7 Ways to Make Your Life Feel Like a Nancy Meyers Movie That Don’t Require a Hamptons Beach House

If you’ve ever watched Something’s Gotta Give and immediately wanted to redecorate your entire kitchen, light fourteen candles, and pour a glass of Chardonnay while staring pensively at the ocean—same. Because there’s just something about a Nancy Meyers kind of life. The cozy house. The slow mornings. The dinner parties where everyone is somehow emotionally stable and wearing linen. It makes you want to get your entire existence together…but in a soft, warm, candlelit way.

On House Guest, host Kenzie Elizabeth breaks down exactly how she’s turned her real, actual, non-Hollywood life into something that feels pulled straight from a Nancy Meyers set—and she’s been at it for 15 years. Whether you’re starting from scratch or just need a few small tweaks to make your day-to-day feel a little more cinematic, this one’s for you.

Kill the overhead lighting—lamps only

This is Nancy Meyers 101 and arguably the single fastest way to change the entire energy of your home. Kenzie says she used to be a “big light person” who needed every overhead on, but has since converted to an all-lamps-all-the-time lifestyle. 

“Lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps, lamps,” she says, and honestly, she’s right. Pair that with candles burning, a fire going if you’ve got one, and a playlist setting the mood in the background, and your living room goes from “fluorescent office” to “Diane Keaton’s Hamptons beach house” in about five minutes. No renovation required.

Turn everything you own into decor

Books, photos, postcards, ticket stubs—if it has a memory attached, it belongs somewhere visible. Kenzie is a big believer that your home should reflect a life well lived, and that doesn’t require an Anthropologie budget. Her favorite hack: she buys postcards from cities she visits, frames them in inexpensive Amazon frames, and puts them on the wall. 

“People ask all the time as if they’re art,” she says. “And I’m like, no, they’re not.” Bowls of lemons on the counter, hydrangeas (fake ones are completely fair game), and books used as styling pieces all go a long way. The vibe is collected, not curated.

Invest in fewer, better wardrobe pieces

A character from the award-winning filmmaker’s universe has taste—and more importantly, she knows what she likes. Kenzie says the move is quality over quantity, every time. “I would rather have the one perfect white T-shirt than six white T-shirts that aren’t great that you’re going to keep having to replace over and over again anyway,” she explains. 

Think good cashmere, great jeans, linens that age well. Less fast fashion, more pieces you’ll reach for five years from now. You don’t need to dress like Amanda Woods from The Holiday specifically (although Kenzie has been trying since she was 12), but having a defined, intentional style is very Nancy Meyers.

Get a hobby that doesn’t require Wi-Fi

This might be the most 2026 thing on the list. The analog movement is everywhere right now—CNN called it the biggest lifestyle shift of the year—and Kenzie is fully on board. “I love the whole analog movement right now,” she says. “Doing things that are not scrolling.” 

Nancy Meyers characters are always gardening, baking, writing, or reading by a fire. They’re not doomscrolling. Kenzie recommends starting with an herb garden if you want an easy entry point. “Literally the easiest thing ever,” she says. “And you will just feel really good about yourself because you’re able to learn a new skill.”

Wear a matching pajama set to bed every single night

This is the hill Kenzie will die on. “I own more matching pajama sets than I probably own of anything else in my life,” she says, and she’s completely serious. 

Every Nancy Meyers character at night is in a matching set, a robe, slippers, making tea, doing skincare, being a person who has their life together. It’s a tiny shift that makes your evening feel like a ritual instead of a collapse. Add the robe. Add the slippers. You’re already 80 percent of the way to It’s Complicated.

Wake up 20 minutes earlier and do absolutely nothing productive

Not a 5 a.m. alarm. Not a cold plunge. Just…coffee. Maybe birds. Kenzie says the key to a Nancy Meyers morning is simply slowing down. “You can’t just wake up and go right out of bed to work. Not in a Nancy Meyers movie, you can’t,” she says. 

Start with 20 minutes. Sit outside. Drink your java without looking at your phone. “As you do those small things, it will add up, and it’ll make you crave doing more and more,” she says. The anti-hustle-culture morning routine your nervous system has been begging for.

Invest in your friendships like they’re non-negotiable.

The emotional core of literally every Nancy Meyers movie isn’t the kitchen or the cardigan, but the people. Kenzie hosts a dinner party every other week and says prioritizing female friendships is worth the effort, even when life gets busy and complicated. 

“Being friends with the same people for 50 years is not the easiest thing in the entire world, but it’s a really beautiful thing, and it’s worth fighting for,” she says. It doesn’t have to be a full dinner party. A 5 p.m. glass of wine on the patio, a little cheese plate, a phone call. “You got to be the change that you wish to see in your friend group,” she says. Start hosting. Start showing up. The Nancy Meyers plot only works if your people are in the scene.

Listen to the full episode on House Guest with Kenzie Elizabeth, available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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