Christopher Lowell

Christopher Lowell has some good ideas in this book, but some don't quite connect. Lowell gets it that you have to know what you have... but trailing round the house with a pad and pencil wouldn't really give most people the same "kickstart" as Marie Kondo's method of assembling like items in one place - eg, piling a couple hundred CDs on the floor and then putting away only the ones that are keepers! When he says that "So much of purging is not giving into your feelings but using your show more head", you just know that suppressing emotions while you "purge" is going to lead to "binging" later! And I'm quite sure that nobody, ever, has done his entire process in 10 days he claims it will take. That being said, there are many good takeaway ideas like when he talks about his grandmother who didn't display her keepsake clothing but kept it carefully wrapped and lovingly stored with handwritten stories of each item. What a lovely idea! show less

If you're slim, agile, and have a workshop so you can build things, you, too, can jigsaw extra mini-rooms into a small home. ?áIf I were to win a chance to have CL decorate my room or home I'd probably remove at least 1/3 of the assorted stuff. ?áSure, a body can negotiate an aisle only 18 inches wide, but who wants to!?

Otoh, his writing & philosophy do charm. ?áIn our hearts, we want everything to be new, fresh, and different, but in our minds, we don't want anything to change." show more ?áI'm not sure I agree with that completely, but it is something valid and valuable to think about, in decorating and in life.

Second book I've perused by the man, still not sure whether I'll look up his show on YouTube." show less

Hm. ?áOk, first know that I only heard of Lowell via a (somewhat disparaging) comment on an article in ApartmentTherapy.com. ?áI have not read the 7 Layers book, and did not realize until I finished turning the pages of this that he did summarize them in an appendix. ?áI don't have a TV, but I found Lowell charming in this book and may use YouTube to check out some of his program.

But maybe I won't, because his taste differs from mine far too much to be likely to be relevant, and I show more don't ?áunderstand all this building of empty boxes to be beds and seats and shelves for dust collectors. ?áBut maybe I will, because I really liked the questionnaire he offered to get us started on thinking about what our dreams really are. ?áBut maybe I won't, because he didn't actually guide us how to turn our own dreams into reality. ?áI dunno. ?áI don't think the book was worth my effort to bring it home from the library but I don't feel angry about the time wasted. ?á

And I do have his Small Spaces book right here, so I guess I'll look through that before returning it. ?áThen I'm probably done with him. ?áI think.?á show less

Besides all the very clever and creative ideas for organizing your dwelling, I really like the author's philosophy behind it all. Lowell gives you fun and possible ideas, becoming your friend and companion as you go along. When I read the first book by Lowell I had to have all the others. They are full of ideas, help, and they are a delight to read.