lowelldown

Hello Everybody,

I’m about to leave on a 2-week trek beginning in Las Vegas —no, not for partying, but for the national furniture show where I’m book solid for the entire trip. Then it’s all the way to Florida with a stop in Cleveland, Ohio. Since I’m also writing my new book and doing local press, any down time is spent on my I-phone (with the notebook feature) drafting speeches on creativity or outlining chapters. I use my I-phone to avoid the computer-security airport hassle. Sometimes I connect to my email and write on it—cool right?

After several months in solitude working here in Santa Fe, it’s time to get back out in the world. While I’m always doing radio, print and business conference/video sessions here, nothing replaces real people—their energy and their diverse vibes. In a stalled economy and a confusing political environment, I imagine the voice of independence in local communities will be loud and clear.

In Cleveland I’m teaming with JoAnn fabric and craft stores to help a great cause—kids in need. At the home show I’ll be announcing a great give-a-way that, get this, weighs some 2 tons. Can’t wait. If you’re in the area come say hi at the Joann’s booth at the home show.

In Florida we’re working on the PR and outreach aspects to launch my new line of very cool furniture for Office Depot–making its debut in mid spring of next year. I want to go heavy on the internet where I know you all shop now. So don’t be surprised if you see me on places like You Tube showing you how to build an affordable tasking center to keep you productive and help you reinvent in a whole new way. Inspiration and reinvention by small entrepreneurial-minded micro business will be the wave of the future if we can suspend our fear and embrace our God-given creativity.

Operating out of inspiration versus fear and intimidation is the prize right now and that goes for consumers, retailers and manufacturers alike. I pray they hear me and that that message (at a time where focus on bottom-line seems to scream louder) can ‘cut through’ while I plead the case (your voice) in a lot of these meetings—so wish me luck.

Packing for these trips—all in carry-on only—where I’ll be in temps from 65 to -10 degrees is always a challenge. You have to always remember that people who see you in one place, won’t see you in the next. So you can double up. I always pack folding directly into my carry-on to maximize space. I also pack the night before to give time for all the air to settle between layers—gee the 7 layers of packing? Hummmmmm.

For me it gets tricky because between the press appearances, TV with make up and stuff, business attire and travel attire—not to mention evening dinner changes—it’s a lot to get into a single small case. But once you learn you never have to worry about losing luggage or wasting time at baggage claim. The secret is to travel with a professional hand-held clothes steamer at all times. That way you can pack tight! Well I’m off to the store for a few travel-sized things and out early to begin the journey!
More on the road….

Later,
CL

Hi Everyone,
I was recently sent this by someone in my company who knows me well and thought I’d appreciate it. These are real words to live by. Enjoy.

We can do it!
CL

THE AWAKENING
By Sonny Carroll

Finally, with courage in your heart and God by your side you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.

Hey all,

This brief hiatus between Christmas and New Years has been great but Monday morning approaches—LOOMS actually. There’s a part of me that wants to start super fresh, innovative and new, remarkably improved and spiritually cleansed. But I know I’m overloading expectations for myself. It’s Monday for heaven sake, back to work—cut print.

Wondered if I’d had a Jane Fonda sighting in town recently but wasn’t sure–only to read her blog and low and behold it was her LOL, buying tree decorations at our little year-round shop here. Who knew? –But nothing would surprise me in Santa Fe. Soon, I hope to share it (this wonderful town) with you.

The move here has done what it was suppose to do—help me decompress and rekindle new passions. I’m extremely optimistic about the future as sobering as it might be–and hope to be in service in any way I can. I’m hearing new dialogue, new introspective conversations on the street and a sense of personal expression that I’ve not witnessed in a long time. People are thinking now. Focus is shifting from what we once expected government to do, to what can we do for ourselves. No question, people are taking stock—emotional inventory. This is right on cue and all part of the making of a new renaissance brewing out there. I’d predicted this several years ago and wondered if I was on track. Yup!

