It's definitely possible. But since OP said "There has to be a simple OS that just works", there are few things i'd like to point.
1. Conflict possibility between DE or default app comes with DE. You might mention you could just remove GNOME, but there's risk you accidentally remove important application or library.
2. I have doubt there won't be any problem when you perform major update (e.g. 20.04 LTS to 22.04 LTS).