A feel-good home

“I want my home to be a place where I can’t be sad”—inside influencer Mona Bling’s colorful dopamine decor studio

Favorite colors, Barbie’s house, and the feel of grandma’s place come together in the home of 32-year-old influencer and author Mona Bling. Mona has transformed a green lamp into a pasture for plastic animals and adorned her headboard with flowers in a princess-like style. “When I get a DIY idea, I look up TikTok or YouTube tutorials to see how it’s done. Then I just dive right in,” says Mona.

Author Anna Riikonen

Images Anna Riikonen

January 8, 2025Lue suomeksi

Influencer and author Mona Bling has transformed her ceiling lamp into a pasture for plastic animals, and her walls are painted in her favorite colors. Mona has gotten into dopamine decor—a decorating style where you fill your home with items that bring you joy. She collects porcelain pieces, food-themed pillows, and retro trays, among other things, and the atmosphere of her home is a combination of grandma’s house and a teenage girl’s room.

Matryoshka dolls on Mona’s coffee table. — Matryoshka dolls remind Mona of the decor at grandma’s. She is interested in Russian art, history, and cultural heritage.

Mona at home. — One of Mona’s favorite DIY projects is the ceiling lamp to which she added Finnish farm animals. The headboard, which resembles a meadow of flowers, was created by using double-sided tape to attach artificial flowers to a headboard found on secondhand online store Tori. “As a child, I loved the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. I believe I sleep better when roses are the last thing I see before going to sleep,” says Mona. Mona shares photos of her daily life and DIY projects on Instagram @mona_bling.

How did you become interested in dopamine decor?

About three years ago, I was diagnosed with depression, and it hasn’t completely lifted. A little under two years ago, after living in Helsinki for fifteen years, I moved to Turku and decided I wanted my home to be a place where I couldn’t be sad. I came across the dopamine decor style on TikTok, and it instantly resonated with me.

The concept behind the trend is that when your home is filled with bold colors, patterns, and textures, the feel-good hormone dopamine is unleashed. Bright colors evoke joy and lift the spirits, and I believe this helps keep depression at bay.

An old typewriter. — Mona writes on a computer but appreciates the aesthetics of old typewriters. She found the yellow typewriter at a flea market in Turku for a few euros.

“My home is a fairyland blending different eras where I can escape the evil of the world.”

An arrangement of water-themed objects against a blue wall. — The theme of the blue wall is water. The shell lamp is from the 1980s.

A collage of paintings on a blue-painted wall. — In the collage on the blue wall, the TV at the bottom blends in as if it were another painting. Mona customized its frame to be gold since she couldn’t find one in a suitable color.

How did the colors and decor of your home come together?

I have always loved colors and dressed colorfully. Colors bring energy and inspire me. In my home, there are three main colors—green, pink, and blue. Yellow has also become part of my decor. I chose the colors intuitively. Pink and lime green are my favorite colors and they work beautifully together. Pink, green, and blue also appear in nature. I may not live in such a colorful home my whole life, but I believe that I will continue to use colors on large surfaces in the future as well.

The overall look is a bit like that of Barbie’s house: super colorful and full of beautiful and interesting objects. I take a lot of inspiration from the interior styles of the 1960s and ’70s, but I’ve created my own version of them. My home somewhat resembles a grandmother’s house, but I don’t want it to feel like a museum.

The last time I lived in a room like this was when I was a teenager. Decorating has been a kind of therapeutic journey for me, a journey back to my childhood and adolescence. My home is a fairyland blending different eras where I can escape the evil of the world.

The kitchen. — A lime-green fringe curtain separates the small kitchen from the rest of the home. The kitchen counter is covered with tile-patterned vinyl that was once in a barbershop and was headed for the trash when Mona spotted it. The Danish 1970s plastic containers on the shelf were found at a flea market.

An arrangement on a tray. — There was enough of the tile-patterned vinyl to cover a bench seat as well. The rattan tray is a flea market find. The rose inside the glass ball reminds Mona of the apartment of her late Aunt Kaarina. Mona chose her middle name after her beloved Aunt Kaarina.

Retro trays on the wall. — The back wall of the kitchen is painted lime green and decorated with retro trays.

Where do you get inspiration for your DIY projects?

I’ve always been into DIY projects; back in middle school, I customized clothes. I like making things with my hands; it’s really therapeutic. When I get a DIY idea, I search TikTok or YouTube for tutorials. Then I just dive right in.

Most often, my projects turn out well, but of course, not everything always goes exactly as I planned. Projects may evolve along the way, but I believe you learn by doing.

Mona at home, with a collage of pictures on a pink wall in the background. — On the pink wall, there are magazine covers, pictures of loved ones and idols, and artwork. One of the dearest ones to Mona is a portrait that she received as a gift from her friend, artist Venla Anttila, when her book was published. Mona glued plastic food-themed toys to the mirror, and she painted the turquoise ottoman herself. The gold floor lamp is from her beloved great-aunt Kaarina.

“My latest passion is painting leather. I recently painted a retro ottoman turquoise, and next up on my to-paint list are a leather jacket and boots.”

Clocks on a green wall. — Mona collects ceramic clocks made in Germany in the 1970s. The hands of all the clocks are set to show the time 11:11. “I’m a bit superstitious. The angel number 11:11 means I get to wish for things from the universe.”

What is your personal favorite among your DIY projects?

One of my favorite DIYs is the ceiling lamp in the living room. I bought a green lamp, probably intended for a child’s room, from Tori. After looking at it for a few months, I thought that the lamp’s shade resembled grass. Last year, I participated in the TV show Farmi Suomi (The Farm Finland) and I came up with the idea to attach Finnish farm animals to the lamp—it would serve as a memento of the show.

Another favorite is the big light-up letter M, which I covered with disco ball stickers.

My latest passion is painting leather. I recently painted a retro ottoman turquoise, and next up on my to-paint list are a leather jacket and boots.

Porcelain animals and vinyl records on a shelf. — Mona’s favorite colors are visible everywhere in her home. She collects animal figurines made by the Russian Lomonosov porcelain factory. She prefers to listen to music on vinyl records.

You have a lot of retro and second-hand items—where do you find your treasures?

Even as a child, I often visited flea markets with my father and brother. My love for old items stems from those trips. I still frequent antique shops and flea markets, browsing Tori and the Swedish app Tradera.

What appeals to me about old items is their quality—back in the day, things were made so much better and with higher quality! I also love that these objects have been in different homes and owned by various people. My imagination takes flight when I think about the stories of these items and what kinds of things they’ve witnessed along the way.

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