7/31/06 Bus. Wk. 72

BusinessWeek

July 31, 2006

Volume 3995

Section: Executive Life: Your Space

Vroom Rooms

The garage may be the last frontier of home renovation, but you don't have to be a car collector to see the potential in this once-cluttered space

By Ellen Hoffman

You've already overhauled the kitchen and bathrooms, added a pool house with outdoor kitchen and bar, and organized the closets with modular storage systems. What's left to improve? Hint: Have you looked in your garage lately?

Once a cluttered repository for garden tools, miscellaneous junk, and maybe even your car, the humble garage is going designer. For many, it's the last frontier of the complete home makeover, a big open room that can be converted to a spacious showplace for a car collector or an activity center for the hobbyist.

You can go as far as your imagination and budget allow. Baton Rouge architect Kevin Harris is designing a $1 million, 4,000-square-foot, four-car garage for a client who wants walk-in storage closets, elevator access to the house, and pet condos for 10 dogs and cats (with videoconference facilities so the owners can keep in touch with their animals when they travel).

In part, garages have gotten bigger to accommodate such multiple roles. Today, 15% of new homes have a garage large enough for three cars or more, according to the National Association of Home Builders. In 1992, it was just 6%. Archway Press, a New York company that sells detailed blueprints for houses and garages, has been ramping up the size and complexity of its garage designs to meet demand. For example, one Archway blueprint gives plans for a free-standing, 10-car structure with a 2,700-square-foot apartment above it.

A garage's main purpose continues to be storing cars, but that doesn't mean it has to look like a garage. Driving into David Rodrigues' four-car garage is like entering your family room. The Pewaukee (Wis.) builder spent $20,000 just on wood-paneled walls, red alder pantry-style cabinets, and a bronze stained floor. There are also wall-mounted racks for golf and ski gear, and a lift system to keep his Heritage Harley-Davidson motorcycle off the floor.

Lawyer Bob Wade spent about $275,000 to build an unassuming 2,400-square-foot cedar garage at the foot of his driveway in Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. But inside, it's more like a museum to house his collection of six classic cars, including a 1965 Porsche Cabriolet. The space features a 130-square-foot work area and a hydraulic car lift. It even has a shower so Wade can clean up when he's finished working on the cars.

Increasingly, though, owners are revamping their garages, or at least part of them, into livable spaces where they can spend time on everything from hobbies to hosting wine tastings. Zev Pomerance, who owns garage outfitter Potomac Garage in Gaithersburg, Md., says his clients want to spiff up the garage because it's the real gateway to the home. ``Neighbors, friends, family -- they all enter the house from the garage,'' he says.

A lot of people keep an extra refrigerator in the garage. Now, entire kitchens are sharing space with the Volvo and Harley. Dan Lajoie, who runs Gourmet Garages in Wallingford, Conn., says he's currently designing a garage for a doctor who loves to cook. It includes a butcher-block food prep area and storage for pots and pans.

In a few weeks, Michael Cardenas, who owns eight restaurants in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, will be moving his 2,000-bottle wine collection from a spare bedroom in his Malibu (Calif.) home to a new temperature-controlled wine cellar in the garage he's having renovated. The project, which cost around $35,000, also includes cabinets for storing pans, plates, linens, and other catering supplies.

If you would like to create your own uber-garage, start by checking out Bill West's Your Garagenous Zone: Innovative Ideas for the Garage. The book includes architectural layouts for garages that can ``enhance the appearance of the home'' without it being the first, biggest thing you see when you look at the house. There's also a section on garage-appropriate materials and accessories, such as flooring and shelves, with information on the companies that sell them.

Auto buffs should pick up Richard Newton's Ultimate Garage Handbook. Companies such as GarageTek, The Complete Garage, or Garage Envy specialize in refurbishing garages with cabinets and storage systems, lighting, and epoxy or tile flooring. You can buy the products and do it yourself, or the companies can arrange for installation. For the really big project, you may want to hire an architect and contractor.

It's one thing to equip your current garage with such showstoppers as marble countertops, skylights, and humidity controls. But if you want to build or expand a garage so it's more like an extension of your living space, be sure to check the local zoning laws. In older neighborhoods, you may be thwarted by rules that limit the amount of space structures can occupy to 50% or less of the lot size. If you want to build up instead of out -- say, to add an in-law apartment above the garage -- you may encounter limits on the number of residential units allowed in areas zoned for single-family dwellings. Another issue, warns John Connell, an architect in Warren, Vt., arises if your plans include a built-in automotive lift or pit. It will raise building inspectors' concerns about the disposal of oil or other hazardous substances that can cause environmental problems.

Of course, if everything you want to do in your garage adds up to more space than you can legally create, you always have an easy way to get better use from your existing garage. Just park your car in the driveway.

Garage Dreams

Here are some companies that can help plan and equip your space:

DESIGNS ONLY

Archway Press

archwaypress.com 800 374-4766

Garage Plans Center

garageplanscenter.com 800 210-6776

DESIGNS AND STORAGE SYSTEMS

Garage Envy

GarageEnvy.com 888 249-1766

Gourmet Garages

gourmetgaragesct.com 203 494-8740

Paragon Garage Co.

