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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, May 25, 2007

Garages evolving from 'man caves' to family space

By Kristen Hampshire
The Tennessean

Sheila and Don Claytor of Franklin, Tenn., turned half of their garage into a rec room. Like the Claytors, many homeowners are finding new uses for their garages, the second-most-visited space in the house.

DIPTI VAIDYA | Tennessean

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BEFORE YOU START, HAVE A GAME PLAN

Before you can transform your garage into a comfortable rec room, clear out the clutter and evaluate the "stuff" crammed in storage bins and on shelves. Here is a garage clean-out game plan you can put into action to clean up your act.

  • Consider your goals: "The first thing you need is a vision," says Lisa York, president of Puka A Professional Organizing Firm in Franklin, Tenn. "If you don't have a game plan for what you want to accomplish in the garage — and both the husband and wife aren't on board — the process will be difficult."

  • Make a list: Write down how you hope to use your garage space. Then evaluate the current situation and decide what barriers would prevent you from taking advantage of the area now.

  • Sort: See what's inside all those cabinets and containers and on shelves. "Many times, people want to jump to the fun part, which is buying shelves or bins," York says. But such items will go to waste if they aren't the correct size to hold your stuff.

  • Pare down: Decide what to keep and toss. Chances are, if you didn't know you owned a pogo stick after all these years, you probably aren't using it. Those old strands of burnt-out holiday lights aren't even garage-sale material. Make separate piles for "keep," "trash" and items you can sell in a garage sale, consign or give away.

  • Relax: You don't have to complete the project in one day or even a weekend. Divide the project into manageable chunks. Clean off shelves one weekend. Evaluate the junk-filled corner next month. Add enhancements incrementally.

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    Don Claytor's garage was a catchall for lawn equipment, holiday decorations and "everything in between."

    Odds and ends piled in the center of both garage bays formed a blockade.

    "It was disorganized," he says. The family parked their two cars in the driveway for years — until Claytor's vision to recover the space prompted a garage overhaul.

    "Our goal was to park one car and use the other side for recreational space: a treadmill and foosball table," Claytor says.

    Several months later, his Franklin, Tenn., garage has evolved into a bonus room, with the help of drywall, polymer floors, indoor-outdoor rugs and, soon, a television.

    Sports memorabilia wall hangings will finish off the space.

    "We are aiming toward making the garage a place we can use and where we can work out and hang out," Claytor says.

    WILLING TO PAY

    Why not take advantage of the second-most-visited space in the house, which also happens to be the most underused, according to Rick Scott, president of PremierGarage in Cool Springs, Tenn.

    His company is one of several national chains providing just the type of enhancements that style-savvy garage junkies seek. He says homeowners will spend $8,000 to $17,000 beautifying a space once characterized by grease stains, empty beer cans and beat-up folding chairs.

    Homeowners who have limited space in their garages are cleaning up their act and installing polymer floors from design-forward color palettes that include options such as Sedona, Silverado and Mocha. Paired with cabinets sleek enough to install in a kitchen, the result is a room that holds recreational value for the family.

    "We're hoping our daughter, if and when she has friends over, will hang out in the garage," Claytor says. He's willing to share. "It can be their space, too."

    For homeowners like Dru Otterpohl, this space includes a special spot for pets. She discovered a way to use the empty space under the hardwood steps that lead from her garage to the inside. She converted the 5-by-5-foot space into a pet house, suitable for a small dog or cat.

    "It is like a camping area for the dog," Otterpohl says. "We built a little door with chicken wire in it, so there is lots of ventilation. It is the perfect place to keep a puppy while you are out running errands for a few hours."

    Otterpohl is one of many women who request garage makeovers. Scott says 70 percent of his customers are female. After doting over the rest of the house, remodeling bathrooms and installing gourmet kitchens, women move on to the garage, he notes. Some wives want to surprise their husbands. Others decide the "man cave" days are over. "They look at the space as the last area of their home that they are underutilizing," he says.

    Otterpohl figures the garage of her Franklin, Tenn., home is a selling point that will differentiate her house from others on the market. "We found something to do with a space that normally would have been wasted," she says.

    MORE DOORS, SPACE

    In new construction, size attracts buyers, says real estate agent Sharon Davis. Buyers in the $350,000-plus range look for garages with three or more bays. "They want room for storage, and they don't want to be cramped pulling in and out of their garages," she says. Pedestrian doors are also popular — a "must" for buyers in this range.

    "We see a lot of workout benches in garages," says Sandi Sudduth, also a real estate agent. She also says that buyers want three bays and three separate garage doors. Two-car garages with single, wide doors rather than two separate doors are too cramped for sport utility vehicles, she adds.

    In a best-case scenario, garage renovation is a group effort, says Tom Tenpenny, owner of GarageMasters in Murfreesboro, Tenn. And the garage enhancement industry is no joke.

    "There are more companies out there doing this, and there is more awareness," Tenpenny says.