14 ICONIC Movies That Made Us Fall Madly in Love With Design

“Every time they show Elizabeth James’s London home, I fall in love with it again. From the flower planters that flank the outside of the house to the staircase with a gallery wall filled with antique-looking frames to Elizabeth’s European bedroom furniture and decor, the space feels so warm and inviting. It’s decorated so well, in a lived-in kind of way. And if you look at the rooms closely, everything has aged so well! The home, as decorated, honestly wouldn’t look out of place in 2025, which to me signals that the set designers did an amazing job leaning into the classics for someone as elegant as Elizabeth.”

—Marina Liao, Senior Commerce Editor

“The Grand Budapest Hotel was one of the first films where I truly saw the intentionality of the production design to drive the narrative. It utilizes very specific color palettes to illustrate different characters and storylines. For the first time, I understood the impact that color can have on your emotional perception. It also reinforces that bold color and design don’t have to look visually busy. A limited color palette, clean lines, and the use of symmetry make this film soooo aesthetically pleasing.”

—Bianca Bonetti, Assistant Social Media Editor

“The continuous take technique from the famous auteur, Alfred Hitchcock, may have been intended to draw in the viewer, creating tension and mystery, but as a young film fanatic, I can’t believe those windows! The windows and the long couch in front, that skyline (thank you, 1940s movie magic). I think this is the first time I realized a top-floor NYC apartment didn’t mean some giant penthouse. Those curved floor-to-ceiling windows were giving greenhouse in the big city.”

—Dangi McCoy, Deputy Visual Director

“While this film truly made me an angsty teen, I really just longed to live in Jane Austen’s cozy world. From the grand estate of Mr. Bingley, filled with ‘nice furnishings’ to the Bennetts’ humble home, this movie personalized girlhood and creature comforts. I really think that my love of having multiple seating possibilities and patterned upholstery started here. I mean, who wouldn’t want to laze the day away on a striped settee?”

—Kate McGregor, Digital Editor

“Though this was the movie that got me into journalism, it also marks the first time I really fell in love with a home’s design. Miranda’s home is stunning from the foyer to the spiral carpeted staircase that seems to go on forever. I’m still planning to recreate her library/sitting room as soon as I’m able.”

—Janae McKenzie, Associate Shopping Editor

“In Alfonso Cuarón’s 1998 adaptation of Great Expectations, the color green isn’t just a hue—it’s a mood, a vibe, and a whole seductive narrative woven into nearly every scene. The decaying mansion of Miss Dinsmoor (played by the iconic Anne Bancroft) on the South Florida coastline is where the real design magic happens, though. From the grand wrought iron gate that greets Pip to the mansion’s sprawling, overgrown gardens and fountains, it’s a visual feast of wealth and eccentricity that you can’t help but get utterly lost in.”

—Jess Teves, Executive Editor

“I credit Practical Magic for my love of whimsigoth decor and fashion. First of all, the location of the house is just stunning: High on a cliffside, fairly secluded, with a large yard. And the exterior itself is so charming with the turret and covered porch. Then you go inside and it’s just beautifully lived-in with hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, a warm white kitchen, and an enviable greenhouse. Learning that this house was built for the movie and torn down after hurt my soul.”

—Meghan Shouse, Associate Editor

“This movie sparked a love for Art Deco that sticks with me over a decade later. It’s opulent, extravagant, and makes the classic novel feel so vibrant. Though all of the glitz goes to Gatsby’s lively mansion, the one that sticks with me is the tea room in Nick’s humble-but-gorgeous home. The green tile, warm wood, and extravagant flowers make a fairytale feel attainable. The cherry on top is the columned back porch overlooking the bay—a dream view.”

—Janae McKenzie, Associate Shopping Editor

“Okay, we know about the infamous gray suit and the chic train travel, but that house! It’s a Hollywood set, of course, but Frank Lloyd Wright–inspired. With sharp lines and open space, the decor is quintessentially MCM.”

—Dangi McCoy, Deputy Visual Director

“I was questionably young when my parents first let me watch the Lord of the Rings movies, but I feel I’m all the better for it for many reasons, one of them being my love of architecture that came out of these films. The Shire is so charming and perfectly cottagecore, Rivendell is so grand and ethereal, even Saruman’s castle with its jagged edges and dark palette is scarily beautiful.”

—Meghan Shouse, Associate Editor

“Everyone’s always quick to romanticize Kate Winslet’s cozy English cottage in The Holiday (and with good reason, TBH), but my love of design actually started with Cameron Diaz’s California house—specifically the living room. My parents used her bookshelves as inspiration for a project in my own childhood home in the early aughts, and the scene when Kate’s character first arrives is forever ingrained in my brain because my dad used our family digital camera (throwback!) to take so many photos of the set.”

—Blair Donovan, Digital Director

“The main character, Mia Thermopolis, lives with her mom in an old San Francisco firehouse turned artist’s loft, a concept that completely captivated my 11-year-old imagination. Adorned with classic early 2000s decor—a fuzzy butterfly chair, string lights, and stickers galore—Mia’s bedroom was the nook-of-one’s-own every teen dreams of. Watching her descend from her cloud-painted room, spiraling down a staircase, and even sliding down a fire pole to the expansive main floor, I was enamored with the entire home’s quirky, slightly disheveled appearance. It still tugs at my heartstrings to this day.”

—Melanie Yates, Senior Digital Editor

“This movie does Rococo design better than any movie centered around the 18th century. The colors, textures, and just the enormous scale of the design really captured that period of opulence accurately, and I can’t get enough. Plus, the fact that she had unrestricted access to the castle during filming only makes it cooler. Vive la France!”

—Jessica Cherner, Associate Shopping Editor

“A sucker for the universe of Wes Anderson, The Royal Tenenbaums was one of the first movie homes I could imagine really living in. The family dysfunction is merely a secondary character to the bold color palettes, Flemish Revival architecture, and iconic Scalamandré zebra wallpaper. Gwyneth Paltrow’s bathtub and the attic tent continue to live rent-free in my mind.”

—Kate McGregor, Digital Editor