Perhaps one of the biggest influences of how your interior design looks is the color palette you choose. Choosing furniture, fine art, décor pieces, etc. can all be greatly influenced by the design's primary color. A bright, cheery yellow will bring a different attitude to a room than a deep burgundy will. So, which color is right for your design? John Elliott Interiors has the best interior designers at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we are here to help answer that question! Keep reading to learn more. 

Just two weeks until Christmas! Your Christmas celebration may feel different this year, but that doesn't mean it can't look just as beautiful. As the best designers at the Lake of the Ozarks, our team at John Elliott Interiors has the expertise and advice to help make your table look absolutely gorgeous this Christmas. Keep reading to learn more! 

Classic

You can't go wrong with the classic Christmas look for your tablescape. Use the traditional colors of red and green as your guide while choosing décor. Take it in a new direction with red roses instead of the traditional poinsettia, and add ornaments to your floral arrangements for extra Christmas spirit.

This theme makes everyone feel at home during the holidays with its nostalgic ambiance. You can take it in a formal direction with compact floral arrangements in vases, or you could use a more informal approach. Lay loose pine branches across the table as a runner and accent it with red flowers and berries, cinnamon sticks, and other on-theme accessories. This theme is so wonderful because it can fit whatever style of event you desire.

John Elliott Interiors is the best interior designer at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we love being your design resource. Today we are talking about a design element that gets a lot of attention this time of year - the fireplace mantel! During the holiday season, the mantel becomes adorned with beautiful seasonal décor that helps us get into the spirit of the holidays. But what about the rest of the year? Keep reading to find some great inspiration on how to design the mantel in your home. 

John Elliott Interiors is your go-to interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks. We are here for you to make sure the house you live in feels like home with beautiful furniture and fine art, creative inspiration, and luxurious design concepts you'll love. Keep reading to learn more about what we can do for you as the best interior designers in the Lake area. 

Holiday decorations can get cheesy and boring quickly if you're not careful. If you love having fun with the typical holiday decor, then go for it! If you are looking for more of a classy holiday aesthetic, then today's blog is for you! John Elliott Interiors is the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we are here to help you create the space of your dreams. Keep reading to find our tips on the upcoming holidays and the best decor inspiration!

Halloween

It can be difficult to decorate for Halloween without resorting to cheesy childish decorations. Sometimes these decorations make for a great time, and can attract a lot of visitors to your home on Halloween night. But if you are looking for less of a trick and more of a treat, we have a few decorating ideas for a classic interpretation of Halloween.

If you feel brave and want to go with a spooky feel, choose Victorian themed pieces, dark textured fabrics, aged candles, and smoke stained glass as accents in your current home design.
For a lighter take on Halloween, stick to a bright, neutral palette of grey, cream, and white. White pumpkins hearken to the Halloween theme while also working with your traditional fall season decor.

Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving holiday is about gratefulness, warmth, and giving. We love the idea of reflecting the spirit of the holiday in your home decor! Bright fall leaves, earthy pine cones, and rustic textured materials are great foundations for a beautiful fall interior design that will wow your guests and make them feel warm and welcomed. Create a fall wreath reminiscent of your interior decor to greet your guests on their way into your home. Carry the theme throughout your home in small glimpses for a cohesive look. Your guests will appreciate your attention to detail as they enjoy spending time in your home giving thanks.

Fall is a great time of year! Pumpkin spice has already entered the scene this year, and it's time to start thinking toward your fall and holiday decor. Before you do though, it's important to start with a clean slate. John Elliott Interiors thinks cleaning and refreshing your home is a great way to do this, and we have the tips to help you get started. Keep reading to learn more! 

A lot of people have been moving to the Lake of the Ozarks full-time! Weather they are new to the area, or moving into their summer home full-time, giving them a beautiful and thoughtful house warming gift can be a great way to welcome them to the neighborhood! John Elliott Interiors has some great ideas to help inspire you to find the perfect gift.