While we’ll need to brace for much change—most of it will happen locally as we return to values of self-reliance and community spirit. We’ll be getting a world-view at a glance, but we are finally breaking our addiction to 24/7 speculative-based media reports. This is good. We’re beginning to find out for ourselves versus simply accepting entertainment as fact. It will be a long process, no doubt. A lot of Pandora boxes have been pried open and with clarity comes truth. Son of a bitch! But we have to look at the luggage we’ve been carting around but haven’t opened in a while. It’s all part of tomorrow’s experience. Hopefully we’ll drop a ton of irrelevancy—things that truly no longer apply. Leave ‘em lay where Jesus flung ‘em. If we need a porter to get through life, we’ll never get beyond searching for an available overhead compartment.

BTW, you can talk directly to me on twitter—I’ll answer ya!

I know the fate of Twitter has been talked about a lot recently. In today’s NY Sunday Times however the headline read “Why Twitter Will Endure.” Bottom line if you’re not out to play Moses by virtue of that amount of followers you have, there are wonderful relationships to be had there. As the article says, you can go anywhere on the web but not with your key Twitter buds. What I like about it is that its 140 characters has taught people how to choose their words in a concise fashion. For a rambler like me, it’s actually enabled me to value every character that fills that box. So, I think seasoned Tweeters who now have the hang of it are choosing whom they follow more wisely and forging new relations with people who link us to places on the web we’d never otherwise found.

So I’m inclined to agree that we should not dismiss this important platform because of people who insist on sharing the fact that they’re eating a cookie right now. Well, it will be way past Monday by the time you read this, so I’d better get myself psyched for writing twenty-ten without feeling really OLD!

Love and later,
CL

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

If you and your circle of friends are anything like me and mine, then I think it’s safe to say that we’re all happy to see 2009 come to an end. There’s no question that this year, life as we’ve known it, changed drastically. In 2009 many Americans got clobbered. Economic recession, an undefined war, a new administration, the collapse of the housing market, reform agendas for bank, auto, Wall Street and health care. Not to mention the highest foreclosures and unemployment stats since the 60s. Bummer!

While our government (whether we agree or not) attempts to reinvent, American households must too. This is always the typical precursor of a renaissance. But because there has not really been one since the 1960’s many today were too young to remember it accurately, others simply weren’t born yet. Well, I do and I was. I remember Woodstock, having my draft number on me at all times, Martin Luther King, feminism, the birth of technology…I remember tremendous unrest at every turn—these were the growing pains that benefited us later by changing all our lives for the better. I believe those times are upon us once again.

I know many of you have had to make a lot of unexpected changes. And those who have not are also in the process of re-evaluation of some kind or another. This year forced us all to take stock. As painful as it can often get, I truly believe this process was long over due and necessary.

I think we coasted for many years perhaps postponing the kind of introspection and reflection we should have been doing all along. If our faith got tested, at least it reminded us how important faith was. If forced to make due, it reminded us of our priorities and ingenuity. If some had to drastically down size, perhaps they surprised themselves. It’s amazing how few possessions we need in order to be okay and live well—if not in some cases even better.

I too made some of the most important decisions in 2009 than any year I can remember. I had some final hard choices, which I could have easily postponed until the first of the new year but I wanted them behind me by then so I could start 2010 with a clean slate and with fresh plans. So as I write this, I know I’m ready for whatever the new year holds with a renewed sense of spirit. It is my deepest and most sincere wish for all of you too.

Lets turn off the TV and the computer now and then and think for ourselves. Let’s not be afraid to be honest and then fight for that clarity in those around us. Let’s start nourishing our mind rather then keeping it only distracted and entertained. Lets not be afraid of things we cannot control, embarrassed for whatever losses we’ve experienced, or guilty for decisions that didn’t pan out. Often the greatest blessings are the things we don’t yet understand most.

Lets not look outside ourselves for hope, validation, and salvation—all that is within us.

