New Features Added to Jewel Box ™ Home Website!

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark and a large group of professionals built the Titanic. - Author unknown

The new features which I promised were coming to the Jewel Box™ Home website have at last gone live! The highlights are:

• Jewel Box™ Living – A quarterly newsletter with the first issue, Spring 2008, now up on the website.
• Into the Homes of Readers – A forum where readers can share stories of their small homes.
• The Gallery – Three photo galleries, the first featuring more photos of my home, the second gallery showing party photos and the third with photos of readers homes.
• Design Consults – A tab that lets readers contact me for design consults in the Chicago land area.

You can visit all the new features at http://www.thejewelboxhome.com/. In the meantime, here is an excerpt from my Letter to Readers in the Spring 2008 issue of Jewel Box Living.

The other day, my 14-year-old son informed me that because of the Jewel Box ™ website, I will never be able to live in a big house. To quote his exact words, “Even if you become rich and famous, you can never have a mansion.”

A short three years ago, the thought that I would never live in a house larger than 2000 square feet, would have left me in a depressed state for weeks. I subscribe to the theory that humans behave like herding animals. We like to group together and then gain status within the group. I had joined the home-owning group, and was ready to improve my status by moving to a larger house. When my husband wanted to stay in our smaller home, I was crushed. If not part of the upwardly mobile home-owning community, who was I? I felt like the lone springbok cut off from the herd.

Given my past obsession with trading up, many of my friends and family are surprised that I no longer want a big house. But I am passionate about creating the Jewel Box ™ look and helping others do the same. And then there are the intangibles. In a larger home, would I hear my younger son whistling in the morning? Or both boys laughing and talking at night in the bedroom they share? Priceless! And would my boys feel comfortable sharing their opinions on the frequent verbal sparring matches between their parents? According to the boys, “Our friends’ parents argue like amateurs. You and dad are professionals”! Again, priceless!

So when my son made his announcement the other day, I said, without hesitation, “I don’t ever want a big house or mansion. But the rich part could be fun; I can take a pass on famous.” Of course, if ever I am rich and famous, you will probably read about my Jewel Box™ vacation house in People magazine.

Until next time!

Genevieve