General Tips

Best Interior Design at the Lake

Color can make a big impression on the interior design of a home. If you choose the wrong color, the whole design could feel off. John Elliott Interiors is the best interior design company at the Lake of the Ozarks and we are here to help you find the perfect color for your home. There is a lot of psychology and significance behind colors that can affect the look and feel of a space. Keep reading to learn all about it and to find some inspiration for your home décor.  

With St. Patrick's Day coming this weekend, the "luck o' the Irish" is on many people's minds. Even if you don't believe in luck, adding a few "lucky" items to your Lake of the Ozarks interior design will make for interesting conversation pieces. John Elliott Interiors has three items for you today that are said to be lucky plus the explanations of why that is.


Bamboo
Bamboo is thought to be one of the most widely recognized good luck charms for decorating, especially in a Feng Shi aligned home. (Feng Shui is based on creating positive space in a home or office with proper furniture placement.) Lucky bamboo is supposedly filled with peaceful and wise energy but you should have all 5 natural elements represented for best results.

• Wood - the bamboo stalks
• Earth - the rocks or pebbles inside the container
• Water - where the bamboo grows
• Fire - a red ribbon tied around the container of stalks
• Metal - Glass containers are considered to be of the metal element but if using something else, a coin can be placed in the bottom of the container.

All of the items mentioned above would make wonderful housewarming gifts for a friend and they would look equally as lovely displayed in your own home or office. Follow these tips from our home interiors store at the Lake of the Ozarks and you just may have a bit of extra good fortune headed your way. Even if you're not superstitious, your house will still look all the more beautiful when you add these lovely home decor items.

1. Condiment Packets
Your favorite Chinese restaurant gives you too much soy sauce every visit and your favorite Mexican restaurant supplies a lot of hot sauce. Before you know it, you have more than they do! Only grab what you need at the restaurant, and of if you have reason to use the rest soon, go ahead and throw it away. Your cabinets will thank you! 

Our luxury furniture store at the Lake of the Ozarks helps to bring beauty and style to many different types of places. From large homes to condos to single-room offices, no matter what the size, there's always plenty of room to create a fantastic interior design. Some may think it is difficult to bring luxury to a small space, but the following tips from John Elliott Interiors will help to achieve that magnificently.


Decorate Up Rather Than Out
When you have less floor space to furnish, look to the walls. One wonderful trick for making a small space seem larger and much more luxurious is to hang drapes that reach all the way to the floor. This makes the ceiling seem higher which adds to the illusion that the room is bigger than it truly is.

Large scale wall art provides a beautiful statement piece for the room and draws the eye upward. Also, placing mirrors around the room will amplify the light and make the space seem to extend beyond its actual borders. A couple of perfect places for a wall mirror is behind furniture and across the room from a window.

Intrigue the Eye
When there is less space to decorate, do your best to use pieces that encourage the eyes to take a specific path around the room and focus on decorative elements. The addition of moldings bring dimension to walls and give them an upscale look. One bold side chair with a unique pattern or texture makes a very grand statement. A large, handsome rug underfoot can make a room feel bigger too. Don't be afraid to mix patterns for an intriguing look with pillows and throws also.

Less Can Be More
While you do want one or two main focal pieces, keep the styling fairly simple for a small space. Too many decorations can overwhelm the room and make it seem cluttered. Display only your favorite decor items and put additional pieces away. When there is less to look at in a room, the items you do have on display will take center stage and get the attention they deserve. Whenever you're in the mood for a fresh look, switch out your current decorative items with a few that were stored away.


Use Double-Duty Pieces
Look for furniture that not only looks amazing but offers more than one function. For example, a bed frame with storage drawers means you won't need to make space for extra chests of drawers in the bedroom. There are ottomans that can be used for coffee tables, a footrest, and even additional seating. You'll need fewer furniture pieces but still have a stylish place for everything. 