Here’s to a really fascinating new year!
CL

Hey all,

How was your Thanksgiving? Mine was great. Since I had to be in LA for one of our residential clients, I had the opportunity to join my business partner and his wife’s family for the holiday. Since they are within walking distance from Shade hotel, I exercised my ‘designer-in-residence’ privileges for the first time.

While my team and I sweated every detail of the hotel’s design, I’d never had any reason to actually stay there—living in LA. So it was fun watching folks make the connection. You see, there’s an etched plaque on their lobby press wall with a photo of me. As a matter of fact, some woman left her lipstick kiss there on my forehead LOL. The rooms at Shade are the most comfortable I’ve ever stayed in. And since they were intentionally designed first, the experience from the time you walk in the lobby to the time you unlock your room, is virtually seamless versus the disconnect I often find—where the public spaces of many hotels never feel like the actual room you’re renting. I took lots of notes about what I liked and would implement again, and what I thought could be improved in Shade’s new sister hotel (breaking ground soon). So over the next three days I held court there meeting friends I’d not seen since I left LA.

I spent the first part of Wednesday breaking color through the entire home of one of our clients. I establish a color pallet that the client and I agree on, then I call out the paint numbers on painters tape throughout the entire house—about a 2 hour process. While the wife was very up to speed on who we were, the husband hadn’t a clue. On a recent trip to Washington he told several friends that some guy named yours truly was doing the job. Well the friends evidently freaked out and the husband got a real download – so much so that he insisted on a photo with me to prove to his friends that I was actually doing the job (LOL) so it seems for the moment everybody’s happy—or at least coping with the workmen taking over their home. We work quick making sure that the disruption is as short as possible. I’m always a fan of doing everything at once because first of all it’s cheaper that way—but “hell” only lasts a short time for the clients and everything’s finished at once so the impact is significant.

After that (having emailed the shopping list to my personal assistant so the food would already be there) I cooked half a day at Dan and Lisa’s, so everything was virtually done and on hold in the fridge for Thanksgiving. So, on turkey day it was a breeze. I did a coffee & dessert station (yes, lifts and levels) in one room and a full-on formal tablescape in the dining room for both the adults and the kids. While I think it’s kinda cool to let the kids join in, I think next time the kids should be placed between adults instead of all together on one side. With short attention spans the kids left the table early leaving a whole side of the table empty with all the adults on the other side bobbing heads to look at each other. Not being a parent I said nothing—next time I’ll speak up. However, the menu was very well received and so another successful ‘catering’ job is under my belt.

I left LA with the concrete jungle below but soon I saw the mesas and Pinon trees and the little adobe airport surrounded by snow topped mountains and knew I was home. Flying into the charming 1940’s airport was heaven. Christmas in Santa Fe as a residence will be cool and just around the corner.

Bye for now!

CL

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

So much has happened this year that this holiday means more than it has in a while. I spent the weekend preparing my menu:

Roasted Turkey with citrus and herbs

Savory sweet potatoes with roasted garlic and chive

Sausage, apple and sage cornbread stuffing with chestnuts

Oven roasted root vegetables with balsamic glaze

Brown butter sage and goat cheese mashed potatoes

Roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta and orange zest

But I’m not doing the meal here is Santa Fe. I’m off to LA to meet with one of our residential clients and then I’ll prepare the menu at Dan’s home (my manager), doing most of it Wednesday afternoon. This menu allows for everything to be made in advance so come Thursday morning I only have to pop everything in the oven. Since I hate worrying about there being enough gravy I do a huge batch of it in advance. I roast turkey parts in the oven then put them into a pot of veggies, chicken broth with Madera wine. That way I only have to add whatever drippings there are from the bird—with a lot less stress.

I’ve cooked in many kitchens other then my own so I’m used to the fact that most people don’t have the William Sonoma store that I do. So my menu can be prepared with a modicum of tools—mainly the oven.

