FLORIDA MOM MAGAZINE - January '09 - Glen Kernan Style - Jennifer Brown's HomePhotos and Story By: Michele Gillis
 Everyone likes to keep their house neat and tidy, at least to some extent, but
Jennifer Brown, 33, who just recently built a home in Glen Kernan Golf & Country Club, goes the extra mile.
I know it seems impossible to keep a house orderly with three small children, but Brown has found a way. “After I put away the laundry, I walk around the house with a big laundry basket and pick up anything that needs to be put away like a random toy or a shoe in the hallway,” said Brown. “I just pile everything in the basket and put it all away. That way I don’t have to make multiple trips.”
Brown has three children, Gracie, 3 and twins Emma and Abby, 14 months.
Though she’s only lived in the house since August, Brown has created a showplace in a very short time. “We used to live way out in Switzerland and once we had our daughter, we wanted to be closer to family, so we bought this lot,” said Brown. “Then we found a speculation home that was already done, so we just moved in there. We tried to sell the lot, but couldn’t. Then we found out we were having twins, so we decided to build the house we wanted on the lot.”
Her husband Henry, a vice president at Miller Electric designed the layout of the home and Pineapple Corporation built it. “We’ve moved a lot and lived in a lot of different places in Jacksonville,” she said. “We took ideas from all the houses we’ve lived in or that we’ve seen and made the floor plan we have now. We hand selected everything for the house out of magazines.”
When designing the house, they knew they wanted a one-story house since they had three children. “But, we wanted it to look like a two-story and the only way to achieve that and for it to have a nice appearance was to do this style,” said Brown.
The home is about 4,000 square feet and has four bedrooms. The large kitchen/living room area has a coastal feel to it with a lot of white décor, white kitchen cabinets, bead board on the ceilings, behind the built-in shelves and inside the cabinets.
“We wanted it to look coastal and have things that looked more old than new,” she said. “We like older style homes, so we included the built-in shelves with bead board and hard wood floors.”
Brown said they never had white cabinets before, but she saw it in a magazine and really liked it, so they thought they’d try it in their new home. “I thought they have a Cape Cod kind of look,” she said. “We had to break up the white with the stainless steel appliances.”
Her appliances are professional grade with a six-burner stove, three ovens and a marble-topped island with a sink in the middle. In front of the island is a small dining table where the family has dinner every evening together. “The island gives us a lot more space,” she said. “Our 3-year-old doesn’t like to sit down too much, so she hops from bar stool to bar stool and back to the table.”
Clutter is not something you will find in Brown’s home. “I am constantly throwing things away,” she said. “When the mail comes, I instantly look at it and toss what I don’t need. If it’s a catalog, I may flip through it, but I know I’m not going to order anything, so I just throw it away. I try to clean out the toys and donate them periodically. I try not to keep too much stuff.”
Brown wants guests to feel homey and comfortable when they visit. Her living room has white slip-covers over a comfy couch situated in front of a coffee table. 
Most of her furniture in her home was purchased at Mrs. Howard, a furnishing store that focuses on high-end furniture and antiques. The children’s furniture came from Popin, a children’s boutique. “I’ve had to tape up the book cover on the coffee table because the girls like to play with it, but I try to teach them not to mess with things that aren’t toys,” said Brown.
Next to the living room is a formal dining area, which is used when entertaining guests. Off of the kitchen is a large playroom decorated in pinks and greens complete with a play kitchen, child-sized table with wooden chairs, lots of toys and comfortable seating areas. 
Pink and green are the “girly” theme colors for all of her daughter’s rooms and the playroom. Gracie’s room is decorated in pink and green and accented with furniture from Popin. The twins’ room features matching cribs and armoire in pink and green. Brown hired Judi Campbell, a local artist to paint monograms and flowers on the twin’s cribs and furniture.
The large back yard features an outdoor grilling area, a fireplace and a play set for the children.
Brown said she does a lot of laundry with three little ones running around. Her solution was to put in two washing machines and two dryers. “It’s the best thing I ever did,” she said.
The master bedroom is decorated in tans, light blues and of course, white. “I wanted our bathroom and bedroom to be like a spa,” she said. “I wanted it to be tranquil and not fussy at all.” The master bath does not have a bathtub, but features a large walk-in shower with seating area.
Before having children, Brown taught special education pre-kindergarten classes for Duval County. She has a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of North Florida.
Now, she gets up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym and work out before getting Gracie ready for pre-school. “We run a very busy, pretty tight schedule,” she said. “Gracie goes to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s and I have the babies in Parents Morning Out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, I have them in on opposite days. So, when Gracie’s not in school, she’s with me so we can have one-on-one time and the twins and I have one-on-one time when Gracie’s is in school. The twins go to Mommy and me class on Wednesday’s and Gracie goes to a similar class at Little Gym.” 
Though a lot of her furniture came from Mrs. Howard and Popin, Brown has accented the home quite economically. “For bargain shopping, I bought my place mats at Wal-Mart,” she said. “You just have to keep your eye out. I go to Home Goods a lot. Home Goods is a really great place for accessories. A lot of times, you will see something in a magazine and if you go to Home Goods and give it time, it will be there for way less money.”
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