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Mindy Kaling rarely shies away from a bold color scheme, whether through her fun fashion choices or her love of vibrantly hued furniture and decor. The “Office” alum recently gave a peek into one particularly unexpected design choice on her Instagram page, and she’s making a serious case for sunset orange walls.
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Kaling showed off a gift from the writers on her Netflix series, “Never Have I Ever,” a framed photo of tennis player John McEnroe shaking hands with fellow player Jimmy Connors after he lost against him at the 1984 Wimbledon match. Thanking her writing team for the “incredible gift,” she added, “It’s not how we handle success but how [we] handle defeat that makes us grow as people, I think. Besides being a sports icon and the amazing narrator of ‘Never Have I Ever,’ John represents so much to me. He’s a winner who worked hard and has high standards but also, is kind of a hot head sometimes. It’s hard to be perfect all the time. I aspire to be like Johnny Mac.”
In the photo, Kaling can be seen posing in the dining room of her Los Angeles home, which she moved into in 2017. The warm orange walls reflect Kaling’s love of entertaining, which her interior designer Katie Ridder discussed with Architectural Digest. “Mindy wanted to be able to seat a lot of people and have an open plan,” Ridder told the outlet. “There are a number of seating areas made for entertaining, including a dining room table that accommodates 12 guests. The table is one of seven pieces Kaling inherited from her parents and refurbished.”
The dining chairs also include a fun pop of color, featuring bright yellow cushions. As for Kaling’s orange walls, she told AD, “In my dining room, the paint is high-gloss lacquered paint. The feeling is silver leaf. Katie designed some of the Plaza in New York, so she knows the grandness of high-gloss paint.”
Though the exact paint shade used on Kaling’s dining room walls is unclear, a similar glossy, warm hue is Behr Premium Plus Electric Orange Hi-Gloss Enamel Interior/Exterior Paint ($18.98/quart), which has a perfect five-star rating from Home Depot reviewers and provides a similarly chic addition to any space, especially if you’re looking to capture Kaling’s colorful LA vibe in your own home.
Arielle Tschinkel is a freelance pop culture and lifestyle writer whose work has appeared on Shape.com, WomansWorld.com, FirstforWomen.com, Insider, HelloGiggles, and more. She loves all things Disney and is making her way to every park around the world, and is a die-hard Britney Spears fan for life. She's also obsessed with her Bernedoodle, Bruce Wayne.