Add Sculptured Items
You can add depth to a room by putting in a few sculptured pieces. Unique shapes will really stand out and even flatter the straight-lined elements of the rest of the space. A sofa with a curved back, a coffee table made from a tree, or sculptures are all excellent ways to implement this idea. 


Those are just a few simple tips that will easily make a smaller space seem larger to the eye. For more ideas and inspiration, let our Lake of the Ozarks interior designers have a look at the room (or rooms) you would like to makeover. We have a lot of experience making all kinds of different spaces look their absolute best. Between your personal style, our interior design knowledge, and the luxurious home furnishing found at John Elliott Interiors, we will come up with rooms you are excited to call your own!

New trends pop up every year, many of which have been recycled from years past. Every really good trend seems to make its way back into the public eye eventually. When you're ready to update your interior design at the Lake of the Ozarks, trends are a wonderful place to look for inspiration. Some will be perfect for you, while others may not exactly speak to your personal style, but they are wonderful for getting creative ideas flowing. 


If you need a little help deciding which looks will work best in your home, the design experts at John Elliott Interiors are always around to answer questions and offer advice. Here are a few of the trends that seem to be popular right now. One, or a few of these, may just be the inspiration you've been looking for. 

Luxury & Comfort
While this seems like a sensible idea rather than something that should be considered a trend, we are totally in support of this one. Don't skimp on comfort when you furnish your home. Functionality and price will figure into the decision too, but splurging on items that you truly enjoy using results in furniture and decorative items that will have a place in your home for a very long time.


Pops of Color on White
A foundation of white as the backdrop to a room with pops of color brings the neutral palette to life. Go for about 90% white to 10% color. This is a trend that allows you to use a current look yet customize it to show off your personal style using your favorite colors. As an added bonus, if you feel like switching out the colors you have chosen, you won't have a lot of items to replace. 

Floral Patterns
Floral patterns seem to be making a big comeback. Not only will you see them highlighted on fabrics for furniture and decorative items, but also making their way onto the walls. Floral wallpaper is becoming a popular item, bringing something extra to an often ignored area of the room.


Four-Poster Beds
Ornate posts on every corner of the bed frame create a very luxurious look. The addition of a canopy adds romance and possibly even a bit of mystery. Some say it's like getting a hug from a piece of furniture! That sounds like a wonderful way to add comfort and much-needed relaxation to a bedroom. 

Colorful Art & Photographs
Inspirational signs still have their place in many people's hearts and specific places in a home or office. Trends show that many now prefer to decorate their walls with bold, colorful art pieces, choosing beautiful images over inspirational text. 


Mixed Metals
Metal accents are a timeless way to add interest to a room's overall design. Mixing a few different types of metals that complement each other is a tasteful way to create balance and definition. Choose no more than 2-3 metals that go well together, such as brass or gold with an oil-rubbed bronze or aged iron, or possibly silver or pewter mixed with bronze or black/brown metals. 

Mixing & Matching Furniture
Another popular trend that keeps popping up is mixing and matching different furniture pieces in the same room that were not created as a set. This can be done by "collecting" individual pieces that you love the look of rather than purchasing a set of furniture that was built to go together. Take care when doing this and make sure that all pieces have some similar elements to tie them together so it appears as a design choice rather than lots of pieces that really shouldn't have a place in the same room.


As we mentioned earlier, not all trends appeal to everyone's personal tastes, but taking a look at "what's in" at the moment is a wonderful way to find inspiration that will point you in the direction of a look you can love. Another way to find inspiration is to visit the showroom of our Lake of the Ozarks luxury furniture store and take a look around. You will find many different styles represented inside John Elliott Interiors, all set up in ways that will help you to imagine how they can bring beauty to your own home. Stop by soon and discover the many intriguing possibilities.

John Elliott Interiors has the items for your house to turn it into the luxurious and comfortable home of your dreams. Every piece is wonderful on its own, but it's the way that you combine them that truly makes a space spectacular. Our talented Lake of the Ozarks interior designers can help you achieve that. The elements covered below are all things that will enhance the overall look and feel of each room and add to its beauty.


