Drew Barrymore Reveals How Transforming Her Home Has Become a Form of ‘Meditation’—Weeks After Viral DIY Kitchen Renovation

Drew Barrymore has revealed that designing homes has become a form of "meditation" for her—weeks after she shared footage of herself taking a hammer to her New York City pad.

The 50-year-old actress may be best known for her turns on screen, but she more than proved her interior decor chops when she designed a stunning room for Real Simple, before telling the outlet her favorite things about transforming a space.

The "50 First Dates" alum told explained that she gets to turn her brain off while designing a space, noting that she makes sure she is "present and mindful" any time she is overhauling a room.

"It’s a place to sit and a transition. Like when you get into a meditation class and they’ll tell you to let go of your day and stop thinking about the next thing you have to do," explained Barrymore, who stars as the latest Real Simple cover star.

"Don’t think about the grocery list or what happened this morning. This room wants you to be mindful and present, which is almost as hard as putting yourself first!

"I had to decide what wellness means to me. It means remembering to even put yourself in the mix, let alone first."

The actress then opened up about her personal design style, revealing that she has struggled to find a term that correctly describes her aesthetic.

“I’ve tried so hard to come up with terms. People will call me bohemian or eclectic. I’ll go with 'downtown rustic.' I like the feeling of city and country. I will always need big florals around me," she explained.

"I don’t know if it’ll ever look like I live in a home that was done by a designer. I went for a prewar place that’s super funky and feels personal and warm and I love it, but my bookshelves have cracks in them because they’re separating from the wall.

"My kids’ closet is a s--t show. It’s not even technically a closet. My friends make fun of me. They’re like, 'She will always buy the places with no closets.'"

Barrymore noted that there is no design feat that is too large for her, confessing that of she wants something, she will make it come to life.

“If I imagine something and I can’t find it, I want to make it. That really lights my fire. And then once the fire starts, it’s hard to extinguish," she said.

"Like when we started designing our appliance line, we wanted to bring high-level tech but with more color and happiness added to it, which is something you don’t often see in this space."

The Hollywood heavyweight also opened up about her personal items, confessing that she has tried to take part in the minimalistic trend and failed.

“I once heard someone say, 'Any space you give a woman, she will fill it.' And I loved that. Give her a little clutch, she’ll pack it full of stuff. Give her a giant suitcase, she’ll fill that up. We’re very good nesters. We definitely know how to fill a space—even if we’re minimalists," she explained.

“I did try minimalism for a minute just to see what it was like. But I’m a bit of a hoarder, and when I tried to take things out, I couldn’t see my life around me anymore. I’m always going to go for a layered look. It’s who I am, and anytime I fight it, it doesn’t work."

Further in the interview, the mom—who shares children Olive, 12, and Frankie, 11, with her ex, Will Kopelman—admitted that she often struggles with parenting burnout as she revealed what she tells herself to get back on track.

She explained: “When I get burnout from trying to mom really hard and work really hard, I go, 'You know what? This isn’t good.' And I know that at the end of the day, the most important thing in life is your relationships. If I’m not putting that first, then I’m on the wrong track.

"So I talk to my kids. And I do try to show them that the more you work on yourself, the happier you’re going to be, the more your friendships will thrive. We all need tools to navigate the world, and asking for help is everything."

Barrymore noted that she is still learning the perfect way to parent each day.

She added, “I don’t know if I’ve got that one down yet. We’re all works in progress. I model how important it is to be kind to others. If you’re not good to someone, you will not only ruin their day, but guess what: You’re going to feel really bad about yourself. So nix that behavior.

"And I’ve taught them that if you clean up after yourself, you’re going to have more calmness in your space. Your head is as messy as your room is. Someone said that to me, and it changed my life forever.”

“I have one daughter who’s neater than I will ever be, and one daughter who is beyond messy. But someone reminded me that I was messy when I was young. And I was like, 'Oh my God, I’m expecting her to have my 50-year-old woman’s standards of cleanliness!'”

Speaking her other routines, Barrymore touched on how she handles stigmas against therapy while sharing her true thoughts on the practice.

“I think about therapy the way people think about exercise, as a form of discipline. I may not have gotten my cardio levels up today, but I figured out a problem and a potential solution.

"I treat therapy as if it’s the most basic, normal, welcomed thing. Nobody questions if someone wants to go to the gym, but somehow therapy can have a stigma. Yeah, I have a lot of cellulite, but my brain is functioning in a way that I’m not devastated about," she said.

“I don’t have that killer body, but I can get out from under the elephant sitting on my chest, the problem that’s overwhelming me. I can go into my toolbox and I can pull myself out of things.”

Barrymore's confession comes weeks after she proved she isn't afraid to get her hands dirty.

At the time, the 50-year-old actress took to Instagram to showcase her efforts at renovating her dwelling, admitting that hammering down areas of her home has been "therapeutic."

"This was very therapeutic," she captioned the video, which saw her destroying her kitchen shelves and using a drill to remove them from the wall.

In the clip, Barrymore, who donned a T-shirt and sweatpants, showcased her construction efforts as she put all of her force into removing the shelves before giving the camera a quick smirk.

At one point, the "50 First Dates" alum even began smiling before she drilled away at her kitchen.

The video then cut to a clip of the actress making a silly gesture while donning gloves and standing in front of a torn-down wall and ladder.

Although Barrymore was overjoyed with her work on her home, home renovation pro Jonathan Scott chimed in to voice some concerns about the project.

"Seeing that full shelf of glasses right above where you’re doing demolition, and remembering back to the demolition mishap you had on our show. I’m thinking I need to come back there and give you a hand. Lol," Scott commented.

Other viewers were also quick to point out the shelf of glass cups that sat above the area the actress was hammering at.

"Omg move the glassware woman! Even as inanimate objects I could feel their fear!" one fan commented.

Barrymore then took to her Instagram Story to assure fans that she heard their concerns, clarifying: "No cups broke!! I promise!! I will move them next time."

The actress recently began her home renovation journey and has candidly opened up about all the stresses that come along with overhauling a home.

"The many emotions of starting a home project. Why do I do this to myself??" she captioned a post last month. 

Barrymore has previously showed off her kitchen and received praise from fans who swooned over her surprisingly "normal" kitchen.

The home where Barrymore is carrying out renovations is her main residence, which sits between New York City and the Hamptons, according to the L.A. Times.

The actress relocated to the East Coast from Los Angeles in 2016.

In 2023, she told The Times that she found it difficult to cope with the shocking move at first, noting that her time in New York was just a "chapter" in her life and she was planning on returning to Los Angeles in the future.

“I had been coming to New York since 1982. But I’ve always felt like it’s like plugging into a light socket. When I was a kid, I totally loved Times Square because it looked just like Hollywood Boulevard, and I grew up right off that. So I was like, all right, OK, I see the similarities.

“You know, many of them were taboo with the X-rated movie theaters, and, you know, the sort of more tawdry side of life. But that felt safe and familiar to me, because that was what was in my backyard of West Hollywood," she explained about her time in NYC.

The actress noted that she felt "lost" when she sold her home in Los Angeles and laid down roots in the Big Apple.