang a saddle rack. It can make it easier to get in and grab things you use frequently while allowing you to store stuff in something more attractive than plastic bins. And then you can stack plastic bins on top if you need to.
do you have a car?
Ummmm, trunks.
The car trunk
and
a wooden trunk in my apartment 
Seriously though, whose car ISN’T a portable tack trunk??
[QUOTE=Halt Near X;9007601]
My laundry supplies are sitting on a stack of plastic drawers that have extra grooming supplies, show setup hardware, spare medical stuff, etc., in it.[/QUOTE]You just gave me an awesome idea! I have a crowded cabinet in my laundry room. I’m going to get a big plastic drawer to put in the bottom so I can put some smaller stuff under the detergent, bleach and horse fly spray gallons that live in there!! :yes::applause:
When I lived in an apartment and had a horse, I was fortunate to have a storage space down the hall that held a tack trunk and a lot of other stuff. I recall at my first townhouse, I used cat food cans nailed in a closet to store extra bridles (bonus over real bridle racks was only one hole in the wall per bridle.)
I mostly use Rubbermaid tubs and stack them in a closet. It’s not ideal, but I board at a small private farm and I can only have my saddle, bridle, a few turnouts and a tack trunk, so everything else has to stay here.
My car has a bunch of boots, extra clothes, half chaps, gloves, etc., but generally no tack. Saddle pads, half pads and girths live on a saddle stand in a corner of the living room. Spare turnouts live under the bed in their bags or in a closet.
I lived in a 500-square-foot cottage (and that is being kind) before moving into my 1025-square-foot townhouse, so it feels like I have tons of room now. I had to get super creative when I lived there. :o
I do have a children’s wood toy trunk that sits just inside the door; I keep quarter sheets/coolers in that, and it looks nice.
Pretty much everyone who comes over knows me well and knows I have a horse (half of them are horse people too), so I don’t worry too much if my saddle’s over the back of the chair or a bridle is hanging from a doorknob.
I have this:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/system-build-wardrobe-cabinet-cherry-0681069p.html#srp
Except, I think mine only has three shelves on the right, versus four.
Thankfully, I have a two bedroom apartment, and the spare room was being used as a multi-purpose room, including storage.
Show clothes (in garment bags) hang in there, along with my barn jackets. It actually does a surprisingly good job of “containing” the barn smell. Summer tall boots are underneath in a carry bag, along with shipping boots and a saddle.
On the right side, there are buckets in the bottom for taking hot water to the barn. (We do have hot water, but tends to go fast on a pre-show day. I live a few minutes away, so will take it with me. Have also seen friends out hunting, who take bath water with them. Wrapped up in coolers and rugs, it stays warm until the end of the hunt.) Next shelf up has blankets/coolers/sheets.
Second from the top has shampoo, wraps, tack cleaner, sponges, spare gloves, etc.
Top shelf has saddle pads, my show helmet, and a medium weight winter blanket.
I also have two other rubbermaid totes with horse stuff in them…one is a show tote (spare reins, girth, halter/shank, brushes, scrims, etc) and one that contains the stuff I use on a weekly basis to take a lesson (bridle bag, helmet bag, and a soft carry caddy that has open fronts, treats, other spurs, winter gloves etc in it).
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I sell any tack that I’m not actively using so that I’m storing a minimum number of things.[/QUOTE]
I am pretty much the polar opposite of this, lol. I currently have a one car garage that acts as tack storage but when I was in an apartment, I had everything in plastic totes kept in closets. I was actually far more organized when I had less space and had each tub labelled so knew exactly where everything was. My garage is a bit of a free for all and my tack corner gives my neat freak husband fits.
I have a trunk in my basement storage area with the things I don’t use very often. I have a second trunk in the closet with spare tack. My saddle and pads are on a rack right inside the door (along the wall between door and a closet) and my bridle/halters are hanging on a peg hook on the other side of the door (behind the door when it’s open) along with some baseball caps and such. So pretty much the first thing you walk into is my tack room :lol: but I also don’t entertain much in my small apartment so it’s not like anyone really sees it very often.
Oh, and a second saddle on a rack in that same closet, with other (non-horse) stuff stored under it. I have a bin with my helmet, gloves, crops, etc and one with breeches on a shelf, and a bin of riding shirts in the closet in one of those cube storage things (the other cubes have work clothes or other athletic gear)
I have an outside shed, but I don’t put any leather goods in it on the off chance they rot (damp, and no air flow). Everything else goes on a shelf in the bedroom closet. Although, I don’t have that much any more really since I sold most of it before I moved. If I need more space, I’ll get a month-to-month on a small climate-controlled storage unit.
I love hearing all these suggestions! I’m back into horses (just bought one this morning!) after a few years off, and I’m in a MUCH smaller place than I used to have. My home will basically be a tack room with a bed. There are some really good ideas here.
Well, I went from a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom in no time whatsoever. Also the apartments all had a storage locker in the basement which held some stuff. Had a friend over and she had a good laugh when she realized the 2nd bedroom was actually a tack room!
Be sure to ask your BO too. I have a small private farm and get the space issue – I have always allowed boarders to store things in the loft as long as it is in a labeled Rubbermaid type container(s) or trunk. I was permitted to do the same at both small barns I boarded at when I lived in the city. No BO wants a giant pile of mess around but I am happy to permit reasonable storage.