Traditional Housewarming Basket

In an older time, it was traditional to put together a housewarming basket for new homeowners to wish them good luck and happiness in their hew home. Find a sturdy basket and decorate the bottom with pretty paper or neutral kitchen towels. (Not only are they pretty, but they can also be useful in their new home!) Place the traditional items of baked bread, salt and pepper shakers, a bottle of wine, and a candle or two with a popular gentle scent. These gifts were the traditional choice because of the well wishes they were intended to bring upon the recipient's home.

• Bread
  "That you may never know hunger"
• Salt 
  "That you may always enjoy the spice in life"
• Wine
  "That you may never go thirsty"
• Candles
  "That you may always have light"

Useful Home Items

There are some items that are useful in almost any home. Even if your gift recipient already has one of these items, it never hurts to have a few extra. That may make these items the perfect gift!

• Basic Tool Kit 
  Having an extra hammer, measuring tape, screwdriver, wrench, etc. could be very helpful for a new homeowner just moving in and setting up their new home.
• Leftover Food Containers
  These always seem to vanish into thin air. Whether they have become too spaghetti-stained to continue using, or they simply disappeared from the breakroom fridge at work, it can be helpful to have a few extra containers on hand.
• Cozy Blanket
  Bonus points if you have several blankets arranged in a sturdy basket. During the colder months, your recipient and their house guests will appreciate having a few extra comfortable blankets easily accessible.
• Nice Hand Soap
  Get a bundle of fresh-scented foam pump soaps or handmade soap bars from a local boutique and tie them together with a pretty ribbon. Soap is something they will always need, and they will appreciate having a pretty soap to display in their bathrooms. 

Insights to the Local Area

If you are buying for someone new to your area, it could be much appreciated to provide information about the local area to help them settle into their new home. Put together a basket of your recommendations for local restaurants with their take-out menus, information about the neighborhood if you have a block party or get-togethers, and a gift card to your favorite local restaurant. They will instantly feel welcomed and more at home with such a personal gift.

Design at the Lake of the Ozarks

Welcoming the new neighbors into your community with a thoughtful gift is a great way to make a great first impression. As the best high-end furniture and home decor store at the Lake of the Ozarks, John Elliott Interiors in the best place to go for gift inspiration. We are here for you with professional design and decor you - and your neighbors - will love!

The first day of summer is a few short weeks away, but some of this great, sunny weather has us believing it's already here! Get ready for a gorgeous summer with a fresh, new design at home. John Elliott Interiors is the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we have a lot of great ideas about how to design your home. Keep reading to learn about some of our favorite tricks to transform your space this summer!

Bright Summer Colors

One of our favorite things to do is to match the accent decor in a room to the season. This helps keep your space looking fresh without having to totally remodel, repaint, or redesign. Think of it as a mini seasonal redesign instead. One of the best ways to bring summer into your home is by using bright colors that give off a cheery, sunny feeling. Yellow is a great choice to imitate the beautiful sunshine, and it has been shown to boost feelings of happiness in some instances. You can also go with the colors of orange, green, bright blue, and even pink. Think of tropical fruit when looking for a fresh, true-to-summer palette.

Replace Heavy Materials

If your home is decorated with a lot of fuzzy blankets, knit pillows, and heavy or dark curtains, then summer may be the perfect opportunity to redecorate. Choose fabrics like satin, cotton, or even a light linen to give off a feeling of airiness. You would be surprised how changing out some of the fabrics in your design can drastically change the look. It is important to keep in mind that you may want to have detachable blackout curtains to use when you need to sleep in, as lighter fabrics will allow more sunlight into your room.

Summer Scents

Just like the scent of pumpkin brings on thoughts of fall and the holidays, summer scents can transform your home to feel fresher and ready for a great season. Scents that make you think of being outside or on vacation are great choices... Linen, cotton, sea salt, daisies, etc. While candles are almost always a great way to disperse scent, in the summertime it may be better to use a wall plugin to avoid producing any extra heat inside the house.

