Turning My Kitchen Into My Favorite Restaurant | Chapter 1: Branding

How cooking at home became my creative sanctuary, and how to make it yours!

I've written in depth before about how the area of creativity, my childhood safe space, became war-torn ground. Smoke, embers, and weeping occupied a space that was formerly a doll house, glitter glue safe haven. The complexity of feeling unsafe in a place that used to feel like a retreat is absurdly, well, complex.

I imagine someone returning to their childhood home after some great family scandal, and realizing they can hardly lie still in the room they used to sleep soundly in. That is what it felt like. It was difficult to show or express or rope anyone into, of course, because it was all invisible. It was all inside of me — popping out in hard-to-predict ways.

For years following the events of 2020, I would conceive a creative idea, begin to execute it, and hit a roadblock inside of me so strong it was as if a tsunami knocked the paintbrush out of my hand. Physical pain down my right side would radiate to my wrist, my nerves firing like little sparks as if to tell me they knew what happened in 2020, too. The emotions, the grief, the panic would swell up in waves and crash. What used to come from me effortlessly now felt like I was grinding down concrete with my own teeth. I was so mad I couldn't operate how I used to, that something had taken some dark hold on my garden. I grieved the loss of my safe space.

It was so much to navigate that I started to believe my creativity had died. Maybe it was something I used to have, but the circumstances had killed it, and I would just have to go on.

I now know that I deeply underestimated creativity (and God) (and me).

The desire to make things began to stir up again, like a little sprout in the dirt. But my body needed a space that felt different. It could not feel like the places it had been, where the damage was done; it needed to feel like something completely new and uncharted.

I turned to an area I had never played in: my kitchen.

I honestly can't recall what we ate in the first years of our marriage. Cooking was a chore and a drain, and ordering takeout was my saving grace. Connor was starting his production company, I was starting my store, and I think we lived on frozen pizza alone. He was in the kitchen making dinner far more than I was.

But in 2024, some interest in me piqued. And I found myself lingering longer in the kitchen, getting genuinely excited to pick out groceries, and experimenting with dinner. I pickled red onions for the first time and felt as if I had discovered glitter gel pens all over again. I could feel my creativity spreading out and growing — I think it felt safe in the kitchen. No eyes, no performance, just play. Childlike joy bubbled up, which is an indication that I am on the right track.

We moved to New York in the fall last year, and I swiftly came to terms with the fact that my takeout days were over. We are in the land of $9 matchas and $25 salads. Plus delivery.

Now, in a practical sense, I knew I had no choice but to make food at home more often. So I came up with a hypothesis: If I really liked the environment of my kitchen, and genuinely enjoyed cooking in it as a creative practice, I would eat out way less.

I just need to make my kitchen feel like my favorite restaurant.

I am writing a series that will serve as a hyper-practical guide for anyone who would like to turn their kitchen into their favorite restaurant as well. Over the next 6 weeks, we'll transform your kitchen from a source of daily stress into a creative dreamspace. I was able to go from reluctantly opening ravioli packs to willingly hosting dinner parties — and by Episode 5, you'll be doing the same.

I think cooking is my hobby, I recently realized. I don't know if I've really embraced a hobby as a grown-up before, so I am really excited about this gift. I suddenly want fancy groceries and utensils for holiday gifts! I have a hobby!

This full series will be available for supporting subscribers of Feeling! Magazine, so if you'd like to join the step-by-step guide, you can have everything for $5 a month.

But this first episode is for everyone!

How I turned My Kitchen into My Favorite Restaurant:

Part 1: Branding

I have branded my own kitchen like it is a real restaurant. That either sounds so fun to you, or you think I am a little weird. In my defense, I live in a rental and can't do much to customize my space — so the option to make my kitchen feel unique to us is an exciting prospect. Also, I am just so grateful that my kitchen became the place where my creativity felt safe to come back alive. I am ready to invest some time and effort to make the kitchen even more creative.

Here is exactly how I did it:

✷ Step 1: Research Your Inspiration

I did some serious research on my favorite restaurants and what makes them special to me. I sat with Connor and thought about what restaurants and cafés created truly dazzling experiences for us. I created a list of our stand-outs and then started to try and find common threads. I came to an answer quickly.

For your records…a brief glimpse of our standouts and what meal stood out to us:

Happier Grocery
This is a trending, luxury grocery store in Soho that creates their own grab & go meals, smoothies, and coffees — as well as houses a functional grocery store with unique food items and its own label of groceries. I was deeply inspired by how they created their own brand of groceries and their take on packaging design.

