With so many great decorating and design books around, why would anyone buy this one? The photos aren't that great, the projects stretch out for pages, the content is limited, and the message of empowerment and doing your own thing is nothing new and is actually conveyed better in many other books I have bought. To be empowered and free to be brave and do your own thing means that you need to know more about design. If you don't, you stuckwith simply copying what someone like Christopher Lowell tells you. It means doing your thing -- not his. And Mr. Lowell is not an accredited interior designer. I recommend several other books, because they are giving me the background I need so that I can make my own decisions. My favorite is The New Decorating Book, which is gorgeous and informative. I also like Use What You Have Decorating -- which is not very attractive but offers some good ideas in the writing.