Mindy Kaling, the creator and star of The Mindy Project, just finished decorating her new haven in Hancock Park (Los Angeles) and gave Architectural Digest the first peek inside. Katie Ridder helped Kaling with the interior design. Mindy's dining room table is from her childhood home and was her mother's favorite piece of furniture. Ridder fitted the accompanying chairs with yellow upholstery. Kaling's favorite feature in the living room is the custom-designed sofa due to its fun coloring, piping, and grown-up appeal. As for her favorite feature in the entire house, Mindy opts for the fireplace.

From "Tour Mindy Kaling’s Cheerful Los Angeles House":

"The creator and star of 'The Mindy Project' just finished renovating and decorating her new home in Hancock Park—and it's full of color and character

Mindy Kaling never really considered herself a hostess. “I always thought, 'I’m just a busy comedy writer,'” the creator and star of Hulu’s The Mindy Project confesses. But filming Disney’s big-screen adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time in New Zealand introduced her to costars and consummate entertainers Reese Witherspoon and Oprah Winfrey. If Oprah has time to throw a Wonder Woman–themed party for 28 ten-year-olds and Witherspoon can arrange her own flowers for a Fourth of July brunch, Kaling reasoned, she could find time to host a party or two.

After ten months of renovating and decorating, Kaling has lived in her Los Angeles house for just six weeks. But she's loved the historic neighborhood for years. "I was specific about Hancock Park," she says, adding that finding her dream house wasn't as easy as she had hoped. "It's one of these places that no one ever leaves. I fell in love with three houses, but I kept losing to these Chinese billionaires who were paying in all cash. I wish I were an Indian billionaire. Finally, I found a house that wasn't listed—a pocket listing—and I came in over asking."

But the Hancock Park real estate scene wasn't the only thing that surprised Kaling. “I’ve lived in L.A. for 15 years and I’ve never had a second floor. Now I do and it’s a little frightening,” she says. “I’ll watch a murder documentary on Netflix, and then I’m too afraid to go upstairs. There have been two nights that I’ve slept on the couch downstairs.” Luckily for Kaling, interior designer Katie Ridder is multitalented—and she knows how to pick a good sofa.

“Mindy wanted to be able to seat a lot of people and have an open plan,” says Ridder. 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. Ridder covered some of the traditional rosewood furniture in Swedish fabrics with bright pops of color, and she also displayed her hallmark command of color with bright wallpaper.

The living and entertaining spaces are designed to flow outdoors to the pool and big backyard. “Her writers, they spend a lot of time together, and she needed areas where they could write together, watch shows together, eat together—and swim together,” says Ridder. “The lawn is incredible,” Kaling says cheerfully. “I was so excited when the drought ended. I could water with impunity.”

Kaling originally fell in love with Ridder's work via social media. "When I was going through her Instagram, I felt like I already lived in that home; I could see myself living there for years," Kaling says. "I think it was pretty carte blanche," the actress says of the freedom she gave Ridder. "Of all of my partnerships, this was probably the easiest, and we understood each other."

For Ridder, as well as Kaling's architects Adrian Koffka and Cynthia Phakos of Koffka Phakos Design, the project was all about bringing the house back to its former glory."

See more here: https://www.architecturaldiges....t.com/story/mindy-ka

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Inside Mindy Kaling's Colorful Hancock Park House | Celebrity Homes | Architectural Digest