17 Horse Stall Ideas for Any Budget (With Photos) (2024)

It’s easy to get bogged down with building codes and equipment needs, but it can be fun to add some interior design elements to your horse stalls. You can choose to make your barn look like an extension of your home or use an entirely unique style in this building.

These 17 horse stall ideas will inspire you to brighten up your barn and make it into a stunning place to spend time. Regardless of your budget, you’ll find some elements in these photos that you can implement on your property.

1. Feels Like Home

So many barns are basic, but you can have a beautiful structure that’s still functional. This barn looks like a cozy home, with stunning wooden shutters on each window. The rich wood contrasts nicely with the lush green moss growing up the walls.

The crepe myrtles in angular pots add interest to the landscape and give the horses something to peek at and ensure they get fresh air and sunlight.

2. Pop of Color

You can have a basic horse stall design but spruce things up with a pop of color. In this barn, the rich green gates stand out against the cedar plank walls and dividers. The gates are open enough to still allow in plenty of light, keeping the entire barn from getting too dark overall.

The sliding doors help make the most of the barn space, making this design choice stylish and practical.

3. Peekaboo

While the bars of these gates allow the horse to see what’s happening in the hall, it’s nice to give them a chance to peek out. These drop-down yokes will make the stalls seem even more spacious.

The mesh bottom on this sliding gate allows improved airflow to keep the horses cool and comfortable. You can customize the bar and wood colors to suit your design aesthetic.

4. Clean Lines

Instead of a mesh grid at the base of this gate, the clean lines run from top to bottom, giving a more cohesive look. The black stands out boldly against the pale wood. Built-in cabinets and hooks give you places to store necessary items without needing to head back to the tack room.

Scroll through the images to see how this design style looks from inside the stall.

5. Brick and Mortar

Many barns use wood as the main element, so these horse stalls stand out with their use of brick and mortar. The gates are wood with a unique cross plank that visually meshes well with the linear layout of the bricks.

When you consider adding bricks to your stall, there are countless options in terms of colors since you can find bricks in shades like:

• Red
• White
• Tan
• Brown
• Orange
• Gray
• Black

6. Garden View

The rich reddish wood of this barn already creates a stunning sight, but the garden really makes the scene pop. Since the horses have windows built into their gates, they can enjoy the garden view just as much as their humans will.

The beauty of this idea is that you can use plants native to your particular location to ensure they flourish and attract pollinators to your property.

7. Get Some Fresh Air

Instead of keeping your horses closed off in the barn, create an open space that allows fresh air to flow freely. This open-plan barn design has stalls along one side with mesh gates that keep the air moving inside the structure. It also helps the barn integrate with its natural surroundings.

8. Golden Light and Wood

The rich golden wood in this barn highlights every sunbeam and fills the entire building with light. The arched ceiling pulls your attention upward and showcases the skylights.

While the skylights follow the central walkway, large windows on the other side of the stalls let in more sun. You can use this as inspiration and customize your wood and metal colors.

9. Home for the Holidays

You decorate your home for the holidays, so why not spruce up the horse stalls, too? You can add holly and mistletoe during the winter and seasonal flowers during the spring. Make sure you hang decorations in places where playful horses can’t nibble them down.

10. Bold Tribal Designs

The bold tribal designs in this barn call to mind the traditional blankets you might find in a tack room. If you want to add patterns to the wooden sections of your horse gates, you can choose specific colors to suit your style.

While geometric designs are easiest to make using a straight edge, you can also freehand it and create a unique mural.

11. Delicate Arches

Many stall gates have openings where horses can watch what goes on around them, but the delicate arches at the top of these are truly unique. They draw the eye up to the high ceilings and add a touch of elegance to the barn.

12. Swiveling Fronts

The swiveling fronts on these gate windows function like shutters, allowing you to open one or both sides to give your horse a chance to peek through. You can customize the design with a certain metal or wood to suit your aesthetic.

The wood base section is especially nice for adding hooks, rails, and pass-throughs.

13. Geometric

The wood planks in this barn draw the eye because of their geometric placements. Within each large triangle, you can see the planks running different ways, adding interest to the walls. The golden finish amplifies the sunshine that finds its way inside.

With such intriguing walls, you might want to downplay the stalls themselves, as you can see in this image.

14. Cozy Up

Creating a cozy space in the barn can completely transform the vibe you feel when you walk in. Get inspiration from this tack room and see how you can mirror these design elements in the stalls.

While you won’t want a rug beneath your horse, the contrasting wood planks on the wall draw the eye, and the unique light fixture sets the tone of the space.

15. Natural Light

This rustic horse stall is simple but draws attention because of the natural light. The slight arch to the windows contrasts nicely with the rigid lines of the wood panels and makes the sunlight stand out even more.

The stall isn’t much larger than standard, yet the light makes it seem more spacious. As a bonus, the horse can stand at the window and see out.

16. Let the Sun Shine

Natural light can change an interior space, as seen in this light and airy stable setup. The high ceilings with skylights allow rays of the sun to reach the horses. There are windows around the stall as well, and the slats in the wooden gates keep the room from looking too closed off.

17. Twice as Nice

If you have two or more horses, you don’t need to worry about making space for completely separate stalls. Take advantage of common areas to simplify your chores, like how this twin stall makes feeding much easier than stopping twice.

The gates are incredibly accessible, with French gates at the food storage area and separate exit gates on each stall.

Final Thoughts

This list of horse stall ideas should inspire you to bring some interior design elements into your barn. Whether you add windows and skylights to let the sunshine in or start decorating for the holidays, you can have fun with this space.

There’s no reason to have a plain stall for your animals when you can make them feel at home and cozy. Bring some light, color, and design into your stalls and elevate your barn into a stunning structure.