Christopher Lowell's You Can Do It!

Book excerpt: Christopher Lowell has done it again! In response to thousands of letters requesting a book on small-room decorating, the Emmy Award-winning star of the Discovery Channel's most popular decorating show applies his innovative thinking to the challenge of turning cramped quarters into a comfortable, stylish home. He takes the Seven Layers of Design system introduced in his first book one step further by applying it to small spaces and inspiring readers to create extraordinary rooms out of the ordinary. With his trademark energy and innovation, Lowell guides us through two modular homes, one designed in a traditional style, the other in a more modern decor, but both intended to offer the reader a myriad of design options and ideas. The traditional home features a Nantucket-style master bath, a sunroom with faux stone walls, a French-influenced guest bedroom, and a separate dining room. The modern home contains a kitchen finished in sophisticated stainless-steel paint, a living room-guest bedroom partitioned with sliding bookcases, and a Zen master bedroom with a space-saving platform bed. Room by room, Lowell tackles such problems as how to make the most of tiny master bedrooms, how to create several rooms from one, what to do with narrow hallways, how to conserve space by creating multipurpose rooms, and how to renovate a guest bathroom for under $100. Before and after pictures show how anyone can perform miracles just by "thinking outside the box." Once again, Christopher Lowell inspires readers to dream big, no matter how small their space.