From "Something's Gotta Give" to "The Holiday," the kitchens in Nancy Meyers movies hit different. The Oscar-nominated writer-director has been synonymous with rom-coms since she began directing her own screenplays in the early-2000s. Picture Diane Keaton in a cardigan, in an all-white kitchen, and you're picturing a Nancy Meyers movie.
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Whether Queen Nancy is making Keaton cry or Meryl Streep holler with laughter, you can bet she's doing it in the most impeccable kitchen you've ever seen. Meyers' movies are adult fantasies — the sophisticated forerunners of Hallmark movies, in which female playwrights and bakers find love (often later in life) after a comedy-of-errors. And the eateries at the heart of Meyers' movies are the locus of that fantasy.
Sometimes, Nancy Meyers movie kitchens are frilly and adorable, like the kind of kitchen we want in girlhood or grannyhood. Often, they're filled with luxurious clutter. But they're always a character in their own right. Below, we spotlight the most impressive Nancy Meyers kitchens, fixing our eyes on every massive island and glittering pot rack.
The following list includes every film Meyers has directed, plus a beloved screenplay that was just too kitchen-forward to leave off this ranking. Feast your eyes!
'What Women Want'
Paramount Pictures
Mel Gibson might play a male chauvinist who can hear women's thoughts, but it's Nancy Meyers who knows what women want...from our interiors. While this Y2K fantasy doesn't feature a full kitchen, Meyers made a downtown Chicago coffee shop into the coziest little hangout ever — complete with fresh flowers and woven display baskets. And a nod to Helen Hunt's advertising executive office, where Meyers flexes her cluttered-but-chic aesthetic.
Paramount Pictures
'The Parent Trap'
Walt Disney Pictures
The beauty of this 1998 remake starring Lindsay Lohan is that we get not one, but two gorgeous interiors. One twin, Hallie, has a posh summer at Natasha Richardson's glittering London flat. The other, Annie, lounges around at Dennis Quaid's sprawling Napa Valley ranch with homey, cornflower-blue cabinets and vaulted ceilings. It's like a Ralph Lauren ad come to life.
Walt Disney Pictures
'Baby Boom'
MGM
1987's "Baby Boom" is the only movie on this list that Nancy Meyers didn't direct, but we like to think the multi-hyphenate wrote baby blue cabinets—her go-to—into the script. Diane Keaton's adorable yellow cottage in Vermont is even more charming on the inside. Notice the gingham touches, and the punches of red and yellow throughout the space.
MGM
'The Intern'
Warner Bros.
Anne Hathaway's renovated Brooklyn brownstone in this 2015 workplace comedy is almost too good to be true. Shot on-location in a real post-war apartment, this kitchen is a blend of traditional (that fireplace!) and contemporary (the wood-block open shelving!) elegance. Industrial light fixtures and crisp white subway tile add a trendy finish.
Warner Bros.
'Something's Gotta Give'
Columbia Pictures
Diane Keaton's ~perfect~ Hamptons house in this 2003 classic is the most famous of Meyers' movie kitchens, and a wonderful example of her most preppy, Pottery Barn-esque instincts. In the kitchen, glass uppers with precious latches give an otherwise streamlined look some personality. Elsewhere, soft blues and creams are the picture of coastal design.
Columbia Pictures
'It's Complicated'
Jon Hutman/Universal Studios
We just can't look away from Meryl Streep's 1920s Santa Barbara home from "It's Complicated" (2009). Warmer than the beach house from "Something's Gotta Give," this Spanish-style delight frames the kitchen with a dramatic archway. Built-in shelving replaces cabinets, and a bright French marble island gives it a dose of luxury. Notice, also, how warm woods and terracotta details travel the length of the space, seamlessly connecting the kitchen, dining area and sitting room.
Jon Hutman/Universal Studios
'The Holiday'
Columbia Pictures
And our top choice, on the grounds of sheer fairytale beauty, is Kate Winslet's picturesque English cottage from the 2006 house-swap romance "The Holiday." Cameron Diaz traded her modern California mansion for this storybook hovel and, suddenly, cottagecore was invented. The slanted rooflines, white plaster walls, walnut beams and—yes!—cornflower blue cabinets are just about the most adorable interiors ever put to film.
Columbia Pictures
