Over the winter I bought an x/w and x/t gooseneck trailer. Looking for ideas on organization for the neck part of the dressing room before I start drilling holes. I have some plastic rubbermaid tubs (these are fine but sort of annoying to access), and I bought some of those plastic drawers, but [duh] they don’t stay shut during hauling, so that is a no-go. Looking for any and all innovative storage ideas for both large and small items. Ready…GO!
I had a set of Sterilite plastic drawers in my old trailer and never had trouble with them opening. Those are so useful to have! Can you hook a bungee cord from top to bottom during travel to keep them closed?
I just bought a new trailer with a small dressing room and I’m planning to put in some of these grids and accessories: https://www.organizedbarn.com/
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It would be tough with the configuration of the drawers. I bought the cheapo ones. I bet if I bought higher quality ones I could rig them better. Good to know it is possible! Thanks!
FWIW My cheapo Sterilite drawer “tower” stays in place in my GN DR against the wall facing front. They pop open if facing the rear. Super useful for corralling lots of small stuff from hole punch to Meds.
Yeah…I still have it in there, just facing front–which isn’t super convenient…but it is better than having nothing at all.
I’ve been wondering about adding some stretchy mesh netting against the walls that I can stuff boots and wraps in, but I’ve never seen this in a trailer, so I’m curious as to whether there’s a reason why it wouldn’t be ideal. It seems like such an obvious storage solution.
My trailer is my “barn” so I have to be insanely organized. I have a 3-horse slant with rear tack and large dressing room. I normally only have 2 horses so the front stall is for storage but not this year! I have 3 horses this year, LOL.
The rear tack is my “feed room”. I have a 25-gallon water caddy in the corner. Two garbage containers with flip up lid that I can pour a bag of alfalfa pellets and the purina outlast into. I put their feed buckets back here, as well as their supplement. I had hubby install hooks to hang up the pooper scooper on the wall, as well as hooks I can hang hay bags from. I hang their halters on the bridle hooks back here.
The dressing room… I had hubby install two more blanket bars, another bridle rack, and an extra brush box, from what already came standard. My laundry basket holds all my sport boots, rubbermaid containers hold BOT boots and Shoo-Fly boots, and random extra tack items. I had two 3-drawer towers (I have never ever had one open and I don’t have them tied closed in anyway) but I actually had to move the other one out because now I had to find another place for a saddle, so I put a saddle stand in that corner instead, and then bought a flat rubbermaid container to put those things in, up on the gooseneck. Can’t see, but I have a flat rubbermaid container with my show blankets and another laundry basket for rain sheets and cooler sheets.
And I just recently put some scattered Command Strip hooks to hang various items, because again, I have 3 horses this year and needed better storage, LOL. And I’m going to have to find somewhere to put my daughter’s toddler saddle … I have no idea, LOL.
I used to keep extra bags of shavings and extra feed in the front stall of the trailer, but now since I can’t do that, I did find a little corner in the BO’s barn to put that. Or else I would have just kept it in the garage at home.
I took these pictures last year, from the view into the dressing room.
@beau159 this. is. amazing! I love all the stuff you’ve hung. How do you find the corner saddle rack? Does it stick out a lot? My trailer handyman suggested this but I felt like it may actually impede space even though I could probably stack 3-4 saddle racks rather than the two I currnelty have across from the door. I’m an eventer, so if there are two horses in my trailer, there’s usually 4 saddles. ugh.
I have a 3 drawer set of the sterilite and I found the drawers opened when the drawer faced to the front. I turned them sideways and no more opening. I’m looking for ways for more organization in my DR too. I’ve got too much stuff and not enough room.
Get some self-stick velcro - get the strong type. Make velcro strips to hold the drawers shut.
Someone posted long ago a little trick for that you may want to hang on the trailer walls that may bang along, like bridles with bits.
She posted pictures where she had hung things like the mats that are used to dry dishes or thin floor mats or carpet pieces on the walls, so those items would not be hitting the wall constantly.
That would be a good idea, to put something protecting the walls and the items hung there, if someone has that situation.
I installed 2 bandage racks on one wall of my tack room that hold boots, wraps and a bottle of fly spray, and then a sturdy paper towel holder just underneath the window. I actually bought a cheap pre-made cabinet at Lowe’s and permanently installed it along one half of the front wall. I did have an issue with the doors and drawer on that opening, so I installed a magnet on the inside of the drawer and a hook and eye latch on the lower doors. I keep 4 baskets on the shelves inside the doors and organize by type of product- all medical supplies/diapers/etc go in one, horse show/camping supplies go in another, etc.
