Valentine's Day is a huge tradition in the United States, celebrating couples and their love. But what about the love between close female friends? That is what Galentine's Day - February 13th - is all about. Inspired by the TV show Parks and Recreation and the character Leslie Knope, several businesses have begun instituting their own version of Galentine's Day. John Elliott Interiors is the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we have great tips on how to host your very own Galentine's Day this year. Read on to learn more!

Catch Up

As Leslie Knope would say, "Any time girlfriends get together, they embody the spirit of Galentine's Day." No matter what you do together, spending quality time together is important to friendships. Spend time catching up with one another or learning new things you never knew before. There are a lot of great games available that help prompt fun questions that help people reconnect and feel closer to one another. Choose a favorite movie classic you all used to watch with one another or the cheesiest possible chick flick to poke fun at... Just enjoy spending time together without the pressure of daily stress.

Host a Brunch

Breakfast food is some of the greatest comfort food, and it is quite easy to prepare. Put together a few easy favorites like scrambled eggs, bacon, and an indulgent pastry. Display them on your table with beautiful dishes that make it feel like an even more special occasion. No brunch is complete without a delicious mimosa or bloody mary bar. Set up a table with champagne, a variety of juices, and fruit pieces for a fun mimosa bar. Or build-your-own bloody mary's with vodka, tomato juice, bacon, celery salt, and any other favorite mix-ins you love. Mix it up by using a V8 juice instead of tomato juice for a richer flavor!

Wine Tasting

You could go out and pay for a wine tasting event. Or, ask your ladies to each bring a bottle of their favorite wine and enjoy each other's selections over good conversation and charcuterie. If wine isn't your thing, you could also try mixing new drinks you've never tried before to experiment and find new favorites.

Enjoy a Beautiful Home

Whatever you decide to do together, have fun spending time together and remembering how much you love your crew of strong women. If your home isn't where you want it to be to host your friends, don't worry! John Elliott Interiors has the design expertise, quality furniture, and gorgeous art to make any room into the space of your dreams. Call today to get started on your home's new beautiful interior design.

Living together for the first time can be difficult if your senses of style don't naturally go together. As you navigate life together, you will likely find out that your significant other has some different ways of thinking and living than you do. But, don't despair! Finding a compromise is not always easy, but with expert interior design from John Elliott Interiors, you can have the beautiful home of both your dreams. Read on to learn how to start designing your home together!

Pillows are a great way to enhance a space, but pillows could make or break your interior design. John Elliott Interiors is the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we are excited to share these pillow design tips with you today. Read on to learn more about how to incorporate pillows into your home decor!

Stage Your Bed

Use several different shapes, colors, and patterns of pillows on your bed to stage the room and make it look more comfortable and inviting. Choose a general theme, like the room below of soft tan and bold black and run with it! Layer the pillows with the largest sham-covered pillows in the back, and the smaller, more decorative pillows in the front. Mixing patterns is a great way to add visual interest without looking too cluttered with too many colors for a bedroom. It can be difficult to choose them on your own without design experience, so contact the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we will make sure your bedroom is staged so beautifully that you'll never want to leave!

Patterns and Textures

Pillows are the best way to add texture to a room. It allows you to create a gorgeous design without committing to a large piece of furniture that has a bold texture or pattern on it. Pillows can be bold and unique without causing too much distraction in your design. And if you ever choose to change the design of your home, pillows are an easy item to switch out for a whole new look! Start with a neutral palette like tan or grey for your furniture, then build upon that design with interesting pillows and throw blankets to achieve the perfect look and feel.

 Create a Cohesive Design

Another great use for pillows in your interior design is to bring the whole look together. If your furniture pieces don't quite look like they belong together, the perfect pillow could change everything. Take a look at the image below with the modern white couch and gorgeous warm-toned chairs. While individually they may not seem to go together, the chair-patterned and red pillows pull the whole design together for a cohesive, gorgeous look that looks meant to be.

Interior Design at the Lake

For the best interior designer at the Lake of the Ozarks, call John Elliott Interiors! We have the skill and knowledge to create the perfect space in your home and we would love to help you. Whether it's determining the perfect palette for a room, choosing accessories like pillows and artwork, or redesigning your whole home, John Elliott Interiors can do it all! Give us a call and set up a consultation.

Adding houseplants to your decor could not only improve your interior design but also improve your home's air quality and your health! John Elliott Interiors is the best interior designer at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we have the tips and expertise to design a beautiful space for you. Plants can help bring some of that fresh design and beauty into your home. Read on to learn more about the benefits of houseplants!

Air Purifying 

Plants have the surprising ability to purify the air, filtering harmful substances out of the environment. These substances are called Volatile Organic Compounds or VOCs, and they can come from paint, carpeting, drywall, flooring, certain cooking materials, cleaners, and more. So many home materials produce these compounds, it's no wonder that there can be high concentrations in your home.

Plants can help capture these materials and filter them out of the air. Textured leaves can help with this even more because of the increased surface area they have. If you do have allergies, try to avoid plants that produce pollen or spores, as that could make your symptoms worse.

Mood Enhancing

There have been studies that show environments with plants have a calming effect. In offices, it has been shown that employees are happier, more motivated, and take fewer sick days when there are plants in the office. Plants get their nutrients by converting sunlight and carbon dioxide into food for itself and oxygen. That increased level of oxygen in your home is a great benefit to having plants as part of your interior design.

