Hello, dear readers and friends! It has been a hot minute. Life has been sailing at full speed ahead for the past few months. If you follow me on Instagram, I shared that I’m now in a serious relationship for the first time in many years! Finding someone who is as weird as I am is a powerful feeling, especially since we make an adorable space goth power couple with a cat.

In March, we packed for a move while I had back-to-back interviews for a content writing job–which I got! Between my new relationship, moving into a new place, and scoring a new job, I’ve been spiraling up (see what I did there?) in life. I’ll still share the usual vegan health, fashion, and creative space goth posts here. I’ve been making moves in life, and now I get to do it with someone nice.

My partner and I moved into our gorgeous new two-bedroom apartment back into the Central District. We each need our own bedrooms because we’re like that. We should normalize couples having their own space. There’s really nothing wrong with having good boundaries in a relationship, especially when it comes to having our own bedrooms! Besides, I really need a space of my own, a creative wonderland that’s mine alone.

For a long time, I have lived and breathed the black-purple-iridescent-rainbow combination. Somewhere I read that purple is the color of the creative eccentrics, the color of the individual weirdos that carve out a world of their own. (There are many different interpretations of this special color, however. It really depends on who in the world or in history you’re asking, as every culture and era has their own meaning.)

I knew that I needed to paint my new bedroom purple. Or violet, if you prefer to call it that.

Finding the perfect shade of violet

When it comes to painting supplies, I had the same drop cloth from my fine art background over the the years. Here are additional supplies that I needed:

• Painter’s tape for clean, crisp edges around doors, ceilings, and windows. I used the green FrogTape, since it was more effective in keeping paint from seeping underneath like the typical blue painter’s tape does.
• New roller brushes.
• A new two-inch brush. This helps with applying paint around edges.
• A few paint samples.
• One gallon of paint in the color Quite Lilac by Sherwin Williams. The base of the paint is a flat Ovation Plus. I use flat for minimal shine. The clerk who mixed the color recommended this base because it gives off less stinky fumes for the bedroom—which is good since I’m sleeping in it.

Then it was time to test the paint swatches! The last time I painted my room, I chose a deep teal color. I still have some of that paint left over, but it was too dark for my north-facing window. If I went with that color, the darkness would have made my room appear smaller and more cave-like—something I did not want to go for.

The other shades of purple had their merits, but what really stole the show was the shade Quite Lilac. This shade was cooler, but the warm glow of the lights would balance it out.

Pastel-goth vibes intensifying

I’ve been so in love with my new bedroom! When I get to have full creative control, that’s when I’m the happiness. Making a space from my own imagination may take a lot of time, but it’s so worth it.

The ever-changing art wall is especially important to me. Most of these paintings are made by me; some are from friends. I love arranging a cluster of paintings because they can be switched around when the time feels right, as paintings get sold, gifted, or replaced.

And finally, a little message in the mirror: “You are enough.” I wrote it over a year ago. Those words have survived two moves in a year with barely a smudge. I like to think that even a resilience of a message speaks volumes.

I love this new violet-purple bedroom. The color is the first thing I see when waking up and the last thing before switching off the lamp for the night. It’s a beautiful shade to immerse myself in while enjoying this new life that my partner and I building together.