Crazy about Nancy Meyers’ Films!

SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE

My dream office, my dream bedroom….that view!

One of the strongest influences I had in my “DreamingDesign” life was the Amazing director Nancy Meyer and her films.  I know I’m not alone in this one, I read many years ago that the house in “Something’s gotta Give” was the most requested house in the history of Interior Design! No wonder!  It left me dreaming about it for years to come…It was like somebody entered my mind and soul and created the vision I had inside of all the things I love!

Something’s Gotta Give

The incredible living room with that view… the rain, the soft and calming color palette… can you see how the outside colors are repeated seamlessly in the inside?! Talking about perfection! One the extension of the other…

I fell in love with the beautiful slipcovered sofas and armchairs, all in a subtle variation of blues with grey undertones…

The kitchen that started it all! Decades later we are still trying to achieve it’s beautiful down to earth, homey appeal.

The wonderfully oversized area rug, very unpretentious, fresh and perfect. The contrast between the dark and shiny sofa and side tables and the light slipcovered sofas, armchairs and accent pillows, all covered in such exquisite fabrics, we can almost feel their softness, just looking at them!

The amazing Erika…

The dining room, that fabric everybody tried so hard to find!

EVEN THE PASTA SERVED BECAME A SUBJECT OF CONVERSATION! SISAL RUGS BECAME A MUST IN DECORATION EVERYWHERE LIKE NEVER BEFORE…. WHAT A POWERFUL WOMAN, SO TALENTED, SO INFLUENTIAL, THANK GOD FOR HER IMPECCABLE TASTE AND ABSOLUTE COMMITMENT TO DETAIL, HONESTY AND LOVE OF ART AND EVERYTHING HARMONIOUS AND NATURAL!…. OH, HOW I WISH I COULD WORK WITH HER IN ANYTHING, EVEN HOLDING HER COFFEE AND ENJOYING THE RIDE!

Preparing to film one of the scenes with the adorable Keanu Reeves. Look at the moving platform where the dining room table and chairs are placed! I think the “sisters” are asking him: “Can we REALLY kiss you a lot?!”

The one and only NANCY MEYERS with the great DIANE KEATON. What a pair of strong, crazy talented women.

Jack without pants in the kitchen…. Priceless! Those soapstone countertops….

Attention to detail at it’s best!

Erika’s marvelous bedroom/office

ERIKA’S WRITING NOOK…

Found in HookedonHouses.net   -I LOVE THE BOOKS SO HANDY AND THE WALL OF FRENCH DOORS

I always find my self recognizing her influence in my home decor

FROM THE PIPING ON THE SLIPCOVERS TO THE HYDRANGEAS, EVERY DETAIL BECAME A TREND THAT LASTED FOR DECADES AND IT’S STILL STRONG NOW. WHAT COULD WE ARGUE AGAINST A CLASSIC? NEVER OUT OF STYLE, FAMILIAR, UNDERSTATED AND VERY CHIC.. DID YOU NOTICE THAT THROW ON THE LEFT ARMCHAIR?  CAN YOU FEEL THE CASHMERE? I SURE CAN !

FARM SINKS AND INDUSTRIAL LIGHTS BECAME ALL THE RAGE AND ARE STILL ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR KITCHEN FEATURES.   I STARTED PREPARING PANCAKES WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE RECIPE SINCE I SAW ERIKA DO IT SO EFFORTLESSLY IN THIS FILM!   I LOVE THAT MOMENT, IT FEELS SO NATURAL AND REAL, EVEN THOUGH I ALWAYS MADE PANCAKES FOR MY CHILDREN, AFTER THE MOVIE I REALLY STOPPED LOOKING AT THE RECIPE AND PRETENDED TO BE AS COMFORTABLE AND EXTRAORDINARY AS ERIKA WAS. IT WORKED. I ENJOY MAKING PANCAKES NOW MORE THAN EVER AND IT TAKES ME JUST A MOMENT LIKE IT TOOK HER TO PREPARE THEM ! DO I SOUND A LITTLE CRAZY HERE OR ARE WE ALMOST ALL LIKE THAT?…

Borrowed from Cote de Texas cotedetexas.blogspot.com/  I don’t know how to put the links yet….

Frances McDormand…Genius. I love her!

THE EXTERIOR OF A REAL HAMPTONS’ HOUSE, THE ONLY REAL PART OF THE HOUSE ACTUALLY USED IN THE FILM.

The delicious Keanu Reeves and the fabulous Diane Keaton in PARIS!  – What a dream…

Le Grand Colbert… A bucket list kind of place!

Le Grand Colbert Brasserie, serving dreams every day!

Le Grand Colbert, where the last scenes were filmed… I felt in love with the place!

