Infuse Your Home With Happy Through Dopamine Decor

How can you add dopamine decor to your home?

Display the items you love. If you collect antiques, action figures or anything else, Nozawa says to display them loud and proud. “Put some of that collection out on your coffee table, and arrange it in different places,” she says.

designed by Mendelson Group, Photography by Eric Piasecki

She sees clients who display cabbage-ware (which is exactly what you think it is: ceramic designed to look like cabbage) throughout their homes because they think it’s cool and it makes them happy.

Use your wall space. No matter how big or small your space, Nozawa says there’s always room for the art, photos and items you love on the walls. If you don’t have many surfaces in your home or you have mobility issues, wall shelving or shadowboxes can make space to display trinkets and small collection items you may have hidden away for years.

“Considering what can go on your wall and revisiting the love of gallery walls and arranging collections on walls is one really great way to think about not having to surrender or sort of shed a lot of these things that might represent memories and good times and great family moments,” Nozawa says.

Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: designed by Mendelson Group, Photography by Eric Piasecki (2))

Adding a pop of color is another great way to take your walls to the next level.

“Painting the walls (with) fantastic, strong colors is easy to do, and it’s also something you can play with and test,” Mendelson says. “It’s not necessarily permanent. You paint the wall, you don’t like the color, paint it again. It’s less of a commitment and a great place to take risks.”

Embrace the light. Nozawa says lighting can enhance our mood in more ways than one. She suggests getting rid of old fluorescent lighting “that nobody feels good underneath.” Also consider the tactical experience of lighting up a room, she advises.

“There’s nothing more wonderful than enjoying the switch of turning a light on and off, whether that’s on a wall or whether that’s on the lamp that you’re using,” Nozawa says. Many dopamine decor videos on social media feature decorative, colorful and sometimes hand-painted light switch covers.

Mendelson calls the lighting in your home the jewelry that can add whimsicality to your space — it’s a prime opportunity to have fun with decorative chandeliers, sconces and pendants, he says.

Go beyond the visual. Nozawa stresses that it’s important to think about the lived experience in your home and whether you love your everyday rituals or if they feel more like everyday annoyances. This is especially true for frequently visited areas, such as the bathroom and kitchen.

Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: designed by Mendelson Group, Photography by Tim Lenz (2))

The color on your bathroom wall, the plush texture of a bath mat or a creative design on a shower curtain can elevate the aesthetic of that room. But also think about what you touch every day. Your bathroom faucet, for example: Do you enjoy looking at it and turning it on and off every time you wash your hands?

Consider the small luxuries, too. Nozawa says she loves the feel and smell of a quality bar of hand soap.

Make practical “dopamine investments.” Nozawa says functional improvements to your home are also investments to your overall dopamine and joy.

“What I love about interior design (is) it doesn’t matter if I design something that’s beautiful if it doesn’t work. If it doesn’t perform, it’s not practical for that family, I’ve done a bad job. It doesn’t matter if it’s pretty,” she says.

What good is a gorgeous set of pots and pans shaped like tomatoes if they’re poor quality and burn your food? Similarly, Nozawa says, if you update to beautiful drawer pulls that snag on your jean loops as you cook, is that really adding joy to your life?

She suggests functional improvements such as updating your dishwasher if it leaves watermarks that bother you, or buying a set of nonstick pots and pans if the old ones no longer work properly.

“These are things that are both practical but also dopamine-related,” she says. “You can make a functional improvement to your life that also makes you happy, because it’s such a joy to experience the results of a better-performing dishwasher or a better-performing frying pan.”

Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: designed by Mendelson Group, Photography by Tim Lenz, Photography by Eric Piasecki)

Experiment and take risks. Visualizing, implementing and being happy with the result comes down to trial and error, “which is a difficult thing to say when trial and error could be as catastrophic as a sofa or dining chair set,” Nozawa says. She recommends using digital tools that help you view how big-ticket items would look in your space.

Popular mobile apps that may help include Houzz and Interior Design Pro.

Keep up with trends, but don’t take them too seriously. Nozawa and Mendelson think of design trends as pendulums, swinging back and forth — and faster with social media.

“We want our customers to pay attention to trends and enjoy them but not feel beholden to following them whether they’re on the way in or on the way out,” Nozawa says.

Mendelson has observed that his older clients know what they do and don’t like, and those defined design parameters make his clients fun to work with, especially as it pertains to dopamine decor. They aren’t tied to the idea that they have to use what they see on TikTok.

“What I like about this idea of the dopamine decor is … it allows the freedom to be yourself and take some risks within your own kind of comfort zone,” Mendelson says. “So I would just say that my older clients are a little more, you know, confident and willing to go for it.”​​