GarageZ.com 866-8GARAGE

Potomac Garage Solutions

potomacgaragesolutions.com 240 361-1800

The Garage Shop

tameyourdomain.com 262 782-2890

---- INDEX REFERENCES ----

COMPANY: HARLEY DAVIDSON INC; AKTIEBOLAGET VOLVO; NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS

INDUSTRY: (Transportation (1TR48); Land Transportation (1LA43); Automobiles (1AU45); Motorcycles (1MO81); Automotive (1AU29); Automotive Models (1AU61); Passenger Transportation (1PA35))

REGION: (USA (1US73); Americas (1AM92); North America (1NO39))

Language: EN

OTHER INDEXING: (DESIGNS; GARAGE; GARAGE PLANS CENTER; GARAGEENVY COM; GARAGETEK; GARAGEZ COM; HARLEY DAVIDSON; HERITAGE; NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS; PARAGON GARAGE CO; VOLVO) (Archway; Archway Press; Auto; Baton Rouge; Bill West; Dan Lajoie; David Rodrigues; Driving; Garage; Garage Envy; Garage Handbook; Gourmet Garages; Increasingly; John Connell; Kevin Harris; Lawyer Bob Wade; Michael Cardenas; Neighbors; Potomac Garage; Potomac Garage Solutions; Richard Newton; Vroom Rooms; Wade; Zev Pomerance)

Economy

Complete Garage can help organize space

Store sells cabinetry, storage accessories, flooring

By JOANNE BOECKMAN
REGISTER BUSINESS WRITER
January 20, 2005

The interest in creating attractive and organized storage spaces, even in the garage, is contributing to the success of the Complete Garage, a business in Johnston.

The store, which opened in August, sells cabinetry, storage accessories and flooring for garages.

Many of the storage units are attractive enough that people are also installing them in other rooms in the house. Accessories such as baskets, pegs and shelves are versatile enough to be functional in closets, laundry rooms and other areas.

"When someone comes in, we try to get a feel for what their needs are," said Jodi DeZurik, 55, owner of the Johnston business. "When we know peoples' needs, we can design something to fit them."

While one person may need something as simple as storage for garden rakes, someone else may need space for seasonal equipment or lots of sports equipment, car products and tools, she said.

"You never have enough storage space," said Al Nielsen of Johnston, who had stopped in the store to explore ways to organize his garage.

About 50 percent of the cabinets her company sells are custom designed, DeZurik said. Manufacturers include Whirlpool Corp., Andersen Cabinets and Logical Cabinetry Systems.

Cabinets come in laminated finishes in colors or wood tones. One line by Whirlpool comes with an industrial stainless steel tread finish. Besides cabinets, the line includes a small refrigerator or standing freezer that can be partially converted to refrigerator space. The appliance withstands the high and low temperatures typical in a garage.

DeZurik and her assistant, Troy Ford, measure and provide free estimates and drawings with specifications for people within about an hour's drive of their showroom.

After they see the plans and estimates, customers may decide to have all their work done at one time or to have it installed in increments. A few customers have chosen to install their own cabinets.

Also available are garage floor pads and heaters, audio and video equipment for wall installation, a garage vac, concrete stain remover and more. A platform with automatic lift to elevate at least 5 feet above the floor can be used to store out-of-season equipment or to make more storage by keeping items off the floor. Items are easily moved onto the platform and raised above floor level, so it is easy for anyone, including people with disabilities, to use.

"The Complete Garage is my new best friend," said customer Lu Ann Kuyper of Johnston.

In addition to having the platform and cabinets installed in her garage to contain the baskets and shipping materials for her Longaberger baskets business, she had light-colored wood-look cabinets designed for two walls of a basement room to hold wrapping paper and seasonal items.

"The product is very attractive and yet very functional - yet high quality," Kuyper said.

The storage units save her time by allowing her to find everything quickly.

"And when the garage door is open, it's attractive in there."

The Complete Garage is based in the Twin Cities and is a franchise business founded in 2000. By the end of 2004, it had nine franchise stores, including one in Auckland, New Zealand. The Johnston franchise is the only one in Iowa.

"We're building on strong brands and the flexibility of the products within each brand," said Doug Arndt of Minneapolis, corporate president and co-owner with his wife, Susan Arndt, and Thom Holm, who is responsible for the computer side of the business.

The Complete Garage grew out of another business Arndt founded in 1990 that specialized in industrial and commercial flooring. When he added residential garage flooring as a side business in 2000, it took off. The cabinets were added to complement the garage flooring.

"A lot of the customers come in and have us do their floors. They may come back six months later and have us install cabinets, or buy them to install themselves," Arndt said.

DeZurik, who sold cabinets independently out of her home two years before she bought the Complete Garage franchise, was impressed by the company's products.

"I wanted to be the Williams-Sonoma of garage supply places. This fits what I had in mind," she said.