While there's something serene about a picturesque home setting in a Home's and Garden magazine, you're probably not likely to go out and buy the exact same furniture setting. It's gorgeous, sure. But it just wouldn't feel like YOUR home. This week we're focusing on incorporating your style and character into your home's decor to showcase your personality and taste. Check out these 5 conversational pieces that'll let your individuality shine in the best way possible!

Chic Vintage Style Chaise Lounge

Filling an entire house with furniture can be a costly feat if you're doing it all at once. If you're not working with an unlimited budget, you may want to save on some items now and upgrade each of them over time.

There are a few furnishings that are definitely worth splurging on right away. John Elliott Interiors is the perfect place to come for those because you know all of the pieces in our luxury home furnishings store at the Lake of the Ozarks are of the best quality and will last a long time, which means money well-spent. Here are some of the items that we think are always worth splurging on.


Beds
It is suggested that you get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. When you don't, you won't function productively during the day. The bedroom is also your private escape from the rest of the household, so you want to create a space that you can truly relax in. A gorgeous bed with a comfortable mattress will do wonders for improving your day-to-day life. Consider splurging on some nice sheets too while you're at it.


Sofas
This is a piece of furniture that gets a lot of use in every home. For this reason, you want to make sure it is both comfortable and durable. (When you shop at John Elliott Interiors, you know it's going to be stylish as well!) When you purchase a good quality sofa that will stand up to lots of daily use, you won't have to replace this big piece of furniture often. It's a lot easier to replace the smaller items around it if you want to create a fresh look, so go ahead and spend a little extra on your sofa.


Rugs
A great rug can elevate the look of a room to a whole new level. This is definitely an item where you get what you pay for. Inexpensive rugs won't last long in high traffic areas, so you will want to spend a little extra to make sure it isn't worn out before its time. Look for materials that are durable but still have a natural feel. Wool rugs are excellent for this.


Art
A beautiful piece of art makes a room look better, but the sight of it can make you feel better too. Art is a personal experience, so look for a piece that speaks to you in some way. Treat yourself to at least one quality piece of art, although once you have that, there's a good chance you'll want to collect more. Our home decor store at the Lake of the Ozarks features hundreds of one-of-a-kind pieces of wall art as well as many gorgeous statues and display pieces. An added bonus with art is that there is always a good chance it will increase in value over time.


Statement Pieces
Every time we talk about designing a room, we always suggest having a good focal point that pleasantly draws the eye as you enter the room. This is a great place to splurge to make sure you get something with a real "wow" factor. If you are furnishing a room that has a focal point built in, like an incredible picture window with beautiful scenery outside, buy some luxurious drapery to frame it. For spaces lacking a focal point, pick out a large and attractive piece of wall art or a statement piece of furniture that is a gorgeous conversation starter.


It's wonderful if you can outfit an entire house all at once, but if that's not the case, purchase quality pieces one at a time when you can. Soon, you'll have a house full of amazing home furnishings. The showroom at John Elliott Interiors is full of many wonderful items that can be mixed and matched beautifully. Come in soon to browse our extensive collection. You're bound to find the perfect pieces that you are happy to treat yourself with and splurge on!

Every profession has its own terms that are used often, but unless it involves a hobby that you enjoy or something you deal with on a daily basis, many of those terms can sound like a foreign language to you. For example, our team of talented interior designers at the Lake of the Ozarks may use words that are unfamiliar to you when discussing your new look for a particular room.

Today John Elliott Interiors has definitions for 10 common design terms that you may run into. Some are easy to figure out and mean what you would expect, while others might need a bit of explanation as to how they relate to interior design.   


Contemporary
Rather than being one specific style of interior design, the word contemporary is attached to a style of the present time period. As time goes by, the style associated with this title will change.

Contrast
Contrast happens when unlike things of opposite natures are put together. In interior design, this can be done by using opposite textures like glass and wood, light and dark colors, and solids with patterns for a few examples.