This will be my first time in LA since I left. So it will be interesting to see my reaction both in-going and out-going.

This time I’m flying directly out of Santa Fe. They’ve completely restored a charming adobe airport that was built in 1942. If you were to put passengers in period costumes it would look much the same as it did then except for the only security station, everything is as it was. Opening the airport after years of inactivity is a clue that Santa Fe is opening itself up to the world again.

I hear the footage we took last week in and about Santa Fe looks great. I’ll see a rough cut when I return for LA — something to look forward to.

I hope this holiday finds you optimistic. I hope that everyone turns off the news and remembers that our personal journey and destinies are not in the hands of the politicians but in the strength of our personal resolve, curiosity and God-given creativity.

The world will not be changed by people in Washington, but by us, its citizens, learning to reinvent in our towns and cities all across America. It’s not the nation God has plans for, but each and every one of us personally. And for that I’m deeply grateful.

May the Holidays Begin!

Safe travels everyone,

Christopher

Hey Everybody,

This weekend you can hear me being interviewed by Olivia Wilder in a live to tape podcast. She’s a great interviewer and we spent a good hour or so talking of many things. If you have a chance go to (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/olivia).

I understand from fans that this week on the Fine Living Channel they did a Work That Room marathon. Several of you said you watched it all day and picked up even more info the second time around. That’s great—we really try to load the shows with wall-to -wall design tips for just that reason.

On Friday, I’ll be out and about on the streets of Santa Fe shooting a small video presentation based on a new TV series concept I’m developing. The local merchants have really been so warm and accommodating and that should be fun. I’ll let you know if we’re going to air it here—to soon to tell yet. But it will be interesting filming and being on camera again in this town that I’m crazy about.

I stopped in at a local Office Depot and was evidently the last person they expected to see. I do that from time to time just to keep the managers on their toes and get their honest opinions and consumer feedback about my line. The manager of this store came bounding up to me and said that my collections there had really changed his business and he just wanted to thank me. I let him know that new cool stuff would be coming in spring and that I’d stop by again. He was thrilled and I hope you will be too. There’s one collection that even I will be buying for myself so I can’t wait either.

I’m working with JoAnn’s on a whole new out door fabric collection that will be in stores in spring. I highly recommend these fabrics for indoors use too—especially for rooms that get a lot of sun—the fabric won’t fade and is soft enough that it feels like regular indoor fabric—not that stiff Sunbrella kind of feel. Even better it allows for a seamless visual transition from indoors to outside—and of course the new outdoor fabrics, as always, pre-coordinates with the rest of my fabric line so you can’t make a mistake.

Thanksgiving is close at hand. This year I’m flying into LA to enjoy the day with friends. It will be the first time back since I moved here. I’ll also be working with one of our interior design clients—breaking color through her whole house—something I love to do. Especially in established homes, paint color is always the great unifier.

Yes, a while ago we quietly opened up a new division of CLE called Christopher Lowell interior design. So much of our designing in the past years has either been for TV (they are REAL finished interiors but done on a TV schedule) or commercial designing. But because of Work That Room playing every weekend, we’ve been flooded with requests for more and more (non-TV) residential interior design. That’s a good sign that perhaps the economy is coming back.

Some of the requests are for people going through the downsizing process. That’s a subject near and dear to my heart. I hope we’re finally getting to the point where downsizing isn’t viewed as a step backwards but in fact an opportunity to reinvent. My home in Santa Fe is literally half the size as the one in LA and I live better in it then I did with a lot more square footage. I’m not only saving money in utilities and upkeep, but it’s easier to clean.

The move here made me really think about what I really use now and how much square footage I really needed. Because I’ve always purchased furniture with a timeless and classic eye, everything always looks custom to whichever home I move to. Now I feel like I have the best ‘visual’ moments of a home twice the size and everything is completely thought out right down to the medicine cabinets—moving is a great way to purge—keeping it that way is of course key.

