Our homes, including our bedrooms, should induce happy feelings so we can feel good in our spaces. A happiness-inspiring bedroom might even make you fall asleep more peacefully every night.
One way to create feelings of happiness in your home is by using bright colors. This theory is utilized in the latest interior design trend, which is known as dopamine decor.
“Your bedroom should be your sanctuary, your safe space,” says Christine Vroom, interior designer. “It’s so important to create an environment you feel good in.”
As Vroom notes, we spend a good amount of time in the bedroom, so you want to design a space that reduces stress and makes you feel happy.
Vroom believes bright colors evoke joy and optimism. “They bring about a sense of energy and uplift the space,” she says.
Want to bring happy vibes to your own bedroom? Read on for helpful tips and tricks to capture the dopamine decorating trend.
What is dopamine decor?
Researchers are increasingly finding that beholding beautiful and colorful things, like artwork, being in sensory-rich environments, and viewing warm hues can lift one’s mood and even induce dopamine.
Inspired by dopamine, a hormone and neurotransmitter that helps us feel pleasure and is located within the brain’s reward system, dopamine decor is, at its core, a feel-good trend, notes Vroom.
“It’s basically bold colors and patterns, eclectic prints, interesting textures, and an almost nostalgic vibe,” she says. “It’s supposed to make you feel energized and invigorated in your space.”
The hallmarks of dopamine decor are bold colors and patterns, eclectic prints, interesting textures, and a nostalgic vibe.
Specific colors that might boost dopamine and happy feelings include sunny yellows and rich greens, according to Vroom. “They tend to be well-liked colors and are very nature-inspired,” she says.
Vroom adds that there are many studies on the psychology of color and how certain shades affect our mood.
“Colors are known to boost moods, bring down your energy, lift your spirits, make you feel relaxed, and so on,” she explains. “Colors are intertwined into our minds—they can be associated with memories, childhood, places, and people, which can impact our mood.”
Why is dopamine decor trending?
The happy-go-lucky dopamine decor trend has found its way into popular culture in the last couple of years—and there’s a very good theory for why it’s taken hold.
“We have stress, anxiety, challenges at work and in the family, hardships, etc., and people are looking to the design community to assist in creating healing spaces that boost dopamine and lift your spirits,” observes Vroom. “People are seeing the value in decor, color, furnishings, and how they impact our mind, body, and spirit.”
How to bring dopamine decor into the bedroom
1. Embrace patterns
Colorful patterns are anchoring visuals within the dopamine decor trend. To incorporate this, select an upholstered bed in a funky pattern, says Vroom. Keep your linens solid to allow the print to stand out.
2. Hang cheerful artwork
The bedroom is a wonderful place to display art, particularly when it’s a gallery wall that appears above the bed. To represent the dopamine decor trend, Vroom suggests choosing bright, colorful art, which should make you feel a lot more awake as soon as your alarm goes off.
3. Bring in plenty of plants
There’s a subtle element of nature within the dopamine decor trend since it’s proven that nature has the power to lift our moods. So bring in “lots of plants” to incorporate those nature-inspired vibes and to show off vibrant pops of green, says Vroom.
4. Focus on the drapes
Fabric window treatments are another way to invite color into the bedroom, especially when they spotlight a brightly-hued pattern. Vroom suggests looking for “an eclectic but complementary print for the drapes” so you can tie the whole room together.
5. Push the envelope
Dopamine decor isn’t for the faint of heart, so this is the time to take some design risks in your bedroom. “My main tip is to push the boundaries a little,” Vroom says. “Be a risk taker with dopamine decor—have fun with it and use things that ultimately make you happy.”
FAQs
What are dopamine decor colors?
According to Vroom, bright yellows and greens are the mainstay colors of the dopamine decor trend—but you can also look to hues like red, orange, and pink to improve your mood.
How do you create dopamine decor?
The brighter, the better when it comes to dopamine decor. Don’t shy away from colors and prints for this trend—and weave in whatever inspires happiness for you.
Another design trend focused on bright colors is kindercore. Learn all about how to bring kindercore design into the bedroom.