Padma Lakshmi is opening the doors to her redesigned home office and sharing a few exciting updates on what she’s been working on there.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the Top Chef alum, 54, shared her inspiration for the office makeover, which she upgraded in collaboration with Thumbtack, the online platform that connects people with a variety of home service providers. “I still wanted to keep it nice and bright and airy,” she said. “I needed something that would be a little cozier. It looked a little stark and very utilitarian.”
Instead of a full maximalist makeover, Lakshmi required small touches to shift the energy in the workspace she and her team have been using for about 10 years. “I wanted to make sure it still had the functionality because it is an office, but at the same time, I just wanted to zhuzh it up,” she said.
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The former Taste the Nation host felt a soothing color on the walls would bring the vibe altogether. Ultimately, she landed on a “very pale sage green.”
“When you have something that’s white or eggshell, depending on how much light you have coming in from the windows or overhead lighting, it can be very stark,” she explained. “For me, it’s striking a balance between something that keeps you energized and awake and productive, but just makes it a comforting, cozy space for you. Because as we know, most of us spend the most amount of waking hours at work, and so you want that environment to be something that’s nourishing.”
Her sentiments are in alignment with a recent study by Thumbtack: about 84% of people (and 76% of homeowners) choose renovation and redesign choices that spark joy rather than boost resale value (including active sellers).
There’s also a practical element for the star. “When we’re looking at pictures for a cookbook or when we’re putting up any kind of swatches for anything, whether it’s me going to the Emmys and what that dress is going to look like, it needs to be some background that is kind of soft,” Lakshmi revealed. “So I didn’t want anything too bright, I didn’t want anything too yellow, because that also reflects on your skin and can change the way you look.”
For the art in the office space, Lakshmi hung images from a jewelry campaign shot by famed photographer Steven Meisel.
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Lakshmi considers herself “a very tactile person” who spends a lot of time sitting on the floor when she’s working on a project she needs to get a feel for visually. In the design, this translated to complementary rugs being added to the room for ultimate comfort when she’s brainstorming on her next major project.
Currently, Lakshmi is preparing to release her third cookbook, Padma’s All American, set to release on Nov. 4. The collection of recipes, which she’s been putting together for seven years, will highlight over 100 dishes the author compiled while traveling the country for her Hulu show, Taste the Nation, which concluded after two and a half seasons, PEOPLE previously reported.
Outside of her designing goals and forthcoming cookbook, Lakshmi revealed that she’s recently received the green light for a new CBS show titled American Culinary Cup, which she created. Though she didn’t share too many details of the series, she did say she’s currently staffing for the production, so she’ll be making good use of her new, cozy office.
Read the original article on People
