The Nancy Meyers aesthetic is, technically, a set design. The Hamptons kitchen from Something's Gotta Give — white cabinets, soapstone counters, copper pots, linen curtains, sand implied just outside the door — is routinely called the most copied kitchen of all time, and it was built on a stage by production designer Jon Hutman, who has worked on every Meyers film since What Women Want in 2000. The inspiration for that kitchen was a single question: where does an educated, sophisticated, successful woman live? As the search term surges on Cosmos, it’s clear everyone’s still looking for an answer.

The look is misinterpreted as ironic ‘coastal grandmother,’ but what we’re actually trying to replicate is the fiction of a life where nothing was bought in a hurry — something Martha Stewart merchandised, Ina Garten romanticized, and Meyers lit like a love scene. Think books that were read, wine that was chosen, cookbooks with cracked spines. The rooms look less decorated and more inhabited by someone with enough time and taste to have earned the place rather than styled it. No amount of white cabinetry will get you there, but that’s probably why you’ll keep trying.

• Nancy Meyers herself on what home means to her
• Architectural Digest sets the Nancy Meyers design rules
• Emily Henderson's deep dive on how to actually do it
• Go a level deeper with the Hollywood Cottage aesthetic

The Nancy Meyers FantasyBy @cosmos

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