Use Nature to Accent Your Design

Nothing says summer quite like bright flowers and fresh greenery! Sometimes, though, it can be difficult to keep plants alive indoors. This is particularly hard in rooms that may not have a lot of natural light. But don't worry! John Elliott Interiors has a showroom full of beautiful faux plants and trees that look incredibly realistic. These plants can add life to your design without the added work of having to care for a real plant.

Summer Interior Design at the Lake 

If transforming your home into a summer haven sounds like a wonderful idea, let John Elliott Interiors help you achieve your dream look! Stop by our home interiors store at the Lake of the Ozarks to pick out beautiful furniture, artwork, and plants that all say "summer is here". You may love your new look so much that you'll keep it around all year long! 

This week we are finishing up the topic of 7 Elements of Interior Design. These elements make up the “rules” that many interior designers follow when creating the perfect design for a home. All 7 elements are as follows: (1) space, (2) line, (3) form, (4) light, (5) color, (6) texture, and (7) pattern. John Elliott Interiors is the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks, and today we are sharing our insights about the last four elements and how they combine to make a beautiful home interior. Read on to learn more!

Light

Color

Texture

Pattern

Interior Design at the Lake

What Needs to Change?

Why have you decided to redesign your home? The motivation behind your redesign is a great place to get started on finding new inspiration. You know you hate the couch in your living room, but why? Is the material hard to clean and stuffy? Is the color drab and drawing the room down? Is the shape out of style? Finding the places in your home that are driving the new design is important so you know which fresh new direction your instincts are taking you.

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!

When you're not quite ready to start from scratch for a completely new interior design at the Lake of the Ozarks, you can still achieve a fresh new look for the rooms in your home. This can be done by simply changing out or moving around the items you already have or adding just one new spectacular piece from John Elliott Interiors. Here are a few easy tips for giving any room a quick makeover.


Paint
Adding new color to a space can make it feel like a brand new room. You can go all out and paint every single wall in the room or just paint an accent wall to add a bit of flair. Adding color to the backs of open shelves is also a wonderful way to change things up.

Change the Layout
An excellent way to quickly freshen up the look of any room is to rearrange the furniture. Switching the positions of two chairs or simply moving the couch away from the wall is a small change but it can make a big difference to both the look and flow of the space. You can even switch out furniture between rooms for a bigger change.


Add One New Item
You don't have to replace every single piece of furniture in a room to create a new look. Adding just one brand new piece can bring new life to the items you already own. We carry a fantastic selection of home accents, wall art, sculptures, and more at our home interiors stores at the Lake of the Ozarks if you only want to add something small. If you want to make a bigger change, consider a new sofa, a side chair, or maybe even a new area rug.

Create a Focal Point
Every room should have one piece of furniture or a design element, such as a fireplace or large picture window, that serves as a focal point. It brings your focus to a certain point and draws you into the room. This is also a wonderful starting point for designing the rest of the space. There is often an opportunity for more than one choice for a room's focal point. When you're ready for a change, arrange items in the room so that focus is drawn to a new area and away from the former focal point.


Switch Out Seasonal Decor
Each season has something about it that sets it apart and you can showcase that through the home accents you display in each room. In the spring, put away those heavy winter throws and bring out lighter, airier decor. Every new season and each holiday is an excellent excuse to change things up and give a room an entirely new look.

Display a Prized Collection
Your favorite things can be used in a clever way to decorate a room. It's best to group a lot of pieces of a collection together in one area or two rather than dispersing them individually throughout the space. If your collection is large, you don't need to show it all off at once but instead choose a few pieces to highlight and switch them out when you feel like it. Your collection of prized possessions is not only terrific for decorating but those items also serve as fun conversation pieces. They also give you something specific to keep an eye out for when you browse the showroom of our Lake of the Ozarks luxury furniture store.


A room can feel like a brand new space without changing every single thing about that room. The talented professionals at John Elliott Interiors can help you find that one special item to bring new life to a space and fit in perfectly with your existing decor. Of course, when you are ready for a complete redesign, our Lake of the Ozarks interiors designers are up for that challenge as well! Bring us your ideas and we will help you turn them into a beautiful reality.