"I tell people who are trying to sell their homes: Get rid of artwork you don't care about and replace it with mirrors," Lowell says.
Save the picture frames, which can add interest and architecture to a wall, and use them around mirrors, Lowell says. "Put it in a dark corner opposite a doorway or window to draw light."
Boutique hotels are great at using well-placed mirrors to amplify light and give the illusion of space, he says. The strategy works just as well in your house. "It's a great way to make a small home look big."
And don't be afraid to paint objects, as well as walls.
He recently found a pair of courting mirrors flanking a fireplace in a client's living room. He put them in inexpensive foam frames he had painted stark white. He then positioned the mirrors in the guest room, against a dark blue wall. "It looked like plaster," he says.
The price: the cost of the paint and the time.
By boosting the light level with mirrors and adding wall color, "you can completely reshape your home and give it a new look," Lowell says.