While building the planter was a big DIY adventure for me and there was a distinct finish line to be crossed with that part of the project alone, the patio as a whole isn’t quite complete yet. I went ahead and splurged on the amazing mint green chairs, but I still need a few final touches before it’s officially done. Namely, a side table-ish something, some pillows, a throw maybe… you know, the fluff that makes it feel cozy and like you can really settle in and relax.

I think that this photo of the chair subconsciously inspired me to want either orchid purple pillows or a throw, and of course, for the millionth time in my life, i couldn’t find the perfect thing anywhere. I looked everywhere, but nothing felt quite right.

Has this ever happened to you? In a design project or in any part of life really… you have an idea about something – that you want, or are looking for – you might not always be able to articulate it to others, but you know inside yourself that you’ll “know it” when you see it, and until that happens, all you know is that nothing else is quite the right thing.

The more I learn to tune into my own intuition the more clarity, and certainty, I have with pretty much everything. For my patio I only had to find some pillows, which turned out to be a little bit of a ridiculous search, but the minute I finally saw them I knew they were right… and the rest of the pieces fell into place.

Listening to your inner voice, and having certainty, helps you connect more with things that you really want, because you are more clear about what is right for you, which means you are also more clear about what isn’t right for you, as opposed to what everyone else thinks is right for you which they will usually freely share. You just ‘know’ something, or something just ‘feels’ right, and you can’t always explain it… it might not make sense to anyone else, but it makes sense to you and really that’s all that matters.

Having a stronger connection with your ‘inner voice’ also helps you stay more in the present… because you’re tuning in to what feels right – right now – which is really the only thing that counts. Who knows, next year I might want to do something totally different with my patio, I might live in an entirely different house! But this space, and much more of my life in general… is feeling right for me, now. Listening to your own intuition more doesn’t magically mean that everything in your life is exactly the way you want it, because individually we are only one part of our lives that are filled with so many other people, and things, but it does connect you much more to your own truth… whether that’s just silly chairs and patio stuff, or much more important aspects of your life.

So here’s what I’m putting together for the final touches out on my patio… the only thing to still decide is the garden stool – I found three great options, kind of the opposite of the pillow problem where nothing was quite right until I found ‘the one’… but I’m leaning towards one of the white ones, to keep the palette more simple and let the chairs and pillows really be the highlight of the space, which feels just right to me.