THE 'LAYERS' OF LOWELL JUST GOT DEEPER.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

Christopher Lowell, on his self-titled home-decorating show, makes it look so easy. A dab of sponge paint here, a few yards of fabric straight off the bolt there, some quick flicks of the wrist with a glue gun or a heavy-duty stapler and - voila! A bedroom is transformed from an empty shell, or worse, from a tackily furnished shell, into an inviting retreat.

And he does it twice every weekday, 60 new episodes each season on the Discovery Channel, with a flamboyant sense of humor. In any given show, he might dress in drag, tickle the ivories or invite a fan in the studio to assist on a project. It's a carefree quality that is the antidote to the Martha Stewart method, which seems to set lofty goals and then dare viewers to achieve them.

That whip-it-up-in-an-afternoon style belies the sharp businessman behind Discovery's No. 1 daytime program, taped at Universal Studios, and its two latest franchise extensions: his new book, ``Christopher Lowell's Seven Layers of Design: Fearless, Fabulous Decorating,'' and his just-released line of home furnishings and paints, the Christopher Lowell Home Collection, available only at Burlington Coat Factory stores.

We caught up with Lowell recently at Burlington's new Fullerton store, where he was shooting a segment for his series and giving the new CL department a once over. The flamboyant persona was stowed - at least while the cameras weren't rolling - as he talked about the planning he put into becoming a home-decor maven, applying 20 years of experience in advertising and merchandising other companies' products.

``We did not even go on the air five years ago until we had a firm marketing plan,'' he said. ``We decided early on we wanted to have an educational slant.

``There were some things lacking in some of the how-to shows already out there,'' he said. ``The biggest one was self-esteem, which became one of the core elements of our show, especially with our use of comedy.''

Lowell's on-air mantra, ``You can do it,'' allows viewers the freedom to make mistakes and to break out of decorating ruts with, say, anything- but-white ceilings.

It also seems to have driven his carefully considered business plan. The Christopher Lowell Home Collection was many years in preparation - including five years for selecting a range of paint colors that, he says, won't clash with each other because of their precisely formulated base tones. But the entire line was whipped into production and delivered to 280 stores nationwide, including its Canoga Park, Ventura and Arcadia locations, less than five months after he signed the deal with Burlington.

Lowell is the latest in a growing number of personalities who have put their names on home furnishings lines.

The pioneers included fashion designers Bill Blass, Liz Claiborne and Laura Ashley, who focused on bed and bath goods, as has Calvin Klein. Ralph Lauren, one of the most successful department store brands, took that notion a step further with paints. Donna Karan is set to join the fray next spring with bed, bath and storage products.

From the supermodel realm, Kathy Ireland has her own furniture and accessories line, family-friendly pieces with an English accent manufactured by Vanguard Furniture. In its October 1999 launch in High Point, N.C., the line received Best of Show honors.

Then there's Stewart, adviser to millions on when and where to prune and how to puree and plump. In 1997, she launched her Martha Stewart bedding and bath products at Kmart, and has since expanded into paints, window treatments, kitchen linens, gardening gear, baby basics - and now cookware, utensils and dishware - 4,000 items in all, worth $1 billion a year in sales.

``I think Martha changed the rules completely,'' said Warren Shoulberg, editor of the home furnishings trade newspaper HFN. ``The license programs traditionally had been through department stores. Martha Stewart was really a groundbreaker in saying you can do this at a good price point. Her impact has been monstrous. She has changed the way the business is done and has saved Kmart in the process.''

Shoulberg said that method is the wave of the present and the near future.

``I see it personally going more toward the Martha Stewart business model, which is a store owning rights to a particular franchise. Other retailers are out there looking to do the same,'' he said. ``Which is not to say that Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein won't continue to be important.''

Although Lowell's line currently is limited to bed and bath, accent pieces, draperies and paints, he has taken Stewart's concept to another plateau.

He has established his own one-stop section of the store, with special lighting, flooring, display cabinetry, and sample bedding arrangements designed top to bottom by Lowell's team. Lowell's bearded, balding likeness beams from backlit signs and from every picture frame on the shelves. Towels are not merely stacked, but rolled together in bundles of complementary hues, set around on wicker tables with a pleasantly scented pillar candle or a $10 pineapple-shaped stone-look finial.

