A former hairdresser on cruise ships that travelled around Europe and South America, Kate Ross Morgan says she can’t remember not adding colour to her home.
“I remember getting my first place, I think I was 20, and I’d done all these crazy colours,” recalls Morgan. “Because when I first moved in, I’d done what everyone else had, and went safe – I remember going for quiet, neutral tones.
“And then I said to my dad, ‘can you help me decorate? Because I just don’t like it.’ We painted my kitchen pink and put up some brighter floral wallpaper.
“So, I’d say, from a young age, when I started living on my own, I embraced colour straight away… I didn’t like sitting in a house that felt very beige.”
Today, the self-taught interior designer with more than one million social media followers across Instagram and TikTok, has now written a book – Dopamine Decor: Style Your Home With Colour, Joy And Fun.
“I feel a lot of recent interior designs have been quite beige and grey, very minimal… but I’m kind of embracing a more colourful, fun impact in your life,” explains Morgan.
It’s not for everybody, admits the 42-year old who lives in Essex with her husband and three children. “But I do say everybody can get that dopamine boost, to how it suits you.”
“So it doesn’t have to be pastels and pinks and vibrant colours… it can be anything that makes you smile, sparks joy, makes you giggle or your eyes light up in a room,” she says enthusiastically.
“I feel we don’t have enough of that in our homes, but we always seek it when we leave the house.
“So it might be where we go on holiday, a walk in the park or nice restaurant, and we always find dopamine hits in these places,” highlights Morgan. “But I feel we lack that in the home.”
It’s about bringing all that into your space, she explains. “Adding elements you love, might remind you of when you were a kid, and embracing colour.”
Ready to get a dopamine boost? Here, the interiors influencer and designer shares her top tips to colour your world…
Start small
“I always say to start small,” advises Morgan. “If you’re not very confident; or this is something you’re doing for the first time, because you think you’ll love it and want to try it.
“See how you get on, and then you’ll learn what you like. Because we think we know what we like until we start doing it,” she says knowingly.
“And then we might change our minds and think, actually, I don’t really like that colour, but I might try this one… and treat the learning process as fun,” she advises. “I think too many people get stuck in this rut of ‘if I decorate, then it’s got to last me five years, and there’s no way I can make a mistake.’
“But I think that’s silly. We should be decorating our houses more like we do in the garden, having fun with it.”
So you could paint a piece of furniture, she suggests. Or if you have an all white or beige scheme and want a colour pop, then paint a small wall.
“If you don’t want to paint, but want to see how you get on with colour, then do it with rugs, cushions, curtains, even things like changing your mugs to colourful mugs.”
The designer says she’s learned over time that she loves pastels. “So I love colour, but I love pastels more specifically. But you might be ‘oh, I really like deep greens.’
“Everybody’s different, and dopamine is different for everybody,” she opines. “It’s learning about yourself in the process, and then you’ll find what you like, and it’ll be easier… practice makes perfect.”
Find your comfort colour
“I like a cohesive colour palette running through my home, so it feels every room is connected,” says Morgan. “So even though every room is different, the colour palette runs through… I like to keep pink running through my home.”
To find your comfort colour, she says to look at your space and play around with different items. “So, I don’t have matching things. I have different accessories with different colours, and my furniture is not very matchy.
“Nothing’s very matchy, but the colours match,” she highlights. “So look at your comfort colour – mine would be pink – and run that through the home while adding different colours.”
Morgan says she has a three colour rule: “The main star, supporting actress and the extra… that’s how I always say it.”
So for instance, she says she’d have mainly pink in a room, then her second colour would be green. “Maybe I’d have a pink wall, a green sofa, and something else green, maybe some curtains.
“And then I’d bring in a third colour, and that could be lavender. I’d use that as little accessories… some books or flowers to bring in that lavender pop.”
She continues: “If you use three colours, it makes it a lot easier to get everything looking like it’s connected.”
Have no rules
“I know that sounds cheesy, but don’t have any rules and just really go for it,” she laughs.
“There’s a bit in my book about listening to your inner child and bringing in that fun element. Sometimes people can feel, ‘oh, that’s a bit silly, I can’t have a big porcelain cat on the side.'”
She says, yes, you can. “If you really like it and it makes you smile, then buy it. It’s a little bit of nostalgia and having fun with your home.”
Dopamine Decor: Style Your Home With Colour, Joy And Fun By Kate Rose Morgan is published by Ebury Press, priced £25. Available now.
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