The humble garage is the new den. Indeed, the garage has become the newest focus for designers, decorators and professional organizers nationwide.

For a lot of us, the garage became the junk drawer of the house years ago. Now people are seeing the value of transforming it into useable living space — and in some cases — a showpiece.

According to the National Association of Professional Organizers, garage repair and remodeling has become an $800-million-a-year industry in this country. Even if you do it yourself, Home Depot estimates you’ll spend an average of $500. One of the major renovations in which upscale garage seekers are investing these days is a floor they can adore, a floor that reflects their lifestyles and their personalities.

Enter Swisstrax Interconnecting floor tiles. A company that distributes them launched earlier this year, and its owner says the product already is in demand. The tiles, which are made of polypropylene copolymer material, can take up to 5,160 pounds of weight per square inch, and they are resistant to the weather elements Northern Nevada has to offer, including blistering summer sun and harsh winter snow.

“We’ve only been open two months, and business is steady,” says Erin Wray, owner of Reno Interconnect Corp., which is the only local distributor of Swisstrax. With an initial investment of about $35,000, she now has two full-time employees and three part-time workers installing colorful floors in the area.

While Wray is the workhorse behind the local Swisstrax interconnecting tile distributorship, the business began as a family affair.

Wray’s father, who used the product in Southern California, was so taken with it and so convinced that Northern Nevada was a good market for it that he backed Erin in this new venture. “He’s the money behind it — and I’m the work,” Wray says of her silent partner (who requested that his name not be published.) He has put up the initial money to get this going, and now it’s all up to me.”

Wray opened the doors to the showroom on Matley Lane in Reno in mid-May. “With a little direct mailing marketing, we have been busy every since.” What bodes well for a company like Wray’s is a shift in how people live and how they use their garages. In Northern Nevada, for example, the two-car garage is increasingly a thing of the past. New homes have three- and four-car garages, complete with workshops and storage spaces. According to Wray, many of the men and women who use these spaces want them to be places where they enjoy spending time on projects, not a dingy domain with oil stains on a cement floor.

“We make them look beautiful, and we do it with highly durable, attractive flooring that makes epoxy floors pale in comparison,” Wray claims, pointing out the 12 colors and three styles of tiles Swisstrax has to offer.

According to Wray, epoxy floors are by far their biggest competition. “Epoxy is what we most often cover,” she adds. “And when you look at the before and after photos, there is no comparison.”

Swisstrax floor tiles snap together. Some are mesh; some form a solid mat surface. And once the floor is fitted and installed, it’s designed to stay put and prevent slipping. The company charges between $3.29 and $3.79 a square foot, depending on whether or not it does the installation.

“It looks great,” Wray says unabashedly. “It gives the whole area a clean polished look and adds personality.” Clean-up is a snap. “You can turn a hose on it and wash it off. Even motor oil comes up easily

In terms of a home sale, “A showcase garage can help you sell your listing,” says Dinah Eng of Real Estate Magazine Online. “Savvy real estate professionals are staging the garage along with the rest of the house and getting an increased return on their effort.”

As Wray sees it, there are a lot of potential customers in this area. “Not only is there a lot of new construction around Northern Nevada, there is a lot of high-end construction,” she says.

Louise and Jay Shulman of Incline Village had Swisstrax installed in their three-car garage this spring. “I love this stuff. It’s fabulous,” says Louise. “It’s made a world of difference in how we view the garage. It looks so clean. In fact, we’re building another house and planning on installing it there as well.”

As for the future of the product in Northern Nevada, Wray is an optimistic business owner. “In Southern California some shops do as many as 120 installations a month,” she says. “We think we can do that, too, once the word is out we’re here.”