A New Yorker turned her one-bedroom apartment into a colorful dream space with 'dopamine decor'

Recently, personalization has become a bigger priority than ever to many millennial homeowners and renters, with resale value and security deposits being overshadowed by the need to make a space their own.

For some, that means ditching the "sad beige" aesthetic in favor of colorful, one-of-a-kind spaces. Mody took things a step further by embracing "dopamine decor," a trend revolving around filling your home with things that make you feel happy when you're in it, much like "dopamine dressing."

"It gives you an instant serotonin boost when you walk into a space because it's all the things that make you happy," Mody told Business Insider of the style.

Mody's happy home is full of "colorful, joyful, and maximalist" decor, as well as some influence from Danish pastels.

It can be difficult for some people to add that kind of color to a rental property, but Mody made it work.

Like many modern apartments, Mody's space was full of neutral tones when she moved in, including the white walls and countertops.

Because she preferred bright colors, Mody decided to paint areas of the apartment, even though she knew she would have to make the walls white again when she moved someday.

"Usually painting, it's easy to get permission from a landlord," Mody said. "I've got it in my last three apartments, and it was always that, 'Oh, if you paint, as long as you paint it back to the original color, we are OK with you painting.'"

"I think it's one of the easiest and most economical ways to add color to your space," Mody added.

Mody told BI she got input from her followers on whether she should paint her ceiling.

"It just adds a nice pop of color as opposed to plain white walls, and it doesn't even need to be paint and wallpaper," Mody said of bringing color to the walls or ceiling of a space, adding that artwork can also make a huge impact.

Mody made the pink on her ceiling pop even more by replacing the light fixtures that came with the apartment. In the living room, that meant more pink.

"I love spring, so I wanted something with flowers," she said of her vision for the living room's lights. Mody ended up finding pink, floral light fixtures. The flowers matched the ceiling, while the gold hardware offered contrast.

The space also features a multicolored rug, a pink couch, and colorful tables Mody painted herself.

Mody is a big advocate of using light to personalize a space.

"If you don't want to swap out the fixtures or just cover it in some way, lamps like floor lamps, table lamps, all of those little touches make such a difference," Mody said.

Mody also said she swaps out her lightbulbs to create the aesthetic she wants in her home.

"I always remove the original bulbs and like the ambient ones," she said. "It's so easy to find on Amazon."

In addition to the disco-ball lights, Mody applied small mirror tiles to rounded ceiling lamps so they sparkle when the sun hits them.

"I get so much direct sun that the mirrors reflect on the ceiling, especially during sunset and during golden hour," she said. "It creates a really nice vibe in the apartment when the sun hits directly."

Mody brought color to the kitchen by painting a column in the corner pink and creating a checked pattern on another using green contact paper.

"I just placed the squares next to each other," she said. "It was very quick and didn't really take that much time."

"I love how it looks, and it's super renter-friendly," Mody added.

Although design elements like paint and light fixtures help to create the maximalist and bright feel Mody likes, she also uses colorful appliances to brighten her space.

For instance, Mody has a red retro coffee maker, a pink toaster, and colorful canisters, to which she added googly eyes as a source of dopamine decor.

"It's just funny when you look at it," she said of the eyes.

She also has a vintage lamp shaped like a toucan that serves the same purpose, making it a priority to find things that make her smile.

Mody brightened the apartment's entryway by covering her front door and the wall surrounding it with a curved, stick-and-peel wallpaper pattern in purple and white from Rebel Walls.

Mody told BI that stick-and-peel wallpaper is one of her favorite ways to bring color to a rental apartment, whether she uses it on a wall, a door, or inside a cabinet.

"I've also removed wallpapers, and they always come off easily," she said. "They don't really damage the paint unless the wall is already damaged."

"I've always gotten my deposits back with no deduction,'" Mody added.

Mody said she wanted to take inspiration from the floor-to-ceiling windows throughout her apartment for her bedroom decor.

"Because my space is so open, and you can see the whole outside from pretty much everywhere in my apartment, I wanted to bring that whole indoor-outdoor vibe and take it a notch further," she said.

Mody complemented the sky wallpaper from Rebel Wall with a curved, white bedframe that resembled a cloud and a nightstand covered in a cloud pattern that she painted herself.

"I've worked with a lot of different wallpaper prints, but this has to be one of my favorites," Mody said.

She also swapped the ceiling light for a rounded, white fixture, adding to the sky effect.

Mody didn't just get a colorful shower curtain and bath mat. Instead, she painted the walls a soft blue and filled the space with fun pieces like candles, a side table, and even a cherry-shaped toilet cleaner.

Mody said that maximalism often comes down to "paying attention to a lot of small details and making it all work together."

One of Mody's favorite ways to incorporate those dopamine-inducing details is with functional and colorful pieces, like the curved, green shelves she put up in her bathroom.

"The more color I can add in some way, the better it is, but it's also super easy to do," she said.

Mody also said that she incorporates color with light-switch plates in her home.

"I didn't realize how easy it was to do it," she said. "And now, on Etsy and so many places, you can get these fun light-switch plates. You can also get them custom-made."

Rather than thinking of her balcony as an outdoor space, Mody conceptualized it as a second living room, filling it with cozy pieces like rounded chairs and twinkling lights that would make her want to spend time outside.

She also gave her balcony a more boho look than the rest of her apartment, telling BI that embracing different styles can be key to dopamine decor.

"All your rooms don't have to belong to one specific style," she said. "My balcony is very boho. It doesn't go with any of the stuff in the rest of my apartment, but I love that."

"You can love different design styles and incorporate all of them in your apartment," she added.

Mody knows many people are hesitant to personalize rental spaces too much, but she thinks that's a mistake, especially for people who live in big cities that might be renting for years.

"You can always take your things with you and use them in the next apartment," she added. "Some things you can't, like paint and wallpaper, but it's still a good investment to personalize your space."

"Why not enjoy your space while you're renting and personalize it instead of wasting years?" she said. "Just because you're renting doesn't mean you're not living your life there."