Becoming the Creative Director of Your Own House

Ideas for turning daily maintenance into creative projects that fuel joy.

Your house is something to be managed, forever.

Tending to your life — the food you eat, the clothes that need washing, the space that needs maintaining — often feels like a burdensome, never-ending chore.

I’d like to offer a reframe that might just change your mind forever!

You can be the Creative Director of your home, your life, and the way it all functions. I’d love to show you how, because it’s not that hard. This mindset shift is available to anyone. You don’t need to buy anything new or spend money. It does require some time, creativity, imagination, and a willingness to create whimsy for whimsy’s sake. (That part’s non-negotiable.)

When we moved to New York, I felt sheer panic about how to manage the higher cost of living—especially when it came to food. A matcha from a local café usually costs me $9 no matter what. Ouch.

One day, it hit me that so many of the skills I use as a Creative Director could apply to how our home functions too. I could use the same approach to solve problems and build beauty into our rhythm.

So I started designing a Weekly Menu for us.

My mission: to turn our kitchen into our favorite restaurant! My hypothesis was if I loved eating at home, I’d spend less eating out.

This has helped us:

• Save money

• Navigate dietary restrictions

• Reduce grocery waste

• Bring joy and delight into a chore that used to not be my favorite! (I LOVE COOKING NOW!)

Here are a few other ways you can step into the role of Creative Director in your own space:

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1. Design Your Kitchen Like a Restaurant

Think of your kitchen as a brand you’re building — cozy, thoughtful, efficient.

• Give your home kitchen a name and aesthetic (create a Pinterest moodboard!)

• Create a rotating Weekly Menu to reduce decision fatigue

• Make a seasonal house drink (matcha, herbal soda, shaken espresso)

• Display your menu like a café would—on a chalkboard, clipboard, or magnets

Per your kind requests, monthly paid subscribers are going to begin getting my weekly menu designs and recipes in their inboxes in a new column I’m writing! (I could squeal! And cry! Thank you for being interested in what I cook! I am just blown away by your thoughtful kindness and eager to share my ideas with you!)

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2. Do Your Laundry Like a Hotel

Function meets indulgence. Could your apartment feel like the Grand Budapest Hotel?

• Fold towels the way hotels do (tri-fold with a clean edge) (If you have kids old enough to help, the folding towel task could be whimsy central for them. You could find a new way to fold all the time on Youtube!)

• Use a signature scent or essential oil in your laundry (I use Dedcool Xtra Milk Detergent and spray their room spray on our dryer balls. I also like 7th Generation’s Lavender and Method’s Beach Sage)

• Keep a tidy bin with extras like dryer balls, stain sticks, safety pins

• Make a playlist called “Turn-Down Service” with jazzy music to play while you fold

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3. Choose a Book of the Week

You know how you always find the cutest independent bookstores on vacation somewhere? Bring the magical bookstore experience to your shelves! Let your home have a narrative. Set the tone through story.

• Pick a book that reflects the mood or season you’re in

• Leave it out with a little display moment —it becomes the house’s “book of the week” (like the “employee picks” section in a bookstore)

• If you live with others, invite conversation about it

• Try pairing it with a fun menu item — a signature drink match? Maybe a playlist too? A movie night for the movie version of the book?

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4. Build a Home Café

Make your mornings feel like a visit to your favorite coffee shop.

• Set up a corner with everything for coffee or tea in one place

• Rotate seasonal drinks and make up house specials

• Design a menu just for fun, even if you’re the only customer

• Light a candle or play music to signal that the café is open

💌 Later this week, I’m releasing a full guide to hosting a Home Café for Friends. It includes a printable invitation template, ready-to-use menu, to-do list, and more. This will be available for paid subscribers only.

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5. Create a Cleaning Ritual

Let cleaning be a creative project! I always pair cleaning tasks with a little creative re-arranging.

• Use a signature scent to get into the mindset (more on developing a home signature scent in an upcoming article!)

• Schedule a set cleaning time with music you love, set a timer.

• Refresh and rearrange as you go! Re-display the cups in your cabinet or the books on your shelf.

• Use a small caddy with your favorite tools and sprays.

• Light a candle when you're finished as a sign of completion.

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I really believe we can live more joyfully when we seek out joy and order. Creating as a reflection of a good Creator. I believe we have the opportunity to make beautiful spaces and routines every day! Also, to be clear — not everyday is a strawberry london fog day. Obviously. And not every season of life allows margin for creating menus and folding cool towels, of course. But if you do have margin right now for some extra razzle-dazzle, I hope you’ll consider it, because personally it made me enjoy maintenance rather than resist it.

When I taught high school, my students would DREAM about having their own space one day and what food they’d have, how they’d decorate, etc. I do not dare get bogged down with tasks and responsibilities that cloud my vision completely of what a tremendous blessing I have. Do the kind of things your high school self would be thrilled to know you are doing in your own space. (I’m 26 and I make my own cool lattes at home — 17 year old Jenna would be floooored)

The energy I carry wherever I go

If you also carry unreasonable creativity and whimsy in your heart (or would like to be the kind of person that does), I’d love to invite you to become a paid subscriber this week. Everything on Feeling! Magazine is about to get wild and so good. I’m starting a new weekly series for paid readers called The Home Café, where I’ll share:

• My weekly meal plan

• The layout I design to make it beautiful and useful

• All the recipes I actually cook

And on Wednesday, I’m sending out the Host Your Own Home Café Kit, which includes:

• A printable invitation template

• Menu designs

• A to-do list and schedule to prep like a pro (like an insanely organized Notion list done for you!)

Thank you for reading Feeling! Magazine!! Until next time!

Signed,
The O’Brien Apartment’s Creative Director: Jenna O. xoxoxo

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MORE INBOX CANDY:

✸ Printable Spring Bucket List designs, and a heartfelt update on this digital publication

✸ Mind Gardening: Thoughts, things, art, challenges, and feelings to be curious about, dwell on, discover, and explore.

✸ A Color Study of cherry red and seafoam blue/green (and a lobster phone wallpaper)

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🍒 Let’s be internet friends, please! @ jennaisfeeling

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