diff --git a/home/qenya/dconf/appearance.nix b/home/qenya/dconf/appearance.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index d6f1fab..0000000
--- a/home/qenya/dconf/appearance.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,27 +0,0 @@
-{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
-
-let inherit (lib) mkIf;
-in {
-  dconf = {
-    settings =
-      let
-        backgroundOptions = {
-          color-shading-type = "solid";
-          picture-options = "zoom";
-          picture-uri = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/.background-image";
-          primary-color = "#3a4ba0";
-          secondary-color = "#2f302f";
-        };
-      in
-      {
-        "org/gnome/desktop/background" = backgroundOptions // {
-          picture-uri-dark = backgroundOptions.picture-uri;
-        };
-        "org/gnome/desktop/screensaver" = backgroundOptions;
-        "org/gnome/desktop/interface".color-scheme = "prefer-dark";
-      };
-  };
-  home.file.".background-image" = mkIf config.dconf.enable {
-    source = ./background-image.jpg;
-  };
-}
diff --git a/home/qenya/dconf/default.nix b/home/qenya/dconf/default.nix
index 66f82cd..912efb1 100644
--- a/home/qenya/dconf/default.nix
+++ b/home/qenya/dconf/default.nix
@@ -1,19 +1,23 @@
-{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+{ config, lib, pkgs, osConfig, ... }:
 
 # dconf is the configuration manager for GNOME.
 
-# home-manager, in its infinite wisdom, sets `dconf.enable` to true by default.
-# This is a problem because we don't want it to attempt to apply our settings on
-# a system that doesn't actually have GNOME installed. So, we override the
-# default to false.
+let
+  isGnome = osConfig.services.xserver.desktopManager.gnome.enable;
+in
+{
+  dconf.enable = isGnome;
 
-let inherit (lib) mkDefault;
-in {
-  dconf.enable = mkDefault false;
+  dconf.settings = {
+    "org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/color".night-light-enabled = true;
+    "org/gnome/desktop/sound".event-sounds = false;
+  };
 
   imports = [
-    # TODO: nix-ify other parts of GNOME config
-    ./appearance.nix
+    ./desktop.nix
     ./keyboard.nix
+    ./mouse-touchpad.nix
+    ./multitasking.nix
+    ./shell.nix
   ];
 }
diff --git a/home/qenya/dconf/desktop.nix b/home/qenya/dconf/desktop.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4cfbaa7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/qenya/dconf/desktop.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+let inherit (lib) mkIf;
+in {
+  dconf.settings = {
+    "org/gnome/desktop/background" = {
+      picture-options = "zoom";
+      picture-uri = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/.background-image";
+      picture-uri-dark = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/.background-image";
+    };
+    "org/gnome/desktop/screensaver" = {
+      picture-options = "zoom";
+      picture-uri = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/.background-image";
+    };
+    "org/gnome/desktop/interface" = {
+      color-scheme = "prefer-dark";
+      enable-hot-corners = false;
+    };
+  };
+  home.file.".background-image" = mkIf config.dconf.enable {
+    source = ./background-image.jpg;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/home/qenya/dconf/keyboard.nix b/home/qenya/dconf/keyboard.nix
index e96a6f2..5271bae 100644
--- a/home/qenya/dconf/keyboard.nix
+++ b/home/qenya/dconf/keyboard.nix
@@ -1,14 +1,12 @@
 # { config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
 
 {
-  dconf = {
-    settings = {
-      "org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings" = {
-        # These are largely useless on most normal systems
-        # and conflict with VS Code's default keybinds for "Copy Line Up/Down"
-        move-to-workspace-up = [ ];
-        move-to-workspace-down = [ ];
-      };
+  dconf.settings = {
+    "org/gnome/desktop/wm/keybindings" = {
+      # These are largely useless on most normal systems
+      # and conflict with VS Code's default keybinds for "Copy Line Up/Down"
+      move-to-workspace-up = [ ];
+      move-to-workspace-down = [ ];
     };
   };
 }
diff --git a/home/qenya/dconf/mouse-touchpad.nix b/home/qenya/dconf/mouse-touchpad.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f3fd932
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/qenya/dconf/mouse-touchpad.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+{
+  dconf.settings = {
+    "org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/mouse" = {
+      natural-scroll = false;
+    };
+    "org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/touchpad" = {
+      click-method = "fingers";
+      disable-while-typing = false;
+      natural-scroll = true; # the correct option, whatever Janet says
+      tap-to-click = true;
+      two-finger-scrolling-enabled = true;
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/home/qenya/dconf/multitasking.nix b/home/qenya/dconf/multitasking.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d93972
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/qenya/dconf/multitasking.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+{
+  dconf.settings = {
+    "org/gnome/mutter" = {
+      edge-tiling = true;
+      dynamic-workspaces = true;
+      workspaces-only-on-primary = true;
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/home/qenya/dconf/shell.nix b/home/qenya/dconf/shell.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73672fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/home/qenya/dconf/shell.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+{
+  dconf.settings = {
+    "org/gnome/shell" = {
+      disable-user-extensions = true;
+
+      # TODO: this is fine for now on tohru (the only GNOME system I use) but shouldn't depend on certain apps being installed
+      favorite-apps = [
+        "discord.desktop"
+        "org.gnome.Evolution.desktop"
+        "firefox.desktop"
+        "torbrowser.desktop"
+        "steam.desktop"
+        "codium.desktop"
+        "org.gnome.Console.desktop"
+        "org.gnome.Nautilus.desktop"
+        "org.gnome.SystemMonitor.desktop"
+      ];
+
+      # TODO: fill this out (needs preinstalled stuff removing first)
+      # app-picker-layout = [
+      #   ...
+      # ];
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/hosts/tohru/home.nix b/hosts/tohru/home.nix
index 2ebda52..ef30554 100644
--- a/hosts/tohru/home.nix
+++ b/hosts/tohru/home.nix
@@ -1,12 +1,8 @@
 { config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
 
 {
-  dconf.enable = true;
-
-  programs = {
-    firefox.enable = true;
-    vscode.enable = true;
-  };
+  programs.firefox.enable = true;
+  programs.vscode.enable = true;
 
   home.packages = with pkgs; [
     bitwarden