New Books | Clean: The Humble Art of Zen-Cleansing"

by Michael de Jong

Sterling, $7.95

Ah, the simplicity of Zen. No colors, no gigantic manual — just a bare-to-the-bones concept and a bucketful of tips wrapped up in a cute little book.

The concept: You can clean everything, safely, with de Jong's five "catalysts for cleanliness": baking soda, borax, lemon, salt and white vinegar.

"Inspirational cleaning guru" de Jong sets up the premise with a fun, light and even scientific introduction, then dives right into a primer on each catalyst, followed by ways to use it.

Example A: "Clean up accidentally spilled white glue with white vinegar."

And B: "To shine your aluminum pots, rub with the cut side of a lemon."

There's also a handy chart for what works best on what, handy cleaning "recipes" that combine a couple of catalysts and a surprise list of philosophy at the end ("There's no reason to clean alone.").

We could have done without the goofy clip-art-y illustrations of, say, a pair of jeans and a wok, but they're likely the only reason this tiny thing made it past 100 pages.

But there's nothing wrong with small, or black-and-white, or simplicity. Together, it works, in its own Zen way.

"Christopher Lowell's One-of-a-Kind Decorating Projects: Fast and Flexible Ways to Personalize Your Home"

by Christopher Lowell

Clarkson Potter, $29.95

Back in The Day, Lowell was a design pioneer. With a TV show or two and his encouraging "You Can Do It!" books, he was just one of us — but a little chattier.

Today, though, Lowell is An Enterprise. He is A Brand. He has A Crew. And his latest book has lost that Lowell feeling.

You can still tell this is his book — other than by his name on the cover, we mean. His voice shines through from time to time, especially in the opening dedication to his brother ("Jeff was a bad, bad boy. Jeff was always late, late, late. Jeff was always in trouble, trouble, trouble."). Lowell's smiling mug pops up in photos, but only posing with props, not actually designing. And a subtle credit tells us that Lowell contributed some blueprint-like sketches.

But then The Enterprise intrudes. For example, Lowell's book (premise: 50 projects to add a custom touch to your home) is separated into four "lifestyle categories": Town, Country, City and Shore. Those just happen to be the same four categories for which his company designs retail furnishings.

And when he talks about purging clutter, he doesn't tell you how they did it (notice, too, that it's "they," not "I"); he says they followed "the steps set forth in my book 'Christopher Lowell's Seven Layers of Organization.' "

Sigh.

At any rate, the projects themselves, focusing on one area in each lifestyle category, are fine and fun, detailed and well-illustrated — from creating a bookcase cover to distressing paint and embellishing a lampshade.

Lowell says every project can be completed in less than a weekend, but at one point there are 24 pages between a "before" picture of an entryway and its elaborate "after." It would take us nearly a weekend just to read that much.

But then, we're not Christopher Lowell. We hope he still is.

"Convertible Houses"

by Amanda Lam and Amy Thomas

Gibbs Smith, $24.95

We were kind of hoping this might be about living in a Jaguar. Just for the pictures.

But instead, it covers something slightly more practical: how to use design, space and convertible contraptions to make every inch of a space work a little harder to increase your options and your home's functionality. More multipurpose home, not so much motorhome.

The book begins with a tour of 11 inventive spaces. Funny thing is, some of these have so many inches, you would think they wouldn't need to work any harder. There's a 3,500-square-foot Manhattan loft designed to feel "like the inside of a black piano" (um, no thanks) and even bigger behemoths in Paris and Belgium.

Other funny thing is, this is a pretty small book (8 by 8 inches), and the sometimes-crowded and often-oddly-lighted photos of these homes really don't read very well.

The convertible concept becomes a little clearer, though, in the Strategies and Solutions sections. Themes start to emerge: Movable walls and curtains separate, define and transform; lofts add space while holding on to that spacious feeling; and convertible and/or movable furniture is very cool.

We might even give up the Jaguar idea for one of those chairs that turns into a cooktop.

Compiled by Sandy Dunham, Seattle Times desk editor