My Haunted Saddle Rack

via my favorite artist/comedian Liz Climo

I've wanted a saddle rack pretty much since I moved to Florida. Something about being here made me feel like my saddle was meant to stay at home. For a while, all of my equipment lived in my trunk, but that became a slight inconvenience for my mechanic who was checking my battery for codes every other month. Yes, the brilliant engineers in Germany put the battery in my trunk. Don't ask me why. I've also accumulated a very hefty amount of dirt in my trunk's lining. The tight space also meant my flaps were being squished.

All in all, the trunk situation wasn't doing it. I needed a solution.

Prior to moving into the new place, I set up several Pinterest boards to collect items that I wanted to purchase or just liked the vibe of. I found this sleek metal sawhorse that was cheap but stylish and available for curbside pickup. It also matched the specific shelf that I intended to purchase from Ikea. I was set to buy everything directly after the move. Then something peculiar happened. Ikea, like, refused to restock that shelf. So now I had to buy something different. And it wouldn't match. And they'd be more expensive. Cue panic.

My big, dumb, internal designer voice freaked out for a bit. When I tell you I visited Ikea nearly three times per week to see if it was back in stock, I am not exaggerating in the slightest. As I finally accepted defeat, an interesting Facebook marketplace posting showed up on my feed. The tone was . . . odd. Caps lock was active. The seller was desperate. Cash only. The whole thing was weird, but for $35? Yeah, I can afford a demon or two. I picked it up and turns out the seller had just moved to Florida and had a ton of handmade goods that they no longer had the space for.

It isn't actually a saddle rack. It's something called a Turkish dowry chest. Mine is wooden and done by a modern artist. It's handpainted with a bunch of different animals on it, most notably a very noble steed. It was created by Corina and Dragos.

Oh, and it's got storage inside!

I'm honestly happy I found this thing. It's way cooler than the metal stuff, and I ended up shifting the whole theme of my place anyways. No more minimalism and earth tones. I want bright colors now. My kitchen will be pink.