diff --git a/.config/nvim/init.vim b/.config/nvim/init.vim
index 463b9c9..5548066 100644
--- a/.config/nvim/init.vim
+++ b/.config/nvim/init.vim
@@ -1,15 +1,36 @@
-" defines plugin directory 
+" defines plugin directory
 " Install plugins from vim with :PlugInstall
 call plug#begin('~/.local/share/nvim/plugged')
 
+" Base
 Plug 'tpope/vim-sensible'
+Plug 'tpope/vim-commentary'
+
+" Language Integration
 Plug 'stephpy/vim-yaml'
 
+" Design
+Plug 'vim-airline/vim-airline'
+Plug 'vim-airline/vim-airline-themes'
+
+" Colorschemes
+Plug 'phanviet/vim-monokai-pro'
+Plug 'Nequo/vim-allomancer'
+Plug 'nightsense/cosmic_latte'
+
 call plug#end()
 
-" many of these come from
-" http://stevelosh.com/blog/2010/09/coming-home-to-vim/#using-the-leader
+" PLUGIN CONFIGURATION
+let g:airline_extensions = []
+let g:airline_powerline_fonts=1
+let g:airline_theme='raven'
 
+" VIM SETTINGS
+" set truecolor (neovim)
+set termguicolors
+
+" many of these come from
+" http://stevelosh.com/blog/2010/09/coming-home-to-vim/
 
 " sets tabs to be 4 characters, expanded into spaces, but still removable with
 " one press of backspace.
@@ -27,16 +48,43 @@ set relativenumber
 " in between
 set undofile
 
-let mapleader = "<space>"
-
 " ignores case by default but will use case when search is specifically not
 " all lowercased
 set ignorecase
 set smartcase
 
-" remove search highlights by pressing space+n
-nnoremap <leader>n :noh<cr>
+" whenever vim loses focus, save
+au FocusLost * :wa
+
+" KEYBINDINGS
+"
+" set our leader key to space since with hjkl, space is largely useless
+let mapleader = "\<Space>"
+" set jk to escape, in case capslock is not mapped to escape on the system
+inoremap jk <ESC>
+
+" remove search highlights by pressing space+/ - the key for searching the
+" first place
+nnoremap <leader>/ :noh<cr>
 
 " move around between matching brackets with tab
 nnoremap <tab> %
 nnoremap <tab> %
+
+" select the whole buffer with <leader>-a
+map <leader>a ggVG
+
+" quickly edit vimrc and source it on saving, useful for testing
+map <leader>V :vsp ~/.config/nvim/init.vim<cr>
+au BufWritePost init.vim so ~/.config/nvim/init.vim
+
+" get rid of the help message popping up when I miss esc and hit F1
+nnoremap <F1> <ESC>
+inoremap <F1> <ESC>
+vnoremap <F1> <ESC>
+
+" remove all trailing whitespaces
+nnoremap <leader>W :%s/\s\+$//<cr>:let @/=''<CR>
+
+" 'open new tab' with leader-t (opens new buffer and switches to it)
+nnoremap <leader>t <C-w>v<C-w><C-w>