My vote is the light color contrast. Great looking sofa.

I agree that you need contrast, but I understand your apprehension in getting a light color. Green maybe, or even a fun pop of color. Can you get fabric samples that your can live with for a few days?

Thanks for the responses so far. We have swatches that we took home so we have an idea, though not a great one. I suppose the biggest delimna is choosing between a fabric we really love (on its own merit) and one that could look better in the room. Also, we don't have a lighter shade linen fabric, which we also love. Finally, the contrast probably would not be as great as what you see because we would not go that light (the one we have is near white).

Thanks again.

I think that sofa will be a stain magnet--do you have kids? And if you still go with it, I'd find curtains with a pattern or texture. Two large blocks of solid neutrals--three with the neutral walls-- would be rather dull to my mind.

If you love the beige linen-like fabric for the new expensive sofa, would you consider changing your curtains? I would be inclined to think the sofa may be more expensive than the curtains, so perhaps it would make sense to pick the color you love for the main piece in the room and change out the curtains to play the appropriate supporting role.

Thanks ideefixe. Yes, we have an eight and a five -year old (hence the apprenhesion for going light with the sectional).

At the same time, the curtains are custom. New curtains could approach four figures. Obviously, our preference would be to get the sectional fabric, which we are going to buy anyway.

I actually started taking to my wife about going with a slightly bolder color for the sectional. For instance, I'd seen a beautiful moss color on a chair. But now it might be too close to the rug (which was also $600 or so).

Man, this is not easy.

For whatever its worth, we are planning to splash some color on the sectional with the pillows. They most definitely will not be brown like the ones you see in the picture.

The light fabric is gorgeous. But with 8 and 5 yr olds I wouldn't consider it, especially in a family room. Unfortunately sometimes you just have to wait through those years with children in the house to get what you really want.

Is the sofa slipcovered? It's hard to tell from the pictures. I have a moss green sectional and beige walls in my FR (with 3 kids) and have added color and interest with valances, rug, throw pillows and a red paisley chair. It all works. In your situation, I'd be tempted to go with either the moss green sofa or beige, keep the drapes as you say they are custom and no value for resale, consider painting the walls, replacing the rug and adding patterned, colorful throw pillows. The rug you have now can easily be resold on CL. My rug is earth toned with touches of black and red. The black and dark red really add the color and interest to round out the beige and moss green.

Yes, i neglected to mention that the sofa is indeed slipcovered. And the idea of moss fabric sounds really good to me, though as mentioned, we might have to get a new rug. Or perhaps we can switch this one with the sisal (red-bordered) one under our dining table as they are the same size?

Would a moss colored sofa work with a sisal rug with red bordering from pottery barn?

Although the sofa is slipcovered they are not always that easy to wash. In fact some don't wash well at all. Is this the sofa that will be used the most by your children? If so, I would consider a darker color. You can always bring in your favorite fabric (the light color) on a chair or pillows. You can also tie in your drapes by adding some fabric from the sofa or other print fabric you use in the room. Also something as simple as ribbon can tie your drapes and sofa together. A great example of mixing fabrics below.

Thought I'd give a quick update to see what people thought. As I mentioned, the sofa in the picture is a loaner. We had not considered keeping it because we were going to go with more fitted back cushions rather than the multi pillows you see.

We figured that pillows would be everywhere and it wouldn't work well for us. But as it turns out, the pillows seem to be very functional and cozy. So we have decided to keep the multi pillow look.

This now opens up the possibility of actually keeping the loaner sectional. The sellers told us that they would sell us this sectional AND a new slipcover for the same price as a brand new sectional.

So this would make sense no? In this scenerio, we would end up with two slipcovers, which by the way are very expensive in and of themselves.

With this information in hand, I am thinking that the new slipcover could be something more fun and colorful (since we already have a natural white sofa.

So far my wife doesn't see it this way, as she is still married to the linen beige fabric. But pretending for a second that she could be convinced, are there specific color families that people think will work?

That sounds like a great deal. I would go for two different colors because I like to change colors during the year. There would be one advantage to having the same color and that is if one gets stained you have a backup. It's an awesome sofa. I know you and your family will enjoy it whichever color you get.

It seems to me that piece takes up a lot of space for no more seating than it has. People don't usually sit right next to each other on a sofa and with the backless part, it seems like it would just seat two, maybe three.

Have you thought about getting a rug with some stonger colors/pattern and pulling out one of the colors for a sofa/sectional? If you choose the right fabric with the right texture, stains aren't such an issue.

Do I see some red or rust in the rug? If so, you could consider those colors for the second slipcover.
My guess is that with the two children, the colored slipcover will end up on the sofa more than the white.

Thanks liz. Yeah, we tried a few different arrangements in that room but due to the fact that the house is old (and apparently function was a huge concern back then), we don't have a miriad of options.

FYI, there is a TV opposite the sectional. It is the focal point and I told my wife (and others) from the beginning that it needs to function that way. I didn't want to be watching TV with my head turned or anything like that. In other words, this isn't a conversation room.

In terms of seating capacity, this at least works a lot better than what we had before, which was a sofa and a chair (at 90 degree angle). We tested the capacity over the weekend (we had a party) and there were four people on the sectional most of the time. My family of four sit on it regulary and my two kids can both lie down on it and watch tv (whereas they could not before). And to boot, the chair we had before is tucked away in a corner, with an angle to the TV if necessary.

In terms of a new rug, we are bascially considering all options, the cheapest of which might be to paint the room.

Again, thank you all for your input. We are taking it all in before we figure out which way to go.

I know you seem to have pretty much settled on this sectional, but I did want to just throw this out there that I have three kids and we have a micro fiber sectional and it is holding up great so far to the dirt and wear and tear. I've had pen marks and food stains and have been able to get them all out with an upholstery spray. That and Febreeze are my sectional's best friend. Kids (esp. teenagers) can be rough on furniture and it's not just the stains. I'd be concerned those pretty cushions would be lumpy or tossed around. Every morning I need to rearrange my decorative cushions; luckily the sofa cushions, while detachable, stay in place. For optimal seating I much prefer the curved sectionals where there is no corner seat, as otherwise that corner is essentally wasted space as far as seating goes.

Thanks for your input valinsv. Oddly enough, I had most of the same exact concerns that you did. And in fact, our plan was to have them make us fitted cushions rather than the pillows you see. The sectional would look cleaner and we thought, function better.

As it turns out, now that we have had this sectional for about two weeks, we rather love how it functions. Yes, the sofa doesn't look as clean but wow is it comfortable for us to use. When it's just the family, we all sort of tuck ourselves into different parts of the sectional.

And, when it's just me, I actually gravitate toward the corner more than most places on the sofa. The pillow look allows us to just grab one and put it where it is comfortable. Shoot, I (and others) even use the armless end to watch TV if other parts are full.

We didn't plan it this way and like I said, were set to do it another way. But hey, now that we got a chance to use it, we like this better.

We did consider a curved sectional but the dimensions just would not work in this room. And regarding microsuede, I understand that it is practical. But in this case, we have to go with style over function. Just don't like that material.

It just happens

If you have had it only two weeks and it already doesn't look as clean what will it look like in 6 months or a year?

If you really want to keep it I suggest you get the second slipcover in a darker color like moss. Can the slipcovers be Scotchquarded?