THE HOLIDAY

JUDE LAW… DON’T YOU JUST ADORE HIM IN THIS ROLE?!  I DO, I DO, I DO.

Later on, I fell in love with “The Holiday” another incredible film directed by Nancy Meyers, who has impeccable taste, exquisite sensibility and a vision so clear of what she wants that she always achieves her goals, each one of her movies are a tour for the senses,  she makes the houses in her movies look so darn real!!!  They are always perfect for the characters, you REALLY believe those are their real houses, you feel they have lived there for a while, the houses have their personalities and their seal infused on them!

  I couldn’t imagine Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law or even Jack Nicholson,( whose apartment in the city was a work of art! and almost never gets mentioned..)  living somewhere else in those movies!  (or I should say their characters)  It was what I call design PERFECTION! Those houses were not just another character in the movies, they played a main role, they were the stars of the films, if you know what I mean, they were more than supporting actors for the characters, they were protagonists themselves and I can never get enough of them!

– THE GORGEOUS FRESH AND SOPHISTICATED CAMERON DIAZ HOLLYWOOD HOUSE

  It would be too hard in one post to try to describe the beauty of those houses and so many magical moments during those films… like the moment Jude Law and Cameron Diaz shared with his adorable daughters under that magical tent in the girls’ bedroom! …. What can I say? I am a grown woman and it still makes my heart skip a bit! (It doesn’t help that I fell in love with Jude’s character in this movie either!)

– SOPHIE AND OLIVIA’S DREAM BEDROOM AND THE ADORABLE TENT EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT!

Director Nancy Meyers works closely with Beth Rubino and with her interior designer James Radin. It is a match made in design heaven!   Now I’ll leave you with  some images to enjoy and get inspired, like I did many years ago, perhaps the new generation isn’t aware of the films, they were just kids when they came out, nevertheless, everybody should watch these movies, it would be a shame to miss them. I know I’ll watch them again and again! 

– IRIS’S ENGLISH COTTAGE! THE FABRICS ARE PRECIOUS, LOVE THE RUNNER GOING UPSTAIRS, AND THE TUFTED OTTOMAN REMINDS ME OF THE ONE IN “SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE”

– I DON’T WANT TO BE REPETITIVE BUT I HAVE TO MENTION THE OUTSTANDING ATTENTION TO DETAIL PUT IN THESE HOUSES!

– JUDE’S HOME IN THE HOLIDAY!

– THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION!

THEY MADE ALL THE MAGIC HAPPEN! BUT IT WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN THE SAME WITHOUT THE HOUSES CREATED FOR THE MOVIES BY THESE GENIUSES

Can you tell the influence in these next two old photos of my home at that time?!  Sorry for the mess and everything,  they were not intended to be shared,  I took them some time ago for no reason and wanted to show you!

You can still see the influence in a later work

I usually write in an impulse and come back later if possible, to try to correct my writing and make it better, the problem is that I do it after I publish it, don’t have the patience to wait…

UNBELIEVABLE!  ELI WALLACH IS GONE! … LOVED HIS CHARACTER IN THE HOLIDAY… HE STOLE MY HEART…  HE WAS BRILLIANT IN THE GODFATHER TOO, MEAN BUT BRILLIANT….  MR. WALLACH, YOU WILL BE DEEPLY MISSED…

IT’S COMPLICATED

With the incredibly talented Meryl Streep, another lesson in design genius and trendsetting power.  After this film we saw that the use of four or five armchairs instead or in addition to a sofa became very popular and in every magazine, window treatments made of natural grasses and black iron for window frames and doors became the craze! they are still going strong, just beautiful.

MORE DREAM KITCHENS FROM NANCY’S MOVIES AND THE EXTREMELY TALENTED AND ADORABLE MERYL STREEP 

I LOVE HOW ECLECTIC THEY ARE, TIMELESS… THE VIEW, SO CALIFORNIA STYLE, WHAT A CONTRAST WITH “SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE”‘S CLASSIC EAST COAST, HAMPTONS’ STYLE, HERE WE FIND OURSELVES IN THE BEAUTIFUL PACIFIC COAST WITH ALL THE SPANISH ELEMENTS AND CHARM… OPEN SHELVING, BLACK IRON WINDOW AND DOOR FRAMES… TRENDSETTERS DEFINITELY!

IT WOULD BE HARD OR IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO PRETEND TO COVER EVERYTHING ABOUT THESE FILMS AND THE INTERIOR DESIGN OF THESE HOUSES, BUT AT LEAST THIS IS MY ATTEMPT TO HONOR A REMARKABLE WOMAN, DIRECTOR, DESIGNER AND ARTIST. WHAT A VISION, WHAT A WOMAN!