Dopamine Home: A bold guide to mood-boosting interiors

by Rachel Verney

Packed full of ideas for every budget, interiors expert Rachel Verney shares her creative design process, colour know-how and interior hacks to make every corner of your home a colourful, dopamine-inducing haven. Whether you're looking for cost-friendly mini upgrades with maximum impact or large-scale inspiration as part of a renovation, Rachel guides you through the core principles of dopamine décor room by room, showing you to implement it as you transform your space.

Genres: Nonfiction, Design

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 13, 2025

Reviews

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew Dopamine Decor is a thing? Not me, until I read this book! If you are unfamiliar like I was, it is a design trend of colourful maximalism to create spaces using bold colours and patterns with the overarching goals of evoking a sense of joy and boosting mood. It is a counter-trend to minimalism and muted beige tones that encourages individuality and personal expression.

The vibe of the book is very aspirational and it serves as a nice starting place for DIYers who love big colours and textures and aren't sure where or how to start with their own home design. Readers will find a good number of photos for idea and I liked that the book was slightly smaller in size than the usual coffe-table-sized design book. There are some good tips for getting started, especially if you are on a budget, along with some how-to DIY projects.

Decorating can feel daunting, this book helps give you confidence to start and to do it how you want. The loud style might not be for everyone but you can pick and choose single elements versus going hog wild. So go ahead and paint the ceiling blue and its okay to paint the living room that pretty lavender colour you love!

[Heatherterrybell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved so much about this book. How she turned tragedy into beauty. How she figured out so many things in home and decor. It was just lovely

[Jenn Luckas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the cover and was excited about this book, but I didn't find it as visual as I was expecting with a topic like this. I felt much of the copy to be just filler and more for someone who had never heard of Dopamine Decor or someone who's never really looked at a design book before. I dunno, maybe I was in the wrong mood when I looked at it (irony not intended), but I was a little disappointed. I would have also liked to have resources for some of the items in the pictures. ie. a wallpaper, furniture or other decor items in a photo didnt have any info about it or the company that made it. It also felt sponsored by Valspar and Farrow & Ball as the only paint colours referenced or mentioned as examples were from those two companies. It's a fun one to get from the library, but I wouldnt recommend it as a purchase unless you're just into the cover for a coffee table book.

[merlin513 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically bought this just from the cover alone.

The Interior Design/Art section at my local Barnes and Noble is minuscule, so while in a funk I purchased a stack of fun presenting design books online and am slowly going thru them trying to make them last.

Gorgeous aspirational photography, well laid out and everything presented in a conversational manner. Nothing too novel or that I wasn’t already aware of but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

As a graphic designer one thing I’m not scared of is color and pattern so I really enjoy spaces like these where people have ‘cut loose’ with things that make them happy. And looking at these spaces will hopefully inspire me to edit down some of my myriad collections and hobbies to achieve a more cohesive look. Something other than dopamine addict/curiosity cabinet/bookish hoarder core.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars. Enjoyed it, great photos and a fun vibe. Even with the DIY approach in the book, it did feel aimed at wealthier readers, though, so that was a half star off for my personal rating.

[She Who Shall Remain Nameless · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have a dopamine rush after looking at the bold and beautiful pictures in this book! I think I might even try out painting my patio this summer. I do wish that she included a sources section for where to purchase items such as her sofas.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're just at the start of looking for our next home and this has given me loads of ideas for what to look for based on what I want to do with the decor.

More pictures and inspiration ideas would have been nice though.

[Tracy]

Borrowed this from the library, hoping for visual inspiration, but was disappointed it was more of a guidebook with very few full page photos. It appears to have some practical tip sections of how to do specific diys, just wasn't what I was looking for.

[LaVon Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love vivid colors for clothes and home, most of the examples in this book are not applicable to my home. Did enjoy the author's sharing of family experiences and challenges!

[Kyle O’Keefe]

I don’t typically rate books like this but I enjoyed this one! Informative, highly visual, and gave me a bunch of ideas!

[Jen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basics of trying to get you to a happy home.

[Kelty Duval · Rating 3 out of 5]

while it did give some good ideas for dopamine decor, it really only focused on Rachel's house. I would have liked more examples and DIYs rather than step by steps for wallpapering.

[Kimberlee Howley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a beautiful book to hold and a solid primer for thinking about bringing more joy into your home!

[Emma Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very aspirational and attainable for someone wanting a little more dopamine in their decor. I did find it a little weird that many of the photos were from other Instagram houses, but I understand that there are only a finite number of rooms in a house and it isn't sustainable to be constantly redecorating.