I am the stylist for Design Studio Interior Solutions in Boulder, CO. For me, who loves beautiful things like clothes, movies and furniture, this is my dream job.

All day I am surrounded by amazing lighting fixtures, luscious fabrics, sumptuous furniture and wallpaper of every color and feeling. It truly like being a kid in a candy store.

Not only do I have access to extraordinary product, but I work with the craftsmen who install it, put in on the walls, wire it, finish it and build it all day long.

When it came time to consider wallpaper for my own powder bathroom, the choices were literally infinite – an understated grasscloth? A classic trellis print? A madcap animal print? Or something even more fun?

I knew that I wanted navy blue in the print or background. And there are some pops of orange in our kitchen and main living space.

I brought home about 30 memos on a Friday evening – elegant, playful, solid colors, prints – a dazzling array of choices, many more than we might show a client!

I held up each choice for my husband, and he for me. The “nos” were easy, they made themselves clear right away. But the possible “yeses”, that was the tough part. So many lovely options! But one screwball style kept rising to the surface – Cole & Sons Arance in Ink – a pen and ink drawing of blood oranges in a navy and orange colorway. It is playful, it brought the navy and orange across, and most importantly, it made us laugh!

We ordered the paper (during the quarantine but my amazing sales rep at Kravet delivered it right away) and scheduled our third-generation wallpaper installer who never met a pattern he couldn’t match.

And match he did! Until I thought about my own install, I never understood the number of matching choices that I had to make. Did I want it to match in the corner (yes!)? Did I want to paper the light switch plates (I did!)? Did I want to paper the ceiling (I did)?

The result is the joyous design surprise that I hoped it would be. Every time I enter the room, I smile. During this dark time in our world, I will take every bit joy that I can find.