Your Quick Guide to Dopamine Decor
When it comes to decor it is no secret that I tend to lean more toward neutrals and earth tones than I do bright vivid colours, and though I don’t often have an interest in interior trends, there is something about Dopamine Decor that hits a little different. If you’re unfamiliar, this trend focuses on decor that gives you a sense of joy, using the word dopamine to refer to a neuromodulatory molecule that acts on areas of the brain to give you feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation, therefore the idea with this style of decor is to lean into feelings of whimsy, nostalgia and happiness. This has shown up in a multitude of ways online from bright colours, to confident patterns, to silly knick-knacks, so to help you give a hit of dopamine to your own space I have created a quick guide to make sure your home leaves you smiling all season long.
Get Joyful with Colour
Now I know Stephanie is the queen of utilizing colour here at AHS but in my own way bringing extra bits of colour (I’ll be it soft and sometimes subtle) is something that has brought me a lot of joy. One simple way I’ve started to bring colour into our space is through art! I am actually an artist and love to paint so hanging my art, and the art I love always brings joy to my day to day. These pieces each have a story or memory that is special so getting to see them on a daily basis brings me back to those good times.
Get Nostalgic
Knowing that Dopamine Decor can often have a vintage flair (as many vintage pieces including decor in the ’60s and ’70s were a little wilder) I thought this would be a great opportunity to lean into and celebrate some of our beautiful vintage pieces including this special pink chair which for my entire childhood sat in my grandparent’s back hall. I love its soft pink colouration and wooden detail including rattan siding which creates an interesting and engaging element for the eye and makes the chair feel like a feature on the wall. Though my grandparents are gone, I am so grateful to have this piece of my family history in my little home, and like any of our vintage furniture, knowing that everything here has either been loved before or will be loved by us as long as it can means the world to my husband and me.
Get Whimsical
If you’ve followed our interiors posts over the last year and a half you may have noticed that in addition to vintage moments, I can sometimes have some unique and arguably silly things in my home from time to time. Whether it be this framed tote bag from a bar (now closed) that I frequented in my 20s, old sketches of tarot cards I made in high school, or the newly acquired mushroom lamp that makes me smile on the regular, I love to include little, unique things that mean something to me. Decor shouldn’t be about hitting trends or always looking.
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