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KENNEWEG’S TREASURE CHEST SPAWNS WEALTH OF CREATIVE IDEAS
By Gladys Blews Wilson
Jun 4, 2007, 14:05

A strange twist of fate turned Louis and Liz Kenneweg’s world upside down.

“Everyone dreads the thought of losing their job,” Louis says. “I had felt pretty secure in my job as a design engineer for a company in Columbus, Ohio. My wife, Liz, also had a good job. We celebrated the millennium with the idea that our prosperity would grow with the 21st century.”

While others worried about the future, they were oblivious to the possibility of change until the dreaded specter of job loss changed their lives forever.

“We were shocked when our employers downsized and we both found ourselves wondering - what next?”

They had a 12-acre farm and the lay offs came after they built a house with a sizeable mortgage. They wondered what God was thinking when he allowed their lives to take such a downward turn. They believe in a God who cares and has a plan for each individual. Was their job loss a way of getting their attention?

“I began to think that God was giving me an opportunity to pursue my childhood dream of becoming a carpenter,” Louis says.

“I always admired the Shaker lifestyle and their emphasis on ‘heart to God and hands to man.’ I began to think about Shaker home furnishings and the possibility that I could modify some of their designs.”

While visiting a Shaker settlement, he noticed an old Shaker apple crate, “I wondered what the slats would look like if I built a similar crate and moved the slats closer together.”

His engineer’s mind began to see the crate in three dimensions - not unlike the way a computer turns objects in a variety of directions.

“I couldn’t wait to get home and build this modified box.”

He liked the look of the box and experimented with adding a domed lid. Then, he added straps like he’d seen on old steamer trunks.

“When the box was finished, I saw that it wasn’t a crate any longer. It was a treasure chest.”

But what earthly good is a treasure chest in the 21st century?

Louis and his wife talked about the possibilities. A box that is 15 by 14-inches and a depth of 9-inches could meet the need of a hobbyist who wants a safe place to store a collection -- a NASCAR memorabilia box, an ammunition box for a hunter, a chest for storing pet toys.

“Everyone has their treasures and the nature of the collector is to protect these things that mean something to them,” he says.

How many doll outfits and accessories could one chest hold? How many children’s books? Liz added a lining to make treasure boxes into jewelry boxes and a unique baby shower gift box to fill with a variety of things mothers need for newborns.

They made up treasure chests with various finishes and interior linings. Louis created a pirate treasure chest by staining the wood a dark walnut. He used old harness to make straps and added decorative buckles. It was ready to fire a child’s imagination.

He finished other chests in a variety of colors. A pink or blue exterior suggested a Walt Disney collection, especially if Liz applied a princess or Tinkerbell motif wallpaper inside. A natural wood finish with Victorian wallpaper begged to display a character doll or an antique tea service.

In 2001, the Kennewegs filled their van with treasure chests and took them to a colonial festival near their home. The owner booked them on the spot. One show led to another.

“Someone suggested we set up a website with on-line ordering. We were making kits to use when we demonstrate at craft shows and when we offered the kits online, we received so many orders we could hardly keep up. Customers started to tell us how they use their treasure boxes and we modified to fill these various market niches.”

This year’s most unusual order came from a California horse farm.

“The people who own this farm breed horses and they were looking for a suitable resting place for the ashes of their animals. On the other end of the scale, an Omaha church ordered 100 kits in which families will store family Bibles and materials they use to train their children in the Christian faith.”

The Kennewegs are fitting out a treasure chest booth at Shaker Woods and look forward to demonstrating treasure box construction to a new audience. They will make finished boxes and kits available that are priced between $29.95 and $49.95.

“Who knows what new uses for our boxes we’ll discover at Shaker Woods,” Louis concludes.

Find the Kennewegs in Booth 152.

Visit the website www.treasurechestkits.com

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