Cob Jockey

You three were correct from my previous post, I am building a tack locker!

When we bought this house (built in 1963), it came with some very inconvenient cabinets:


I call them inconvenient because this is a not-to-scale representation of what my 6'4 husband looked like chopping vegetables on that countertop before we removed the upper cabinets:

Forehead, meet inconvenient cabinets.

After removing said cabinets and my amazing husband giving me a surprise birthday present of a dishwasher and lights in that area in 2012, it now looks like this (the unpainted section has since been painted and the dishwasher is now boxed in):

Big improvement!

Anyway, that cabinet that was so inconvenient before is now finding a new life as a tack locker, and here's how I've done it so far:

Step 1:  Remove crosspieces with a hand saw.

It's actually supposed to be used to remove pieces of door casing above floors or something, but don't tell it that.  It did fine.

Ta da, empty box!

Step 2: Wood fill holes, sand, vacuum, wipe, repeat the last three often

Step 3: Cut 1" x 2" furring strips on which the pegboard can rest (I had the strips left over from a project I did in 2012, so $0!)

Step 4: Prime with leftover oil-based waterproofing primer ($0!)

Step 5, not shown: Use bad-ass table saw to cut down pegboard ($13).  Realize tiny adjustments are not as easy to make on the table saw as they are on the miter saw.  Learn how to take off the blade guard and use the push stick on the table saw to preserve fingers. Step 6: Paint pegboard using a light grey sample quart left over from painting the living room in 2012. ($0!) Step 7: Mount pegboard using screws, and giant washers for future stability ($5)

Step 8: Use bad-ass table saw to rip down a board I took out of my husband's closet when I redid it last winter, and turn said moderately straight board into moderately square door. ($0)

That is where I am right now.  The door is 3" deep, and will accommodate dowel rods inside it on which to hang (dry) saddle pads.  The primed side-wall you can see here will be covered in cork, while the facing side is more pegboard.  I've used Amazon points to pay for heavy-duty gate hinges ($0) and locking casters ($0) more to get it off the ground at the barn than to move it (it's not heavy, and I won't be taking it to shows, but it will still move occasionally).  I realize it looks giant here, but it's shorter than I am, and I am 5 feet tall.

Still to come: covering the outsides and door with aspen siding ($24), hanging the door, adding a handle ($?), buying pegboard accessories, adding casters, buying/mounting cork ($15), waterproofing the bottom ($?), adding ventilation ($?), adding external towel racks for drying wet pony boots/use as handles ($?) and finally painting and adding corner trim and other fancy things.  My goal is to keep it under $75, and I'm only able to throw money at it every so often, so it might be a while before it's finished.

What features would you look for if you were building a tack locker?