Product Description

Do you want a designer look for your home—right now, for no money? Christopher Lowell hears you. The king of “let’s don’t and say we did” is at it again with more than fifty super-simple decorating tricks from the designer’s little black book. One glance and you’ll be inspired to make your home feel like you—modern, fresh, and in sync with today’s hypertasking lifestyle.

But who’s got time to make things from scratch? Christopher gets that, too. He’s done the work for you, scouring the mass-market stores in your neighborhood to find hidden gems you might have already passed by. With his ingenuity and award-winning designer’s eye, he shows you—step by step—how to use these conventional items in one-of-a-kind ways. The result is a home that looks totally custom designed for you. Are these projects easy? As Christopher says, “If you can get up, get dressed, put on makeup, do your hair, and drive in busy traffic, you are already overqualified to do the tasks in this book.”

These “chic cheats” are universal concepts that can be adapted to any home anywhere. Buy the drapes, then add a border. Use freestanding bookcases to create a sleeping niche that looks like a bedroom at
a five-star hotel. Turn a boring corner of the kitchen into a country bed-and-breakfast nook. Make a creative work center with a breezy, beachy feel out of an unused hallway. If Christopher can do it, so can you!
No project will take you more than a weekend, and in most cases you’ll spend only a few hours—that you’ll actually enjoy! Christopher tells you exactly what you need and where to get it, and provides cool variations to adapt any of the projects to your individual taste. Best of all, you can always depend on Christopher’s voice to keep you motivated in a way no other designer can.

So what are you waiting for? It’s never been easier to make the place you call home reflect your taste, style, and personality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #130395 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-17
• Released on: 2007-04-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Television personality and interior decorator Lowell (Seven Layers of Organization) tamps down his typical over-the-top style in this collection of projects readers can use to create functional, contemporary rooms on a budget. Focusing on four decorating themes (town, country, city and shore), Lowell decorates a room from top to bottom and shows readers, in the process, how each piece in the room is constructed or repurposed. In some cases he opts for new furniture, while in others he takes existing items and imbues them with new life, as in the crackle paint finish he applies to an old chest of drawers. Lowell's instructions are clear and easy to follow, and he offers plenty of encouragement along the way. Most designs are simple and sharp, but the exceptions are substantial: his "super simple lamp shade," in which textured yarn is vertically wrapped around a lamp shade, looks more like an insect infestation than an elegant light source; further, his use of sand dollars to create wall art is amazingly tacky. Fans of Lowell and those with a hot glue gun they're itching to break in will find a number of practical, cost-effective ideas that fall well within the capabilities of most do-it-yourselfers.
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About the Author
Christopher Lowell has had a uniquely varied career—he has been an educator, an artist, an Emmy Award–winning television host, and the author of five previous books. After a decade on national television, he has truly endeared himself to multiple generations. Christopher’s success has led to branded products that retail in more than three thousand stores

Customer Reviews

Excellent tutorial and Inspirational Book
Christopher is back with a powerful inspiration, new look, and great ideas. The book is not only a tutorial for a new home make over ideas, yet it introduces an inspiration for people who want to glance their homes with their personal touches. Whether you are movng to a new house or re-decorating your existing one, this book has a lot more to give. I recommend it to every home owner.

Decorating with Christopher Lowell
All of Christopher Lowell's books are five-star material, in my opinion. His humor adds to the text and colorful display of photographs His creations are so simple to follow. He is one of a kind. I miss his TV-Discovery program.

GREAT IDEAS!
Christopher Lowell is great. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, just one of these ideas is worth the book!