Natural Beauty
Decorating with natural items brings the beauty of nature indoors. Adding greenery and florals to your home decor not only enhances the overall look but can also help to improve the air quality inside the home. If you don't particularly have a "green thumb," the artificial plants at John Elliott Interiors look just like the real thing, so you can still get the look without having to worry about caring for a live plant.

Another element that adds beauty to a room is natural light. It makes a space feel much more open and the sunlight brings a positive energy inside. Drapes act to frame the view which turns the scene outside the window into a piece of wall art.


Pops of Color
In a room with a neutral color scheme, pops of color here and there add lots of interesting places for the eyes to rest. When this is done with accessories rather than large pieces of furniture, it's easy to change the color any time that you like. Of course, a brightly colored chair or sofa placed in an otherwise neutrally colored room gives you a fantastic focal point. For rooms that are already full of color, carefully placed pops of complementary colors can give you some wonderful accents.   


Add Texture
The addition of different textures helps to break a room up and bring extra visual interest. This can be done with items like area rugs, throw pillows, and blankets. Much like color affects how warm or cool a room feels, the textures in it are what can influence the tone and weight of the interior design.


Use Mirrors
Mirrors make a room look bigger by extending what your eyes see. Everything seems a lot more open, especially in a small space. Strategically placed mirrors can beautifully reflect the natural light coming into a room.


Accessorize
Once all of the big pieces are in place, adding accessories to a room lets you show off your own personality and style. Just like you add accessories to an outfit, home decor accessories give a room that special "something extra." Look around at areas in the room that seem like they could use some additional interest, like side tables, bookshelves, or blank wall space, then come into our Lake of the Ozarks home interiors store and browse through the showroom until your eyes settle on a piece that seems to speak to you. The best part about these is the fact that they can easily be switched out with the season, for holidays, or when you just feel like a change.


The key elements covered above will go a long way in helping you add beauty to any room in your home. The specialists at our luxury furniture store at the Lake of the Ozarks are also here to help you find those perfect pieces you are searching for and put them all together in the most attractive way. When you're ready to spruce up your current living space, head on over to John Elliott Interiors and we'll get you started.

According to a very popular holiday song, "It's the most wonderful time of the year! There'll be parties for hosting..." If your home is the one hosting any of those parties, the stress of planning everything could take some of that "wonder" out of your holiday. Never fear, because John Elliott Interiors has a few helpful tips to share that will allow you to stay organized, be prepared, and enjoy the season along with the rest of your guests.


Make a List
...and of course, check twice to make sure you haven't missed anything! Having a plan and staying organized is the best way to get everything accomplished that needs to be done. Without a list, you may be rushing around last-minute taking care of things you forgot about.

As a matter of fact, you may need a few lists, but keep them together with the main to-do list either in a binder or with a digital program. Examples of list you'll need could be "Favorite Foods" that you want to gather recipes and ingredients for, "Family Traditions" you don't want to miss out on, "Guest List," "Rooms to Ready" if you'll be using more than the kitchen and dining room, etc... You get the idea. Once you write it down, it's a lot more likely to get done, plus it always feels good when you get to cross finished projects off of those lists!   

Get a Head Start
There are many tasks on your holiday entertaining to-do lists that can be done ahead of time at your own pace. That way they are ready and waiting when the guests arrive. Many foods can be prepared ahead of time and frozen, allowing you less time in the kitchen during the party and more time with your guests. If you tackle one room a day throughout your house, there will be no need for last-minute day-before deep-cleaning. 

Keep It Simple
Don't set your expectations higher than what you can comfortably accomplish. Design magazines and sites like Pinterest show off amazing holiday ideas, but realistically, many of those can only be pulled off by professionals. The goal of the get-together is to spend quality time with your family and friends. You don't need a big production to accomplish that, just good food, comfort, and great company. If you do want to try something that is going to involve a lot of work, don't be too shy to ask for help. Working with someone else can make it more fun and less stressful.


