There is nothing sexier than fresh white trim. Nothing. Now if that sounds a wee bit dramatic, let me paint you a picture of my family in our natural habitat:

• a filthy human tornado of a 5-year-old
• a sensory-seeking 7-year-old that jumps, spins, crashes, and experiments his way through his every waking minute
• a long-haired black dog
• a trail-running-and-biking-all-year husband who isn’t happy if he’s not covered in sweat and/or mud
• AND a house full of once-white trim — “once” is the operative word

So ya, when I imagine a fresh coat of “Chantilly Lace,” I might as well be the heroine of a romance novel in a particularly juicy scene. I’m actually finger-pecking this sentence as I use one hand to fan myself. Whew…

So back to the point. Our office (with freshly painted Chantilly Lace trim) is DONE, and man is she pretty. I work for the amazing residential home designer Diane Gordon, and I get to see other people’s homes get a makeover every single week. When you see hundreds of projects come to life, it’s hard not to daydream about what you’d do in your own home.

So when my hunk of a husband took a new job that allows him to work from home part time, I jumped on the chance to overhaul our overflowing home office/crafting space/kid’s overflow play room. Do you see that before?! Obviously, I called in Diane to help us allocate our space into two work stations for the hubs and I and, while we were at it, we worked in a makeshift mud room wall. Diane came up with a simple, effective design and then the real fun began.

Dave and I usually have similar design tastes, thank the heavens! But my comfort level with finishes has expanded over these last years working in the industry. It took a quick minute for us to come to full agreement on finishes (ahem…wallpaper) and a whole lot longer to impatiently wait for the work to be completed, but worth the wait it definitely was. I basically want to hang out in here all the time. And I’m so glad I fought (just a little) for the wallpaper because I mean LOOK AT IT! My wall sparkles, shimmers, glimmers. It’s gilded in GOLD, for the love!

And then there’s the window seat with the luxe cushion and gorgeous pillows. And the brushed bronze hardware and lights. And the hex tile. Design matters so much. Living and working in a space you love feels so incredibly good. And — my parting wisdom — when in doubt, go for the gold!