Curated
When an interior designer uses their talent and expertise to create a collection of furnishings for a client, that collection is said to be curated. The pieces have been carefully put together to reflect a particular style or meaning as requested and sometimes has historical tie-ins.

Edited
This is a minimalized approach to the furnishings in a room. Everything is well thought out, organized, and has a distinct purpose, but done in a way that does not feel empty or cold.

Focal Point
This is an item in a room that immediately draws your eye, catches your attention, and generates interest. It can be a special piece of furniture, a fantastic piece of art, or an element of the room such as a fireplace or a large picture window. Generally, the rest of the design will be planned around the focal point.

Layered
This pertains to the many different layers in a room to be designed. From the flooring to the window treatments and art on the walls to the furniture itself and all of the accessories, each of these layers must work together to create a cohesive design.

Rhythm
This is the description used to explain the flow that the room design generates. The way that everything works together to urge your eyes to move around the room in a specific way, touching on one design element after another.

Tailored
This is an element that has been customized especially for a particular space. It could also be used to describe a room that has been customized to match specific wants and needs. 

Textured
This word is often used to describe the different fabrics, colors, and patterns used to decorate a room. All of those things give the space a tactile and visual appeal, giving it the look of being textured.

Well-Appointed
A room with this description is one that is designed with high-end furnishings and outstanding execution of interior design principles. This perfectly describes every room curated by the experts at John Elliott Interiors! We take your dreams and wishes for a particular room and turn it into a reality with our exquisite furniture, unique home accents, and beautiful wall art.


Now when you hear or read these terms while preparing to design a room in your home or office, they will make a lot more sense. If you ever have any questions at all when it comes to interior design, everyone at our luxury home furnishings store at the Lake of the Ozarks is happy to answer them and give you an explanation that is easy to understand.

Remodeling a room, or multiple rooms, in your home is not only a wonderful way to bring new life to it, but the changes can add value to the overall worth of the house too. A home renovation is dirty and noisy, and if you will be living there during the remodel, it will definitely disrupt the regular flow of your day to day life.

The thought of the finished product combined with some wonderful pieces from our luxury furniture store at the Lake of the Ozarks may help you get through the process, but some careful planning ahead of time is the best way to truly get through it. John Elliott Interiors has a few tips for you today that should help you do that. 


Plan Before You Demo
Make as many arrangements for your remodel as possible before any work begins. Set appointments, work out a schedule with the contractor, and make sure the necessary items are ordered and on their way. If you wait until everything is "in the works" to make your calls, you may end up adding additional waiting time before everything can be finished.

Plan For Everday Life
If you will be living in the home while the renovation is happening, it is best to tackle just one project at a time. That way you still have the rest of the house to live in and try to do things as close to your normal schedule as possible. Depending on which room is being remodeled, you will need to make plans to move tasks you regularly do in that room to another one.

For example, during a kitchen remodel, you will want to move things you will need to use to a new makeshift "kitchen" area. A place where you can set up the microwave, toaster, a mini-fridge, etc... If it is a bathroom remodel, you will need to have access to another usable bathroom, and if there are a lot of people in the house, you may need to come up with a schedule for use. If the water will be turned off at any point, have lots of bottled water on hand.   

Plan to Keep Things Clean
There will be lots of debris as things get torn apart and removed, and even more construction dust settling over everything in its path. Speak with your contractor about making sure that all trash that can be removed is taken care of daily, and hang tarps in the doorways leading into the room being renovated to try to contain as much of the dust as possible.

Make sure that electronic equipment, furniture not in use, and other valuables are covered or even packed away if they will not be needed until everything is finished. Every evening you may want to give everything a quick sweep and wipe-down to better keep the mess under control. 

Plan for the Unexpected
No matter how many plans you make or how prepared you are, most likely something unexpected is going to happen to throw a wrench into those well-laid plans. The more flexible you are, the easier it will be to handle any surprises that may arise. Your budget should have enough set aside so that unforeseen expenses won't break the bank. Also, there's a very good chance that the expected timeline for finishing projects will run over schedule. If you expect that the remodel will take longer than planned, you will be ready and a little less disappointed if it does. 

