POWER OF ATTORNEY

The undersigned hereby constitutes and appoints each
of Frank L. Fernandez, Jocelyn J. Hunter and Laura Lynn Smith, each
authorized to act singly, the undersigned's true and lawful
attorneys-in-fact to:

(1) execute for and on behalf of the
undersigned, in the undersigned's capacity as an officer and/or director of
The Home Depot, Inc. (the "Company"), reports on Form 3, Form 4 and Form 5
in accordance with Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and
the rules thereunder;

(2) do and perform any and all acts for and on
behalf of the undersigned which may be necessary or desirable to complete
and execute any report on Form 3, Form 4 and Form 5, complete and execute
any amendment or amendments thereto, and timely file such form with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission and any stock exchange or
similar authority; and

(3) take any other action of any type
whatsoever in connection with the foregoing which, in the opinion of either
such attorney-in-fact, may be of benefit to, in the best interest of, or
legally required by, the undersigned, it being understood that the
documents executed by each such attorney-in-fact on behalf of the
undersigned pursuant to this Power of Attorney shall be in such form and
shall contain such terms and conditions as each such attorney-in-fact may
approve in each such attorney-in-fact's discretion.

The undersigned
hereby grants to each such attorney-in-fact full power and authority to do
and perform any and every act and thing whatsoever requisite, necessary, or
proper to be done in the exercise of any of the rights and powers herein
granted, as fully to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do if personally present, with full power of substitution or
revocation, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each such
attorney-in-fact shall lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue of this
power of attorney and the rights and powers herein granted.  The
undersigned acknowledges that the foregoing attorneys-in-fact, in serving
in such capacity at the request of the undersigned, are not assuming, nor
is the Company assuming, any of the undersigned's responsibilities to
comply with Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

This
Power of Attorney shall remain in full force and effect until the
undersigned is no longer required to file reports on Form 3, Form 4 and
Form 5 with respect to the undersigned's holdings of and transactions in
securities issued by the Company, unless earlier revoked by the undersigned
in a signed writing delivered to the foregoing attorneys-in-fact.

IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused this Power of Attorney to be
executed as of this 22nd day of January, 2004.

/s/ Bruce A. Merino

Signature

Bruce A. Merino
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