GARAGE DOORS OPENING; CONSUMERS ARE STARTING TO DECORATE THE LAST ROOM IN THE HOUSE YOU'D THINK OF DECORATING WITH MORE FURNITURE AND STORAGE ITEMS.

HFN: The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network, August, 2004 by Beatty, Gerry; Kunkel, Karl

Byline: Karl Kunkel, Gerry Beatty contributed to this report.

NEW YORK-The garage -- the final frontier of home furnishings decor.

Usually just a repository for stuff, and possibly even a car, garages in the past were mostly an afterthought. But as consumers spend more time in the home, they are turning their garages into extensions of their houses -- with more sophisticated storage, furniture and appliances designed to make garages both more efficient and more attractive.

"It is the last part of the home [to be done]," said Terry Mulhern, a designer with Home Depot Expo. "It is definitely a new trend."

The Container Store designs garage shelving for consumers and also sells a variety of organization accessories. Newton said the...