The other half of the front wall is a factory installed bench/top lid access storage that I keep dirtier/lesser used items in (like a electrical cord and wheel chock) The nice thing about the shorter bench and taller cabinet is it allows much easier access to the gooseneck. I can kneel on top of the cabinet and reach up in the gooseneck pretty well. I don’t use the gooseneck for storage as I have a mattress up there and camp in it usually.
The only thing about the cabinet is the top wasn’t strong enough to safely stand/kneel on, so DH installed a block of sturdy wood on top of it to make it safer for me.
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My saddle rack came with my trailer. I can take it out of the dressing room and put it in the back of the trailer (in the rear tack). But it works better for me to have it in the dressing room, since I’m using the back tack as my “feed room”. No it doesn’t really stick out. It’s situated quite well in the corner. And I just put stuff behind it in the corner that I don’t use very often, which would be my Trailer-Aid Trailer Jack, cheater bar, lug nut wrench, and cones for changing a flat tire!!
Yes, make use of the WALLS of your trailer to optimize storage!
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I had some guys build and install a boot box, it is about a foot wide and as long as the width of the gooseneck against the wall going up to the goose part. I love it for storing my boots and helmet, plus cups and plates for hunt breakfasts. It didn’t cost much. I also had a long hook, coated, the kind that would hold a bicycle in your garage for hanging jackets.
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Thanks to everyone who has been sharing their ideas! Pics are also very much appreciated for anyone else who is able to post. I am not in a rush to make changes just yet, and I’m enjoying hearing these cool tricks!
I was searching for ways to organize my BP carriage trailer and saw a neat idea where the person set up storage baskets above the horse area (it was a lorry set up). I wasn’t so keen on that idea, but I think along the long side of the nose of a gooseneck would be awesome for storing stuff. Hopefully this link works
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/72972456441297537/
Another idea I just stumbled on by accident was a great way to hang stuff. I have these steel plates with adhesive backing that you add to your phone case for hands free use in the car with a magnetic holder. In true amazon fashion I ordered it and the set came with like 8 plates in different sizes. I came upon a brilliant idea to put some of them up in the trailer to use with magnetic clips for show schedules, numbers, my phone or my battery LED light with a magnetic holder (for when the trailer is not hooked up to the 30amp or the truck isn’t on) and a few dozen other uses.
Then I found these super magnets with hooks or carabiners on amazon that hold up to 30 to 60lbs. It’s a perfect “flexible” solution for storage (great for putting 'temporary drapes" across the windows (my trailer does double duty as carriage+pony transport and LQ space)
steel plates with adhesive backing
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0722FSR2J/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2631VU27IFNNV&psc=1
magnets
60lb carabiner snap
more magnetic hooks
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GBNJPSV/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_oujWCbK219WFD
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My old featherlight 3 box stall trailer has 4’ of floorspace and the gooseneck as tack/living space. When I got it, it had a good installation along the wall opposite the doorway, a large shelf up high, and several other shelves under it, all slanted slightly to the BACK, so stuff stays in there, doesn’t fall out. Under the shelves is a rod for hanging clothes on (I don’t use it much). I installed a collapsible saddle rack under that, in the bottom 3’ of the area. I can put a couple of saddles (English) one on top of the other, and bungee cord them tight onto the rack so they stay put. I have buckets in there too, in that same area under the shelves. I have a long rack of hooks for bridles, coats, spare halters etc along the crosswall of the trailer. I can put my tackbox on the floor, and use it as a step to get up into the gooseneck. I have my bunk up there, which takes up about half the space. The other half of the space has a small custom made shelving unit, with bars to hold stuff secure (like on a boat), and a small chest of 2 drawers, each drawer has a tab of wood on a screw that swivels to fix the drawers secure when travelling. I keep a cooler with my food supply up there too. And some more hanging space for clothes etc up there too. I carry a small folding table, and a folding chair. I carry a camp stove, which I set up outdoors, or by the open door (CO issues). The camp stove slides into those narrow sloped shelves in the installation of shelves I first described, for travel. It’s not fancy, but it works for me. The shelves slanted towards the back are brilliant, useful for lots of stuff.
[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“large”,“data-attachmentid”:10381927}[/ATTACH] Ikea Trofast bins work great in trailers as steps that double as storage.
