Here at Yoga+You, we’ve run into a slight dilemma. On Tuesday, we learned that the small gym, where we’ve been working and where we’re planning on installing our storage system, has had a water leak. And so we went into the gym to find the floor looked like this:
This is great for pretending to surf, but not so great for us. Since our design is so specific to the small gym, we need to spend a lot of time in the space taking measurements. But at least until the problem’s fixed, we probably won’t be able to get into that area. Luckily, the floor’s only bowed up in one corner, but it’s still something we’re going to have to work around.
This means that instead, we get to spend to spend more time prototyping and working in the maker space. In fact, we had a technology-free day planned for today (Thursday the 19th), and we used it to make a small- scale prototype of the design. We took two planks of wood, used the drill press to bore holes into them, and then inserted small dowels. The design overall looked really great, and it’s nice to have a working prototype finally done.
Our design is based on an existing model that Mrs. Jo found on Pinterest, and includes space for around 100 mats, which are held in place by pegs placed at a 30 degree angle. We originally thought that the pegs would be an inch in diameter, but we could only find half- inch dowels, and those ended up working out fine.
We presented our proposal to Mrs. Goka during lunch, and she really enjoyed it. She did have a concern about the saftey of the rack- she worried that somebody could fall onto the pegs and get hurt. So our next task will be to ensure that the design is as safe as possible, while still maximizing efficiency.
All in all, today was a good day. We did run into an obstacle with the craziness of the gym floor, but we more than made up for it with our successful prototype.
StarPathDesign 
It’s really cool that you guys are making a yoga mat holder! I have a couple of questions such as what are you going to do when a PE class uses them, ends up sweating on them and places them back? I am just thinking of gross sweat and bacteria dripping down to each mat. Maybe there is a way we could insert a cleaning method or spray ?(such as this one: http://blog.freepeople.com/2012/07/diy-yoga-mat-cleaning-spray/) I know that yoga mats can get pretty expensive and I know that the usage of the yoga mat holder will help with the longevity of our mats. I also agree with Ms. Goka- how are the pegs going to be safer? (I just imagine this horrible eye accident). Maybe you can look into using tennis balls (Like the bottom of chairs) or cheap plastic or rubber. Last question I have is how are the stands going to stay on the wall? The photo on Pinterest does show brick, but we have glossy cinder blocks. Can’t wait to see the final design!- Toni Akunebu
I like how you came up with a comprise for your design because the area you were working in had some problems. You could have given up but you did not. And you had a fabulous design.