As with a lot of homeowners, Nicholas Teetelli’s garage was a disaster, an overstuffed hodgepodge of tools, seasonal supplies and things in that weird suburban purgatory — not yet ready to be tossed out, but no longer essential. “It looked like I could have been on an episode of ‘Hoarders,’” he said. “I kept saying, ‘I need to take care of this.’” But then Mr. Teetelli, a fine art photographer, fell for a Tesla, a $120,000 model that, he felt, deserved a home as sleek and up-to-date as the electric vehicle itself. After a weeklong renovation that cost $22,000, his two-car garage is a bright, welcoming paragon of order and efficiency. “It’s so organized,” he said, beaming. “It’s a breath of fresh air.” These days, homeowners do not need an excuse like an over-the-top car to redo their garages. After updating kitchens, gilding bathrooms, finishing basements and lavishing money on landscaping and every other corner of their homesteads, they have targeted the garage as the next frontier in remodeling. Long considered an afterthought — a cold, cluttered point of egress — the garage has emerged as something worthy of turning into a showpiece.
Final Frontier in Home Renovation: Giving Garages a Makeover