Stock Up
In addition to pre-planned holiday parties, this time of year it's not unusual to have people drop by with short notice or even none at all. Keep your kitchen stocked up with easy to prepare snacks. It can be as simple as cheese and crackers, a bowl full of nuts, or a tin full of cookies. Don't forget the drinks too. Coffee and hot cocoa can be whipped up quickly, and make sure your favorite spirits and mixers are stocked up for adult drinks. You may want to keep a few extra bottles of wine on hand too. Anything unused (and unopened) can even be given as a gift when you find yourself in need of an extra present.

Set a Timeline
As your event gets closer, set up a day-before and day-of timeline. List detailed information about when everything needs to be done so that your party can start on time and run smoothly throughout. Go easy on yourself with the timeline. Use help when it's available and allow a little more time than necessary for each task so you have some wiggle room if something doesn't go as planned.


Those tips will help you prepare to entertain family and friends in your home. If your home itself needs some decorative preparation, head on over to our luxury furniture store at the Lake of the Ozarks. Our showroom is filled with many styles of gorgeous furniture, decorative art, and inspirational layouts to show you how our home interiors can fit together to make a beautiful room. The last tip about the holidays we will leave you with today is to remember to enjoy every minute of them! As long as you are having fun, it's going to be a wonderful holiday season.

The outdoors in autumn becomes a colorful landscape of rich hues and intriguing shades. This time of year it's a wonderful idea to bring some of that fall beauty to the inside of your house. Our home interiors store at the Lake of the Ozarks has a few ideas to share on that subject.

Although the weather keeps getting colder this time of year, the landscape is full of warm, rich shades that seem to counter that fall chill. Take color cues from the leaves as they turn to bring a seasonal look to your interior design.


Deep Reds
Darker reds bring a beautiful depth to a fall interior design color scheme. You'll find wonderful shades to mimic the leaves of the trees outside. Other places to find the perfect red hues for this time of year come from common seasonal items like cranberries, cinnamon, or a red mulled wine. Rust-colored reds often used for rustic decor work perfectly too. 


Yellow & Orange 
While understated shades of most colors reflect nature best this time of year, you can add a few bright pops of color like the bright yellow and orange leaves that emerge before they fall off the trees. Of course, deep mustard yellows and burnt oranges look incredible too. The many different hues found in campfires offer lots of inspiration as well, and orange is abundant in the pumpkins you see everywhere from Halloween to Thanksgiving. 


Forest Green
The ever-present evergreens last throughout each season, so working a forest green color into nature-inspired decor can work well year-round. The richness of this color especially complements the other tones that give the shades of autumn their warm look and feel. 


Browns
Rich earth tones also work beautifully with the colors we have already mentioned above. Once the leaves fall, you see more of the bark of the tree limbs, and those campfires not only have the fire but the logs needed to build them. Brown shades make an excellent base color that works wonderfully with pretty much every accent color.


Simple Ways to Add Seasonal Colors
It's easy to change a few things in your home's interior design without replacing everything in the room. (Of course, when you are ready for a total room makeover, you'll find all of the best home decor and luxury furniture at the Lake of the Ozarks inside our showroom!) Use the colorful leaves from outside to decorate by placing them under a glass coffee table or in a frame. Bowls of pine cones, mini pumpkins, and gourds are lovely natural decorations on bookshelves or as centerpieces.

Accent pillows and throws let you layer fall colors over your current interior design. You can easily change out curtains and lampshades with each season too, and consider keeping a collection of art that allows you to replace pieces to match the seasonal looks of each room. Plaids are popular this time of year. Patterns and textures always add depth to any decor. You can even bring in a few metallics with rich coppers and bronzes.


You can find many gorgeous pieces of decorative art, throw pillows, wall coverings, and more at John Elliott Interiors in Lake Ozark to add to any room. If you would like to go a step further and completely change the entire look of a room, our interior design experts at the Lake of the Ozarks can help you turn any space imagined into a reality. Visit our showroom soon to find out exactly what we can do for you.

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