Thai Diner in Soho
The most immersive restaurant experience, best designed website of all time in my opinion, whimsy galore
Pad see ew and thai milk tea

Red Hook Tavern in Red Hook
The classic American restaurant feel, delicious food, branded matchboxes, romantic feeling inside
Burger, fries, and the earl grey Arnold Palmer mocktail

Whitney's in Longboat Key, FL
Coastal, but with color — the illustrative branding and interior design have captured my imagination
Also ordered a burger…I think I have a burger complex during summer months

Odre in the East Village
Korean four-course eatery — I loved the way everything was plated and designed. The flavors were really unique and opened my mind up to how food could be artistic

Oxford Exchange in Tampa, FL
My very favorite breakfast and tea spot in the world. The way they serve tea to restaurant-goers is perfection, and the tea integration for my home restaurant is essential
I love their brunch menu (the whole thing) and a London Fog

I found a major thread once I got them on paper: Every restaurant I love has a really distinct and beautiful brand design. Which, as a designer, probably makes sense that I would love those types of restaurants.

I encourage you to create your own list of the most memorable restaurants you've been to and find what your common threads may be.

✷ Step 2: Create Your Restaurant Identity

So I knew the first thing I would do in this process of loving my kitchen more was to create my own restaurant brand. I have helped so many brands develop their own identity, but it was time to make one for my kitchen!

I settled on a restaurant name quickly: O'Briens. Our last name. Easy.

I want the design to be colorful, but curated, and have a homemade feel. I landed on a palette with a pastel, but warm feel.

For the text design — I wanted "O'Briens" to look hand-drawn, so I found a font called "Lovers in New York" (which may also have been an emotional decision haha) on Creative Market. And for the ingredient and detail lettering, I was aiming for general store vibes, so I landed on the "Big Bird" typeface.

I wanted labels on things we actually use every day, things that will fill the fridge and pantry visually.

✷ Step 3: Design Your Labels

So I designed labels for:

• Milk glass jugs

• Pre-made homemade lattes/iced teas

• Sauces

• Syrups

• Leftovers

• Flour, sugar, pantry items

• Spices

• Sweet & salty snacks

After a few design iterations, I still felt like something was missing….a mascot.

So our darling Genevieve easily stood in for the role she was born for. I illustrated her wearing her adorable collar from Fren!

The Nitty-Gritty: Materials & Process

I used Avery's printable labels to custom-make designs on my storage containers and print from home. I've used Avery for years for a ton of different creative projects and found them to be the easiest solution for custom, but inexpensive, packaging design. So I knew it would be perfect for my home project!

They have waterproof, durable sticker paper that was so easy to plug my designs into using their templates online. I've tested them on dishes through the dishwasher, and they work like a charm.

✷ Here are the exact labels I used:

• 3" round labels, durable white film

• 2x6" rectangle labels, durable white film

• 2x3" labels, durable white film

• 3x7" labels, durable white film

✷ Here are the exact glass jars I use for food storage:

• Milk jugs

• 16 oz glass jars

• Large Weck jars

• Dry food storage - Large

• Dry food storage - medium

• Homemade lattes to go

• Spice jars

✷ How I did it:

1. Made the design in Adobe Illustrator, to the size of the label

2. Used Avery's templates online by typing in my sticker code (it’s on the front of the package!)

3. Plugged designs into the template

4. Pressed print!

5. Used my Epson printer at home — the sticker paper printed and glided right through

My goal is that every shelf in the kitchen would feel like it belongs to a cozy family-owned restaurant.

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The transformation was immediate! Opening my fridge now feels like stepping behind the scenes at a charming bistro. I find myself actually looking forward to dinner prep.

But the branding was just the beginning.

In the coming episodes, I'll walk you through exactly how I designed a menu system that eliminated decision fatigue, created "restaurant-quality" plating at home, and turned grocery shopping into ingredient sourcing! By the end of this series, you'll have your own home restaurant that makes eating out feel unnecessary.

XO Jenna O.

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MORE INBOX CANDY:

Episode 2 drops next week for subscribers! It will include branded labels I design, just for you. So if you would like a designer (me) to help brand your kitchen, let me know in the comments what your creative vision is for your “restaurant,” and I will do my best to incorporate it into a template so you can just add your name and print!