Garage gear

In the Nineties, the architect Seth Stein excavated the ground beneath a London mews house, installing two floor-size decks that could be raised and lowered by hydraulic lift. The reason? To house two cars, which emerge, Thunderbirds-like, at ground level before being driven off. Such are the ingenious but costly ends some Londoners will go to to combat London's notorious lack of secure parking space. Yet for those of us with the luxury of a real garage (and having one adds a not-to- be-sniffed-at 5 per cent to the value of a property), the tendency is to under-utilise the space. And we may do so at our peril. Garages typically house unsecured and potentially dangerous substances such as paint strippers, as well as the ladders and tools handy for a visiting burglar.

"Homeowners might spend time and money down to the last detail in every other room in the house, but would never think of giving their garage even a fraction of that attention," says Dominic Wishlade, managing director of Dura, which specialises in fitted garage systems, "but the garage has enormous potential." It's true: organised in the right way, buyers will perceive a garage as a valuable extra. Stuffed to the roof and kept in unruly chaos, it may be off-putting and imply an alarming paucity of storage space in the rest of the property.

Wishlade put his money where his mouth was to develop storage systems specifically for garage use. The result is the equivalent of a Bulthaup kitchen for garages. The metallic-painted steel units have more of the look of a designer refrigerator than the makeshift storage solutions usually associated with British garages. There is also a range of floor tiles that, says Wishlade, provides a warmer surface than concrete, available in grey, red, yellow, blue and dark green, with a stud texture or "leathergrain" finish.

At £950 for a standard double garage, the flooring does not come cheap but, according to Wishlade, "it increases the possibilities of using the neat 'new' garage space: for example, as a playroom for older children or a gym". The lockable storage units start at £277 for a base unit and £171 for a wall unit, with installation costing £350-£600.

Those determined to give their garage a style makeover but looking for less hefty expenditure could consider Ikea's Sten range of storage units. Made from unfinished wood, a basic unit with four shelves costs £15. The system has plenty of flexibility to adapt it according to the size – and purpose – of the garage, with corner shelves, at £7 each, as well as professional-looking bottle rack shelves at £3. There's also a useful work bench (£29) and deep storage crates on wheels (£25).

Another feature of the average British garage is the slow pace at which we have taken to installing automatic doors. This may be because we perceive such technology as an extravagance (or because we long ago decided not to bother using the garage to store our cars and so require less frequent access), but existing manual doors can be converted for £355-£600.

Charleene Seebo of Doormatic says there are key features to consider. "Safety is obviously important – a garage door is a large, heavy object and you want the motor to stop immediately if the door is obstructed." Security is another issue, as any passing chancer may be able to open the doors with the right piece of remote control kit. In this case, says Seebo, you can select a motor with a 'rolling code' remote control system, "and if you have an integral garage with direct access to the house, a wall-mounted push-button inside is essential". If not, an emergency door-release device will also be required to allow manual operation in the case of power failure.

A garage door that closes quietly is also important – particularly if there is a bedroom over the garage, an increasingly common occurence as developers make a design feature of utilising the space above the garage. In more ways than one, it seems, the garage's days as forgotten space are numbered.

Dura Systems, 01295 712800, www.dura.co.uk; IKEA, 020-8208 5600 for nearest store; Doormatic, 01276 500388, www.doormatic.co.uk