The Maison Gaton Podcast

Micro Creativity and Bravery: The Orange Collection

This week on the Maison Gaton Podcast, we're stepping into the Orange Room, a space dedicated to creativity, whimsy, and permission to be a messy beginner. Drawing on a reframe from a MythBusters creator, we explore how creativity is really just problem solving in disguise, something you're already doing every day. Your missions this week: try micro creativity, be brave enough to be bad at something new, and take a color walk around your home. In This Episode: Why perfectionism is the enemy of creative flow How creative people are really just problem solvers Mission 1: Micro creativity — starting small to build momentum Mission 2: The bravery of being a bad beginner Mission 3: The orange color walk Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

Petite Pleasures and Everyday Glamor: The Red Collection

Petite Pleasures and Everyday Glamor: The Red Collection In this episode: What petite pleasures and everyday glamor actually mean (and why it's a mindset first) Judith's personal story of finding glamor in the smallest of things, even a 99-cent Shasta soda Why you work too hard not to be savoring the life you've built How to do a Color Walk through your home and rediscover the gorgeous things you already own The two key questions to ask yourself this week to shift into a pleasure-first mindset Practical ideas: the good China, the red lipstick, the good candle…use it all, friend Your mission this week: Go on a red color walk through your home. Pull out 5–10 red items: beauty, home goods, clothing, trinkets, and actually use them. Enjoy them. Savor them. Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

A Collection of Lovely Things Part I

Welcome to the first episode of a new series! Step inside the Maison Gaton house: an eccentric, curated space full of trinkets, textures, and treasured collections. This episode is an invitation to take inventory of the lovely things you've gathered throughout your life, and to truly enjoy them. Timestamps: 0:00 — Welcome & introducing the Maison Gaan house 1:17 — Grandmother's Folgers coffee jar full of buttons and odds & ends 1:50 — Marguerite's mother's button tin 2:27 — The collections all around our homes and lives 3:16 — The invitation: take inventory and enjoy what's already there 4:05 — Introducing the six color themes for the series 4:38 — The colors: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue & Violet 5:24 — What to expect next week: Petite Pleasures & Everyday Glamors 5:49 — Each episode will include something practical to do In This Series: Red — Petite Pleasures & Everyday Glamors Orange — Creativity & Whimsy Yellow — Friendship & Gathering Green — Environment & Spaces Blue — Hope, Dreams & Aspirations Violet — Vision, Leadership & Passion If you know someone who might enjoy this series, please share it!Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

Why I Abandoned the Airbnb at 2am

Why I Abandoned the Airbnb at 2am It started with a smell. In this episode, Judith shares the full story of abandoning a vomit-soaked London Airbnb at 2am — and what hauling a giant suitcase into a perfumed hotel in the middle of the night taught her about the year she was actually having. This is the episode that introduces the 2026 theme: Misadventures. In This Episode: The Airbnb from hell — feet, cheese, mold, a cracked window, and a ceiling that finally gave way Why we stay too long in things that clearly aren't working — sunk cost, pride, and not wanting to admit we were wrong How to let the year tell you what kind of year it is instead of forcing a theme onto January Why naming what's actually happening is the first move toward shaping what you want The difference between resisting reality and acknowledging it — with humor and levity Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It: Ask yourself what the year is already telling you. What have you been tolerating too long? What is your proverbial vomit-filled hallway? You don't have to know where the hotel is yet — you just have to admit the smell is no longer acceptable. Timestamps: 0:00 Welcome & Introduction 0:09 The London Airbnb Horror Story 2:53 Why Did We Stay So Long? (Sunk Cost & Pride) 4:01 Rethinking the "Word of the Year" Approach 4:44 Letting the Year Tell You Its Theme 5:50 Introducing the Theme: Misadventure 6:38 Invitation: Name the Year You're Actually Having 7:09 Your Mission: What Are You Tolerating? 7:46 What's Coming Next on the Podcast & Substack 9:19 Closing & Call to Action Connect: Instagram @judithgaton | Substack for weekly essays

Episode 338 Tiny Creative Acts