She's got the live-in laundry room and soaking tub. Now he's got the goods to reclaim his space.

04:57 PM CST on Thursday, March 18, 2004

By LISA MARTIN / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Breathing in the pungent scents of motor oil, weed killer and turpentine and aching at the knees from standing on concrete, the North American Male feels a sense of unparalleled satisfaction and ease. He's a guy at home in his garage.

Long considered the dingy domain of the family grease monkey, the garage, for many the largest room in the house, has often been an afterthought. (Guests coming? Stash the trash, the recycling, the Beanie Baby collection, the Halloween decorations, the power tools.

Until now. 

 A combination of sociological and economic factors, including home organization shows on TV, new-home building trends and a decade of super-nesting, has birthed a new trend: garage furniture. From sleek rolling islands, workbenches, cabinets and lockers to more esoteric equipment such as pet stations and refrigerator-freezers with tread-plated steel exteriors, decor designed specifically for the garage works well and looks great.

"The once-humble garage is fast becoming a favorite, much-used room for today's multi-activity family," says Susan Dountas, vice president of merchandising for Sauder, which in February rolled out two lines of garage furniture. "Whether they're working on souped-up cars or potting plants there, Americans are increasingly transforming the garage into a popular, put-together environment for work and for play."

Adds Mike Pierce, a spokesman for the National Home Furnishings Association, a North Carolina trade group representing home furnishings retailers: "People today are taking the garage and converting it into a living space, with an emphasis on making it a comfortable place to be. Home furnishings are a $67 billion business. And niche furniture, like furniture for the garage, is going to be a bigger and bigger part of that pie."

For years, retailers including The Container Store and Home Depot have sold items to help organize the garage. Translucent totes to hold everything from WD-40 to paint brushes, wall-mounted racks for rakes and shovels and small work stations with drawers for tools have helped keep many garages from resembling the aftermath of a natural disaster. But this new breed of garage furniture is bigger and bolder – and costlier.

"You can do a lot to improve your garage with a small investment in things such as hooks to hold cords and ladders, but to make a garage look really great, you can invest in something like wall-mounted shelving from The Container Store or a complete system from Garage Tek," says Dallas-based professional organizer Desirée Hill.

Garage Tek also offers intriguing options. The 4-year-old company originally developed its patented wall paneling for use in JC Penney stores throughout the nation. Once designers realized the system would translate well into garages, Garage Tek was born.

Here's how it works: Sheets of slotted PVC plastic are attached to the garage wall, from floor to ceiling. Next, components such as cabinets, shelves, work benches and racks (also made of the weather-proof, waterproof and bug-proof plastic) slide onto the lined wall.

"The beauty of this full garage organization system is that you can rearrange the cabinets and accessories in a matter of minutes," says Yale Martin, who owns the Dallas-based Garage Tek franchise with his wife, Carol.

Prices typically range from $2,000 to $3,000 per wall; some customers choose to install only one or go for all three. The company also offers an overhead system, ideal for storing large athletic equipment or seasonal decorations. When the homeowners move, they can take the cabinets and anything else attached to the walls with them, but the paneling system must stay behind.

According to Mr. Martin, the trickiest item to store is the lawn mower. "Because of the oil and gas, we can't hang it on the wall," he explains. "And because they're so big, they wind up sitting on the garage floor."

Everything else (golf clubs, air compressors, jumbo bags of mulch) is a breeze. "The key is to get things off the garage floor so we make use of as much vertical space as possible," he says.

Most satisfying to him is what he calls "the wow factor" in the garage makeover. "People gasp – we love that. They can't believe how clean everything is. And for the person who has the $60,000 car sitting in the driveway because of all of the junk in the garage, that person is just so happy."

Delighted by the new furnishings, too, are the men who feel a special ownership in their garage. "When we went into people's homes across the country to do research before creating our Hot Rod and Garage Boss lines of furniture," says Ms. Dountas of Sauder, "we realized just how much of an influencer the man is over the garage."

That same conclusion was drawn from studies for Gladiator GarageWorks, a division of Whirlpool Corp. that makes high-end garage furnishings. During focus groups, "We were struck with just how much men feel the garage is 'their space,' " says Todd Starr, the head of the company's product development division. "They have a great desire to overhaul it so it's a room they can be proud of, a room that matches the style and quality of their homes, yards and vehicles."

In late 2002, Gladiator introduced an industrial-looking line of garage furnishings, including the Gear Wall system that resembles what Garage Tek has done. A year later, in fall 2003, the company launched their appliances, including a refrigerator-freezer and a compactor, which are available at Sears and Lowe's.

We were surprised by all of the pent-up demand for these products," says Gladiator GarageWorks marketing manager Chris Hubbuch. "The appliances are just now hitting the sales floors at retailers, and we're pleased with the response."

Sauder's lower-priced Garage Boss collection includes similar items in a less decorative finish; individual items range in price from $50 to $200. Both Garage Boss and Hot Rod are freestanding pieces, meaning everything can make a move with the owner.

All these stylish new garage furnishings make many industry types envision the garage as becoming the new laundry room, i.e. a space not known for impressive decor that, when transformed into something special, is a source of pride (and bragging rights) for the homeowner.

"When you think about it, the garage is actually the largest room of your house, and it's the only one your neighbors see daily," says Garage Tek's Martin. "It's the last room you see when you leave and the first one you see when you get home. Why wouldn't you want it to look as good as possible?"