As he gave a personal tour of the roughly 800-square-foot shop, he paused to turn one of the packaged comforters around on the shelf to reveal the back label showing the item in a room setting, complete with CL pillows, window treatments, accents and suggested paints. He explained to the Burlington executive nearby that the back label supports his concept of doing an entire decorating project with one-stop shopping.

``For the first time in mass merchandising, you can see the paint chip here,'' he said, pointing to the comforter package, ``and walk right over there and pick it up.''

His premixed paints are named for edibles, such as cookie dough, eggplant bisque, apple skin, mint julep and dried blueberry, for the sake of easy visualization (``We know that women and men both have to eat,'' he says), and are displayed beside packaged paint rollers, pans and sponges and a $6 set of three trim brushes.

``We're sort of the anti-Martha approach,'' Lowell said, noting Stewart's products are mixed in with those of her competitors and scattered across various Kmart departments, while his are grouped in a ``destination'' in the Burlington stores.

Shoulberg said Stewart's and Lowell's affordable pricing appeals to impulse buyers, apartment dwellers with modest incomes and homeowners inclined to renest every few years.

``One of the things we're finding is price point is still important, but not as important to a woman as feeling secure in her decision-making,'' Lowell said.

Shoulberg agreed. ``I think most consumers do not trust their ability to pick the right fashion product, and that's the gist behind any of these (merchandise) programs,'' he said, noting the concept of mixing florals, stripes and plaids on the same bed intimidates many buyers. ``If you see Ralph Lauren's name on it, it must be OK. Someone else has made the decision for you. It is validation.''

Patricia Kim, a Fullerton shopper and a Lowell viewer, admired the combinations in his displays. ``His color is kind of Asian - traditional, calming - and European, too,'' she said. ``It's very classical.''

Shoulberg said shoppers may gravitate toward a celebrity-named home product so they can ``live vicariously by buying a Ralph Lauren sheet or a Martha Stewart frying pan.''

Burlington already seems to be coming out ahead in the bargain, too. Regional manager Bruce Hackel says since the Nov. 7 launch, sales of the Christopher Lowell Home Collection have far exceeded expectations.

``This really helps us develop a sophisticated customer,'' said Hackel, whose chain is best-known for rack after rack of outerwear.

And what's in it for the celebrities?

``A royalty check,'' Shoulberg said without hesitation - 3 to 5 percent for a lesser-known figure to the midteens for a high-profile one. Another benefit is the publicity boost from cross-branding. ``If you like somebody's sheets, you might go out and buy their shirts.''

``People who know me know I'm not motivated by money or by fame,'' counters Lowell. ``I could do without it. But I enjoy seeing people learn to do something like this for themselves and feel good about themselves for having done it.''

Christopher Lowell will sign copies of his book at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Discovery Book Store in the Beverly Center, and will appear at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Burlington store in Fullerton's Orange Fair Mall. His show on the Discovery Channel airs at noon and 3 p.m. weekdays.

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8 photos

Photo:

(1-- cover -- color) By Design

Discovery Channel's Christopher Lowell joins a hot of other celebrity names in the home accessory aisle

(2 -- color) Christopher Lowell, who wants viewers to be self-confident when they try his ideas, tapes a segment of his Discovery Channel show at the Burlington Coat Factory.

(3 -- 4 -- color) User-friendly designer and TV host Christopher Lowell has a new book, ``Christopher Lowell's Seven Layers of Design: Fearless, Fabulous Decorating,'' along with a line of home furnishings and paints, available at Burlington Coat Factory.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(5 -- 6 -- color) Martha Stewart launched her bed and bath products at Kmart in 1997, expanding the line with paint, linens, gardening tools and now cookware and dishes for an annual $1 billion industry.

(7 -- 8 -- color) Supermodel Kathy Ireland has her own successful line of accessories and furniture, family-oriented pieces with an English accent, launched in 1999 and made by Vanguard Furniture.