Is your FYP and Instagram feed full of brightly colored decorations, furniture, and art? Are you finding yourself drawn to funky shaped furniture, maximalism, and painted doors? Boy do we have the episode for you! Today, Marcelle leads us through a conversation all about the “dopamine decor” trend! Through adrienne maree brown’s theory of pleasure activism, she and Hannah unpack dopamine science, homeownership amongst millennials, and why we turn to beauty when the world is hard.
Related listening:
Dopamine x Health Capitalism with Jesse Meadows
Athleisure x Optimization with Anne Helen Peterson
Works Cited:
brown, adrienne maree. Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good. Chico, CA: AK Press, 2019.
Cancilla, Julia. “The Surprising Science Behind the Dopamine Decor Trend.” ELLE Decor. December 20, 2024. https://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/trends/a63250266/dopamine-decor-trend/. Accessed August 4, 2026.
Cullinane, Alice. 2025. “Dopamine Decor: Why People Are Getting a Happiness Hit from Homes.” BBC News. December 14, 2025. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg2j5l4q7wo. Accessed August 4, 2026.
Lee, Ingrid Fetell. “Does Dopamine Decor Really Work?.” The Aesthetics of Joy. March 8, 2024. https://aestheticsofjoy.com/dopamine-decor/. Accessed August 4, 2026.
Mirdamadi, Michael, and Joshua Gordon. “Millennials in the Canadian housing market: An intergenerational comparison.” Housing Statistics in Canada. Government of Canada. May 6, 2026. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/46-28-0001/2026001/article/00001-eng.htm. Accessed August 4, 2026.
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Music Credits:
“Shopping Mall”: by Jay Arner and Jessica Delisle ©2020
Used by permission. All rights reserved. As recorded by Auto Syndicate on the album “Bongo Dance”.
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