Castles come with a lot more rooms than a duplex. Maids’ quarters, service entrances, barbicans, all of these need to be decorated. It can feel overwhelming at first, but take a deep breath, fluff the pillows, and lay out the candy dish. What you’re doing is important and there are enough doctors in the world.

This is the hallway that leads to the herb wall. Any space that you walk through daily deserves to be beautiful. Even if you walk through a room only once a year, it should be show-ready.

Before I made this space warm and cozy, I couldn’t stand it. Then I added a velvet sofa, antique kilim runner and liquor station and now I’m waltzing through here five times a day. I’m not even cooking anything, but it’s really fun to clip tarragon and sit on a velvet sofa imagining what other people would make. Probably quiche.

Maybe you don’t use tarragon in quiche, I don’t know. The moral of the story is to love your castle. Light a candle, hang a painting and enjoy.