Moisturizing

Plants help add moisture to the air naturally and cleanly. This is another great benefit of using plants in your home. You could buy a humidifier, but they aren't always attractive pieces of equipment and they require attention and maintenance regularly. Plants are beautiful and many types require very little maintenance. You never have to change a filter with a plant! Winter air is especially dry due to the increased use of heating systems. Try a plant or two in our main living spaces and see what a difference it can make.

Great Purifying Plants

There are a lot of beautiful plants that you could use to decorate your home, but there are a few that are particularly great at purifying the air. Read below to see what kind of plant may be right for you!

English Ivy
This plant has been known to very effectively remove a large portion of mold from the air. Environmental mold can be a big problem in Missouri, so having some English Ivy around could help improve asthma and allergy symptoms caused by mold.
(This plant is not safe for pets.)

Boston Ferns
NASA ranked this plant as great for removing formaldehyde, plastics, and cigarette smoke from the air. In fact, Boston Ferns will take these compounds and use them for their own development.

Snake Plant
This plant is effective at removing xylene, toluene, and trichloroethylene from the air. An extra benefit to the Snake Plant is that it continues to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen through the night. Having one of these plants in your room could help you sleep better due to the increased level of oxygen in the proximity.
(This plant is not safe for pets.)

Gerbera Daisy
This plant also produces oxygen through the night and could help with sleep. NASA rated the Gerbera Daisy as the most effective plant at removing benzene from the air.

Mass Cane
This is a slow-growing and low-maintenance plant, so it's a great option for people that don't have a "green thumb". It is also ranked as the number one plant at removing formaldehyde from the air by NASA.
(This plant is not safe for pets.)

Interior Decor at the Lake

Plants quite literally bring life to your interior design. It's a great way to brighten up the design of your home after the holidays. If you aren't sure how to incorporate plants into your interior, call John Elliott Interiors! We are the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks and we would love to help you create the space of your dreams.

The New Year has officially begun, and we cannot wait to see what it brings. John Elliott Interiors loves new beginnings and helping people make their house feel more like home. We are the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks for a reason! To kick-off 2020, we have great tips to help you freshen your home for a clean start to the year. Read on to learn more!

1) Clear the Clutter

Clutter can make a home feel dirty and claustrophobic even when it is perfectly clean. If you have accumulated excessive decor items and knick-knacks that never quite go together and just take up space, it could be time to purge the house of all the unnecessary stuff.

Some people choose to tackle their home room by room, while others choose to sort by category. One categorical method is the KonMari Method, developed by Marie Kondo. Her philosophy is that only items that spark joy should have a place in your home. Hold each item in your hands and ask yourself, "Does this spark joy?" If the answer is "no", then you gratefully let it go and out of your life. Go through your home by category in this order: Clothing, Books, Papers, Miscellaneous, and then Sentimental. Sorting by category instead of by room allows you to see how much you really have, and gives you the opportunity to find the proper place for each item when you're finished.

2) Deep Clean

Cleaning sounds like an obvious tip to help reset in the New Year, but there are a few places in the home that often get neglected that could probably use a deep clean.

Refrigerator

One of these areas is your refrigerator and freezer. Throwing away expired or frost-bitten items is a good habit, but cleaning the refrigerator thoroughly is a task that people often avoid because it can feel monotonous. The benefits of deep cleaning your fridge could be tremendous. Just think about the fact that your food is touching the refrigerator shelves and drawers all year, potentially without being cleaned... And then you are eating it. If you don't regularly clean out your refrigerator, then there could be bacteria growing on its surfaces and infecting your food. Remove everything from the refrigerator (move sensitive items like dairy to a cooler while you clean) and use a food-safe cleaning product to thoroughly scrub the entire interior. Allow the cleaner to dry before replacing your groceries.   

Cabinets

Another important area to clean is your kitchen drawers and cabinets. This is another area that, if dirty, could be negatively affecting your health. Most households have enough dishes to feed 12 people at once, but only regularly use and rotate the same 4-6 pieces. That means the other several dishes are sitting there, collecting dust and potentially growing bacteria. Use food-safe cleaner to wipe out all your cabinets and drawers and run all dishes through the dishwasher for a truly deep clean of your kitchen cabinets and drawers.

Soft Surfaces

It can be easy to thoroughly clean hard surfaces with antibacterial cleaning products, but what do you do when it comes to soft surfaces? For curtains and throw blankets that are washing-machine safe, the solution is relatively easy. But for items like carpeting, upholstery, and rugs it can be more difficult to clean. The best option is hiring a professional carpet and upholstery cleaning company to thoroughly clean these areas. Cleaning them on your own could leave behind grimy residue or moisture that will lead to mildew and mold growth, making the problem even worse.

3) Hire an Interior Designer

Designing a beautiful space that has intrigue while also maintaining a cohesive look can be very difficult on your own. Combining furniture, patterns, colors, and textures is an art form, and John Elliott Interiors is the best in the business. Hiring an interior designer takes the stress out of the home decor process and creates an amazing space in your home that both you and your guests will love. Call today to learn more and set up a meeting with our designers for your home in 2020!