I love that I use every room every day verses wandering through big public spaces that never got used—what a waist. So downsizing is truly nothing to be embarrassed about any more. In fact it’s just plain SMART in any economy!

More later.

You can do it!

CL

Hey,

It’s amazing what comes up when you give yourself the proper time to think. We’re often so plugged in and afraid of missing something or so self absorbed that we often miss the most important thing of all—being in the moment.

My early days here in Santa Fe were preoccupied with getting the house pulled together, which I’d done in short order. When my assistant JJ went back to LA I wondered how I’d feel—“stranger in a strange land” kind of thing. Others were also worried and said so, not realizing that I’ve lived alone moving all over this country by myself for over thirty-five years. Often for me, the physical change benchmarks the next reinvention. But since television intervened, it had been a while and I knew I’d stayed way too long in the LA showbiz bubble.

For the first week I had TV’s on in every room and checked my email a hundred times a day. But then after a while the ideas started to flow once again and the TV’s went off one by one and the email became less important. My daily walks into town provided social interaction—or so I thought.

While outgoing on TV, my true nature is to keep to myself in my own shy way so I began to realize that I was in town often, but really not engaging with it. Slowly I began saying hello, asking questions and letting my natural curiosity take the lead. I began assigning myself specific jobs to accomplish as I began to ferret out where the pulse of this interesting little village actually was.

Some people recognized me and said so which made me feel a bit self-conscience. Some knew who I was but pretended not to and others (the majority, thank God) simply didn’t give a damn, which I loved. Being any kind of a celebrity is not the icebreaker people think. It fosters preconceived notions, changes body postures and interaction becomes stilted or certainly one sided in a way that true anonymity does not foster. So testing the waters was important for me in helping to establish an appropriate comfort zone in which I could be myself without expectation and without the ‘handlers’ orchestrating everything. But I grappled with it.

Then, one morning I stopped into the local diner. There, sitting at the counter one stool away, was Gene Hackman—one of my ALL time favorite actors. Suddenly I was the fan pretending not to notice—trying to be cool. I had the burning desire to tell him how much enjoyment and inspiration he’s been for me in my young acting days. Suddenly the shoe was on the other foot. I hope he’d engage with me but was terrified that he might.

I watched him order his meal from the Native American girl who obviously had interacted with him before. She called him Gene and went about her business. A tourist approached him and gushed, and I winced. He, however, had figured out how to be famous and in the moment without it intruding. He said, “Thanks and my eggs are getting cold.” He shook the woman’s hand and turned back to his breakfast before the woman could get the lens cap off her camera.

Then he asked ME if I’d pass the salt and pepper. With a million things spinning in my head, and now totally out-of-body, I said….wait for it, I opened my mouth and said….”SURE.” I really wanted to ask, “how long have you lived here-do you like it-what was your favorite movie-Bob Redford lives here do you know him too? Thank God my shyness prevailed. “Sure” was all that was appropriate.

But it taught me something again—the very same thing that Jamie Lee Curtis had told me many years ago when two flight attendants gushed over me while I was trying to get settled—holding up the entire boarding process. She said, “ They just want you to know that you make them happy—so make them happy and get on with your business.” But I had forgotten.

As I made my now humbled journey back home, a young gal and her mom asked if they could take a picture with me. And the only thing appropriate to say in the moment was ‘sure.’

How was your week?

Later,

CL

Hi All,

It’s really interesting; I was wondering how viewers felt about my moving here to Santa Fe NM from L.A. so I’ve been gauging their take on it while on the road.  Every time I get the “Ooooh”, followed by this almost wistful look in their eyes — and indeed this place warrants that kind of reaction in person.

Downsizing and moving has triggered a tremendous series of changes.  Many, if not all, have been extremely positive. Often, in order to move forward and reinvent, there has to sometimes be a physical move to drive the point home.

Having lived in LA off and on for 20 years, I knew it was time to return to small town values, concerns and ‘community’. It’s where I started one of the careers that you know about–in the small town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio over 15 years ago.

