During this time, it is important to feel centered and balanced to help yourself manage stress and feel at ease. The better you are able to handle stress, the more likely your immune system is able to handle pathogens that may be trying to attack it.

Basements provide a great amount of extra space in your home, but they can also present a unique design challenge. What should be done with all of that extra square footage? John Elliott Interiors is the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks and we have excellent design ideas to help get you started on a new design for your home's lower level. Read on to find out more and come by our location to find the perfect matching pieces!

Home Office

If you operate a business out of your house or have the opportunity to work from home, it could be a good idea to use the space as a well-designed home office. Use bedrooms as storage space for any inventory you may have, or utilize the rooms as individual offices if you have staff that works with you. Keep the main open area available as your waiting room or meeting room. Display accolades and awards on the walls along with pleasing and professional decor. Depending on your type of business, you may want to have a conference table with comfortable chairs arranged in a spacious location for client meetings. If you are a wedding planner, create an aesthetically pleasing space with a comfortable area for client meetings and big, professional images of other weddings you have planned. The more comfortable a client feels with you and your experience, the more likely they are to want to work with you.

Entertainment Space

A popular design choice for basements is an extra entertainment space or guests. This allows the living room on the main level to serve as a more formal gathering space for spending time with friends and family, while the lower level living room can be used for more active gatherings. Choose comfortable furniture and a large television set to create a space ideal for watching sports games with fellow fans. Adding a pool table, foosball table, or a darts board can take the sports theme even further while providing extra entertainment for your guests. One of the most popular highlights in a basement entertainment space is a bar. Design a dry bar or wet bar for easy access to refreshments and snacks while entertaining your friends and family.

Space for Hobbies

Do you have a hobby that you are passionate about? Use the lower level of your home as a dedicated space to pursue your passions. Quilting, crafting, building model cars, carving, painting, music... Whatever your passion, you can build a space that supports your activity and allows you to keep everything out of your daily living space.

Personal Gym

Tired of paying for a gym membership that you never seem to use? Turn your basement into a gym that is customized to your personal work-out style! Go with hardwood or concrete floors to help keep the space cleaner, and install rubber mats where equipment and weights will be used. Place a large mirror on the wall to promote a gym environment, help improve your form, and stay motivated by being able to observe your progress.

Your Basement Design at Lake of the Ozarks

If you aren't sure what to do with the extra space on your lower level, reach out to our experts at John Elliott Interiors. We have the expertise and creativity to design the space of your dreams. Whether you need extra room to pursue your passions, want to start a new business from your home, or simply need additional entertainment space, we have our back! We are the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks, and we are here for you.

Are you expecting a new bundle of joy soon? Childproofing your home is an important step to take before the little one arrives. Making your home more child-friendly doesn't have to mean forfeiting your style. John Elliott Interiors has some great tips on how to create a space that is both beautiful and functional for welcoming a new child into your home. Read on to learn more, and stop by the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks to pick out your favorite new pieces.

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Is your guest room in need of a facelift? The design team at John Elliott Interiors know just how to create an inviting space for your friends and family to enjoy. Read on to learn how to put together a guest bedroom that will wow your visitors, and call today to inquire about our Lake of the Ozarks interior design expert services!

Cozy Essentials

To create a “home away from home” atmosphere, surround your guests with items that make them feel comfortable and relaxed.

Start with a crisp set of nice sheets, preferably 100% cotton with a high thread count. Include extra blankets in the room in case your visitors get chilly in the middle of the night. Use this element as an opportunity to add a pop of color or texture to the room. Pillows are a very personal choice for people – some like firm poly-fill pillows, while others like soft feather pillows. Allow your guests a choice by including a few different kinds of pillows. This extra dimension and visual interest will create an inviting place for your guests to rest.

Windows and the natural light they provide are an excellent feature. Accentuate them with a set of floor-to-ceiling curtains that compliment the design of the room. If possible, create two rows of curtains – one decorative set that enhances the room’s design and one behind the first that blocks light. Your guests will be able to choose the level of light and sleep in if they want to without sunlight arousing them too early.

The talented designers at our Lake of the Ozarks luxury furniture store are always happy to help you find an interior design style that you will love. We can start by showing you our favorite things for inspiration, but it's always best if you can come into John Elliott Interiors with some idea of what you personally like best. That way, the final room that we come up with will be one that you can absolutely love. 


Trying to figure out exactly what you want a room to look like can be overwhelming at first. A simple way to get started is to think about the types of things that make you happy. After all, you will be the one living in this space once everything is finished. It should be a place where you enjoy spending time and are excited to invite others to enjoy with you. Discover a few of your favorite things by taking a look at the following.

Your Current Interior Design
This is a great place to start. If you're ready for a new design, you obviously don't want to recreate what is already there, but it can give you clues about the new direction you want to take. Make a list of the things you no longer like about the room, but also make a list of the things that you still love. Look for common threads throughout your home, such as colors or patterns that are repeated often or shapes that stand out. Decide how you feel about each of these things, and that will help to point you in the direction you should go when you choose a new look for the room.   