Communication is Key
In addition to planning, good communication during the remodel is extremely important. Throughout this entire process, keep the lines of communication open with your contractor, as well as the other people living in the home. When you know what to expect from each other along the way, there will be fewer "surprises" that could drive you all crazy. The better you work together, the smoother the remodel will go.


There will very likely come a time when you will need to leave your home for a day or two. When that happens, plan to make a mini-vacation out of it. That will give you a refreshing break after all of the construction you have been living through.

Once the rooms are completed and brand new, head on over to John Elliott Interiors to find the home furnishings to dress up those gorgeous new rooms. Our Lake of the Ozarks interior design team can put the finishing touches on the new room you have long been waiting for. Then you can sit back, look around, and know that all of the "hassle" of the renovation was truly worth it. 

If you are moving into a new house or want to change the look of your current interior design, there are common decorating mistakes you will want to avoid. They can be easy to make, mostly because they are often things that you just don't think about until you see it.


Our interior design specialists at the Lake of the Ozarks have 7 of these mistakes explained in today's blog, plus a few tips on how to avoid them. Once you know what to keep an eye out for, it will be a lot easier to find the perfect pieces for your home when you shop at John Elliott Interiors.

Choosing Wall Color First
If you want to paint a room in something bolder than a light neutral, it's a good idea to decide on the pieces from our Lake of the Ozarks furniture store that you want to include in the room first. It's a lot easier to pick a wall color that looks good with the fabric on your furniture from the many paint colors available today. On the other hand, if you pick the paint first, you are narrowing your choices of the types of furniture you can use in the room.

Not Measuring Furniture
It's terribly frustrating to fall in love with a particular piece of furniture and later find out that it does not fit in the space you wanted to place it in. Take good measurements of the room you are furnishing so that you know what size furniture will fit in it comfortably and make sense with the scale of the room. If you find pieces that you want before you get room measurements taken, measure the furniture instead. Then you can go home and double-check whether or not it will fit. You can always ask if a specific piece is available in different sizes too.


Using the Wrong Size Rug
The scale of the rug in a room needs to work with the scale of the space as well as the furniture. It should be large enough that you can place the front feet of each piece of furniture surrounding it on the rug. Generally, a little bit too big is better than too small.   

Dark Furniture in Small Spaces
Dark pieces of furniture used in a small space can give it the look and feeling of being cramped and smaller than it actually is. Lighter fabrics and finishes are better for making the space appear more open.

Hanging Art Too High
Pay attention to exactly where you decide to hang your artwork on the wall, don't just look for an empty open space. It should be placed so that the center of the artwork is at eye level, or as an average about 60 inches from the floor. If the art is going in a child's room, you may want to aim a little lower. For pieces hung above a sofa or headboard, the bottom of the frame should hit about 6-10 inches above the back of the furniture.


Being Afraid to Mix and Match
Furniture manufacturers make shopping for an entire room easy by creating matching sets that are meant to go together. These are beautiful and always look lovely in a room, but you don't have to buy all of the pieces in that set. Mixing and matching different pieces of furniture that work well together is a wonderful way to incorporate some of your own personal style into a room's design.

Too Much Clutter
In this case, we are not talking about messy clutter (although you should have proper storage solutions for hiding all of that.) You can have too many knick-knacks placed around a room which makes it look busy instead of decorative. Go through everything that you have and choose a few favorite pieces to keep out, then move the rest to other rooms, get rid of them, or store them away to use another time. You can keep a room's look fresh by changing out the decorative pieces on display each season, every holiday, or simply when you feel like a change.


Now that you are thinking about the design tips we talked about above, you will be on the look-out for possible problems in those areas and hopefully avoid making those particular mistakes. The experts at our Lake of the Ozarks home furnishings store are always here to answer your decorating questions and happy to give advice where it is needed.