Amy Lienhart believes modern decorating calls for softer, more neutral paint colors, non-matching furniture, and fewer items of ornamentation but using those that command attention.
Lienhart decorated a home for the 2014 Showcase of Homes in the Prairie Meadows subdivision in Savoy, built by Pettyjohn Builders. The home reflected Lienhart’s decorating philosophy.
“I just wanted it to be different,” she said. “I wanted it to be joyful and happy and bright. I wanted to use lots of artwork. I wanted less wall color so you could see the furnishings.”

Lienhart set out to make the home bright and welcoming. No dark wall colors. No wrought iron fixtures. No matching sofa and arm chairs.

The interior designer and owner of These Four Walls in Monticello has seen too many homes that look the same — “dark colors, heavy tapestry, very Tuscan.”

She said the signature she adds to the homes she decorates is color and artwork. But color doesn’t mean on the walls. Lienhart is tired of seeing tones of olive, crimson and gold. “Paint has really gotten a lot softer and quieter,” she said. “There are not so many red dining rooms.”

That means furniture and artwork show up better.

She said furniture is less bulky, and it doesn’t have to match. Lienhart likes to mix pieces with different styles, such as a different type of arm, or one piece of furniture with a skirt and another with visible legs.

She also mixes patterns. For instance, in the Showcase home Lienhart decorated, she used plaid chairs, a rug with a trellis pattern and floral draperies in the living room. Lienhart likes large pieces of art. She doesn’t use anything smaller than 30 inches square.  “Having art that’s proportional for the space and neutral walls really allow it to show off,” she said. “If you can have lovely things, the goal is for people to see them, so you create an environment for that.”

The colors she used were “happy, joyful colors:” bright green, hot pink and bright yellow.

“I want my house to feel joyful and happy, not necessarily sophisticated,” Lienhart said. “I want it to feel comfortable and happy and fun. I think that’s great for families. It makes people feel at ease.”

She likes using quirky and unexpected items to decorate — for example, the green, fuzzy moss bunny she used in the Showcase home.

“It’s not sophisticated but it’s fun. You look at it and it makes you smile,” she said.  She aims to have the items she uses to decorate make the home look like it evolved over time. “It’s a collection of things you’ve gathered over a lifetime, not something straight off the showroom floor,” she said. Lienhart advises clients to spend money buying a few fabulous big items.

Her own taste runs to the traditional. She likes to buy good pieces that will last a lifetime and add other trendy pieces that she can change out easily. She noted that recovering furniture is an inexpensive way to change the look of a room.