If you’ve been seeking a little jolt of happiness anywhere you can find one lately, you’re not alone. “Trying to have a home that is incredibly comfortable and surrounding myself with the things that I love tempers my existential despair,” said designer Jonathan Adler, who has made a brand out of mood-boosting with his witty tabletop objets, such as decorative brass boxes in the shape of Xanax and wicker bananas. Consider Adler’s work the precursor to “dopamine decor,” the viral buzzword du jour. This anti-trend aesthetic is all about eschewing the latest fads and embracing what makes you feel good.
“Dopamine is the neurotransmitter designed to make us do more of the things that are good for us,” said Samuel D. Gosling, author of “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You” and a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.
“The things that make us feel good tend to be things that have been either good for us now in some way or have been good for us in some kind of evolutionary context.” Some of this is fairly universal—seeing a fire in the fireplace, for example, or being near water—while some of it is particular to you, such as wanting to bathe your space in pink because your beloved grandma was a “blush and bashful” girl.
However, if you’re using TikTok as a guide, most of the rooms that turn up on a “dopamine decor” search would be considered punchy, even for the internet. Snaking Pepto-pink sofas and stools shaped like Candyland bonbons are the types of overly cartoonish spaces that could give many of us a migraine in minutes and are not exactly conducive to creating a calming environment.
Embrace earthy colours. “For me, colour is an injector of happiness,” said Brittany Bromley, a designer with offices in Bedford, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida.
“While we may start with a neutral base in a room, we layer things onto that because when everything in the room is one palette, it doesn’t give your eye the ability to sort of jump around to things. I think that’s actually quite satisfying to be able to have your eye travel around a room and take it in.”
Bromley recommends considering hues with some soul and depth. “We don’t actually use primary colours very often. Very rarely do we use a true primary yellow,” she explains. “Instead, we’ll gravitate towards a burnt saffron or something that gives us that colour value but is less of a true primary for a more satisfying outcome.”
Adding a comedic wink can also enhance your space. “In a world where we are all scrolling Instagram for a dopamine high (or is it just me?!), your home should feel like a respite from the ‘same old,’” Emily Janak, a designer in Jackson, Wyoming, said.
“One of the best ways to evoke that warm feeling in your home is to inject it with humour and personality.” One of Janak’s favourite ways to do that is to select a not-so-serious wallpaper for a powder room. “A friend who runs her family’s multigenerational Christmas business just papered her powder room in vintage Christmas wrapping paper. How could you not get a kick out of that?” Janak covered the walls of the powder room in her previous house with Queen Elizabeth II-themed paper. “It was arguably not tasteful, but it brought so much joy to our little log cabin,” she recalls.
Choosing meaningful items is another way to create a joyful environment. When Marie Kondo advised that we get rid of things that don’t “spark joy,” she was also saying that the items we decide to keep can do exactly that. “Framing personal items like notes and sketches that mean something to you is another way to make you instantly feel good,” Janak suggests, noting that she framed a souvenir scarf from Jackson Hole, complete with a humorous typo.
By embracing these principles of dopamine decor, you can transform your home into a sanctuary that not only reflects your personality but also uplifts your spirit.