While I could say I’ve come full circle, the truth is it’s very different.  Firstly, I’ve never believed that one can ‘go home again’, because we ourselves have changed.   But I do believe one can return with fresh perspective.  In Chagrin, I had dreams of teaching about personal creativity through interior design.   It was a hard and fulfilling journey that eventually landed me on TV inventing an entire new genre of TV where I remained for 11 years—as a matter of fact I’m still on it—can you believe it?   With it came fame, Emmys, big business and politics.   But it was worth it to have done it and then returned, now by absolute choice, to small town living — but now from a whole new perspective.

To re-embrace community life once again with all these ‘big-city-show business’ experiences under my belt has made me far more appreciative and ‘in the moment’, even if everything is all new.  It’s what one needs to move forward for a new point of view.

I will be doing quite a bit of writing about this experience as it unfolds.

Later, CL

Hi Everybody,

With the move from LA to Santa Fe NM, I’ve been a little busy.  But in typical CL fashion, my place was unpacked and the house done to the max in about four days.  By the end of the week the place (according to visitors) looked like I’d been here for ten years.

I’d worried about what to take here and what to leave in LA.  The whole point was to live well but with less—all part of the reinvention process. But thank God, I’d taken a ton of reference photos and key measurements to work from so as the movers unloaded, everything went into place on the first try.  Post-it notes here, room name signs there—everything fell into place.  On the first day unpacking and organizing, a big sweep of accessorizing came the following day.

I told myself in my head that I was simply moving from a mansion, to a yacht.  This was a concept I’ve used before when working with smaller spaces.  It really works…I also brought many cool mirrors of various sizes and styles that not only added the illusion of space but more architecture to each room as well.   More and more I’ve been recommending mirrors as the great secret weapon.  As many of you know, we did a show called Mirror-Magic every season.  Today with men now in the design mix, trying to get him and her to agree on art work?  Forgetaboutit!  So mirrors are the best compromise between him and her as the subject matter is simply a reflection of everything they both already like.

Then I was off to upstate New York to design the prototypes for a new collection of very cool office furniture—very different from what I have in the marketplace currently.  The new designs are incredibly flexible and modular and many are based on my work in commercial hotel design.  We hope to see them on the floor of Office Depot by February.  I’ll let you know and show pix if I can.

It was great returning to Santa Fe for the first time knowing I was all set up.   The drive from the airport to Santa Fe was gorgeous—big skies, majestic mountains and as the dusk set, there spread out 8,000 feet was the village of Santa Fe–my new home—and the hustle bustle of the world in the black, behind me in the rear view mirror.

Next it was off to Los Vegas to the national furniture show where I was also covering the event looking for trends for AOL too.  I met one of the show coordinators who asked if I would be a speaker at next years event.   We got to see the next evolution of my new office collection too, which is coming along great.  Then back to Santa Fe again.

Finally it was off to Birmingham Alabama for a JoAnn’s store opening—a mini redo of another Ronald McDonald house and then a great appearance at a local high school.  There I gave a talk on the Art of Reinvention and using creativity to fuel our curiosity.  We then gave away a boatload of merchandise (including state of the art sewing machines) to several schools in the surrounding system plus a huge discount at JoAnn’s for teachers for the whole school year!  Often bulletin boards remain empty and creative tools go unused because these expenses come out of the teacher’s pockets in many cases.  Very tough especially when they’re already underpaid.  So I’m very proud of Joann’s for stepping up to the plate on that.

The next morning the local headlines read “Lowell Says, “More Gathering Less Googleing….”   It was a quote from a moment in my speech where I was telling kids that the virtual world online can’t replace getting out in the world.  One great teacher came up to me and hugged me saying that I’d communicated in one hour to her students something which she’d tried to do all year.  So I really felt valuable and useful and hope to do more of these events.

So how was your month?

Later,

CL