Escape at Home: Christopher Lowell's "Work That Room"

We've been talking a lot about escaping this month. Coming home, energized, our suitcase packed with souvenirs from our travels, we want to hold on to that vacation feeling for as long as possible. Recreating the feeling of a great hotel room in your own home is one way to do it...

Christopher Lowell's "Work That Room," finds the inspiration for its makeovers in hotels. Taking its cue from a different hotel in each episode, Lowell suggests ways to recreate the look at home, from where to find the furniture to what paint to use to tricks to visually enhance your space. Whether you actually got to escape this month or are just hoping to close the door and escape from the world for a few minutes, you might want to consider some of his suggestions to make your home into the retreat of your dreams.

Comments (28)

awww... I miss Christopher Lowell. I was never crazy about his design sense, but his flamboyance made up for it. And his old show was far ahead of the curve! Years before HGTV.

Holy stuff batman! Can you get to the bed?

Christopher Lowell, seriously? Seriously seriously?

Could you please see if you could get him to cram some more stuff into that room? I can still see a few inches of floor space.

way over done here---you could kill yourself if you had to get up in the middle of the night!!!

Christopher Lowell is a joke.

aww i did love christopher lowell. not particularly for his design sense (i agree that that room is STUFFED to the brim!) but he was so entertaining!

I LOVED christopher lowell...I haven't heard his name in a very long time. he had very good ideas and was a great teacher for diy's

Please tell me there is leopard print carpeting under all of that froof!

there is a lot of stuff, but at least it's visually ok because of the balance.

I hate hotel rooms, so I wouldn't want to recreate one in my home. I have never seen any of Christopher Lowell's designs, but if this is one of his rooms, I don't think I'm a fan.

I love the amount of stuff! But then again my two least favourite words when it comes to design are: "mid-century" and "minimalist"

OMGFG this room has way too much junk. And seroiusly....Christphone F'in Lowell? I want to throw up when I hear his name much less when he starts in on tv with telling me how to use a power tool. He would be well suited to stick to decorating nursing homes and retirement communities.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! Christopher Lowell is a joke. That room is a shot of a furniture showroom, if it's anything. It's 10 lbs of crap in a 5 lb bag. Christopher Lowell is exactly the "type" who makes real designers (note, designers, not decorators) cringe! The room is excessive, overcrowded, indulgent, non-functional and did I mention, excessive!!!! Puleese........it is horrible.

Now, ask me how I really feel. But wait, I need to take some meds, I've broken out in hives just looking at that monstrosity!

Help! I can't breathe!

Oh no you didn't...

wayyyyyyyyyy too much junk shoved in that space. I'd be stressed just trying to walk around in there.

I would not want to be CL's maid. And I mean that on many levels.

It's a dustatorium.

I used to love watching Christopher Lowell! His rooms always reach a point where they're amazing, but then he keeps going. His mantra is that "the human form only needs 18 inches to move around," so he places all his furniture 18" apart. It's hysterical. One of my favorites was when he was decorating the front walkway of a house, and did a bunch of small bird houses on a wall next to the door "so your guests can be greeted by birds flying back and forth." Um, birds don't move into spaces right next to doors. Bees do, though. It was awesome. I miss him.

Also, I guarantee if you were there and able to measure, the end of the bed is exactly 18" from the back of that couch, and the front of that couch is 18" from that tiny glass table. Betcha.

Sometimes I watch television to be entertained, not to revel in excellent design. Which is why I love Trading Spaces.

Here, here inertia. I would love to have a Christopher Lowell refresher inbetween Divine Design and House Hunters.

It's an interesting room, but what if the people sitting in the chairs have *legs*?

Why would anyone want their home to be more like a hotel room?

What does that involve, anyway? Repainting everything neutral and ditching family photos?

something is wrong with me 'cuz I hate family photos. They belong in albums.

Aside from that.... it's weird to cover the walls completely in draperies. Just weird. Fake flowers... four lamps... too much stuff. Take out half of it, and the fake flowers and it's a nice room. I like the color palette and the furnishings.

I don't know who Christopher Lowell is.

I like the idea of taking hotel ideas and applying them to the home. Hotels tend to be quietly efficient about space and the good ones don't lose their style in the process. Unfortunately, the room pictured does not look particularly efficient. It looks like a hotel fire hazard and an invitation to bruised shins.

Where do the suitcases go? On the bed? This looks less like a hotel and more like a furniture showroom.

Christopher Lowell? Seriously???

OMG, i agree with RichardinLA. it's like a furniture showrrom exploded in there. gross.