Items You Collect
People tend to collect their favorite things, and things that you love are perfect items to surround yourself with in your home. This doesn't mean that you should fill every nook and cranny with your collection. Instead, see if there is a color or pattern among your collection that would translate well into your interior design. If there is, then the finished room will be a wonderful place to display pieces of your prized collection. Some of the new furniture that you choose can be pieces that will allow you to showcase those displays. 


Activities You Enjoy
Thinking about how you want to use the room you are redecorating will influence the types of furniture that you need for it. If it is going to be a quiet, relaxing spot where you go to unwind, you will need cozy furniture that you can curl up on. An entertainment center will be an important piece of furniture to focus on if your relaxation involves watching movies or playing video games, but if you prefer a room where you can turn off the electronics and get some reading done, then bookshelves and side tables will be much more important. For rooms that you will be doing a lot of entertaining in, you'll want pieces that flow well together and also are sturdy enough to take a lot of wear and tear and can be cleaned easily if needed.

Items That Catch Your Eye
Getting away from the things that you already have in your life, let's move on to new items that you may love but haven't discovered yet. As soon as you begin thinking about giving any room a brand new look, start paying more attention to other people's interior designs, the pieces you gravitate toward while you're out shopping, and the pages you pause on when you flip through design magazines. Start noticing the commonalities that all of these things share, and you are on your way to a look that you can love.


Following the ideas that we have shared above are an excellent way to get on track to finding a new interior design that you can be excited about spending time in. Bring those ideas with you when you meet with our interior designers at the Lake of the Ozarks, and together we will discover the perfect pieces to bring this new look to life. The John Elliott Interiors showroom is packed full of luxurious furniture and accessories to get your search started, but if you don't see exactly what you're looking for, let us know. There is a very good possibility that we know where to find it!

If you have decided to redecorate a room in your home, or if you are currently trying to decide how to decorate a brand new empty room, the multitude of choices can make the task seem intimidating. It doesn't have to be. John Elliott Interiors has 7 simple questions for you to ask yourself that will make your final decision much clearer and easier to come to.  



What do you love about the current room?
In the space that you are currently living in, look around and pick out the things about it that you absolutely love. Even if you won't be keeping those particular things, they can point you in the direction of looking for something similar. If you enjoy the flow of the room, look for pieces that will lend to a comparable flow for the redesign. The things you enjoy right now will point you in the right direction for a new room design you will love. 

What do you hate about it?
Also look around and zero in on the things that you do not like about your current living space. It could be something you originally though you loved, but didn't work out the way you expected in reality. These are the "stay away from" furniture and design elements for your new space. Don't make the same mistake twice.  

Do you have a favorite piece to design around? 
Beginning your room design with a focal piece you want to include is a wonderful source of inspiration. It could be a painting, a large piece of furniture, a chandelier, or even a particularly scenic window with a great view. When you already know what the main focal point in the room will be, you can more easily find items that complement it to complete your overall design. 



Do you have an inspiration room?
Looking through magazines and searching online allows you to see how others have put their rooms together. Start collecting photos of your favorite ones. Don't overthink it. If you like the look of it, add it to the list. Once you have a few collected, go through them and find elements that they all have in common. It's an excellent way to discover the ideas you love most, even though you may not have been conciously aware of it. You don't have to imitate your favorite rooms exaclty. Use them to steer you toward a certain look and feel. 

What are your favorite/least favorite colors?
This is another desgin element that can help to guide you toward specific pieces for your new room. When you begin shopping, make sure to let your interior design specialist know how you feel about certain colors. This will allow them to avoid showing you certain pieces, or possibly alert them to let you know if a piece you love is available with a different fabric. Deciding how you feel about certain things such as color, and letting others know those feelings, will help to make sure that you don't miss any possiblilties. 



How will this room be used?
The way that the room you are designing will be used will make a big difference in the types of furniture you will want to have in there. Will it be a room for entertaining guests, or a space for you to relax and escape from the rest of the world? Does anyone that will be using that room have any special needs to consider? If there is an elderly person in a wheelchair that needs extra space to move around, or small children that could hurt themselves on sharp corners. this will affect the items you choose. 

What type of feeling should the room give off?
Different styles and colors evoke a variety of feelings when you are around them. If you are designing a family room where everyone will hang out together to watch television or play games, you will want that room to have a relaxed and comforting feel. On the other hand, if you are designing a formal dining room, you may want to strive for a more elegant and refined look and feel for that space. Once you decide how you will be using each room, you can look for pieces that give you the feeling you desire for it.



Knowing the answers to these questions before you start shopping can help to make your final decisions much easier. Our Lake of the Ozarks interior design specialists are always here to help if you need more guidance. Simply let us know what your vision for your home is, and we will guide you toward the pieces that will make that dream a reality. If you haven't quite decided on a particular vision yet, the sample room setups inside John Elliott Interiors may be just the inspriration you need. Come into the store soon and have a look around.