I agree with keeping the space light and leaving the wood paneling. Why make more work for yourself? If you paint once, you'll have to repaint at some point. The slanted style of the wood will not lend itself to anything remotely cottagey, and is fine the way it is. The leather beast is not something I'd want in my front parlor, but for a casual space for the kids and man, it's perfect. The leather is almost indestructable, and will probably get better with age, and you can wipe it off with a damp cloth if there is a spill. I would also get a large ottoman or group of smaller ones to made another surface for feet, games, and additional seating, which won't cause any injuries if the boys wrestle. No sharp corners. The suggestion for a larger area rug in front of it is a good one, you can even get an indoor/outdoor rug that can be easily cleaned. As much as we want to decorate in styles that we love, you still have to think about function, and it seems to me that this space works very well for your family's needs. The quilt on the wall behind the sofa is a great idea and will put some color where it will draw the eye up. If you're still in the house when the boys are older and no longer use it much, you can get rid of the beast if you still dislike it, and made a space a craft/hobby room or home office if you need one. Or put in a ping pong table and get your friends over there.

Thank you all for so much great feedback! You have all given me alot to think about. What I have done so far is order a panel from overstock.com to try out. They seem to be a subtle 2-toned so I ordered it in three different color combos so I have some choices. I wish I could do something a little more custom, I found some gorgeous fabrics online that I love but I need at least 28 yards so that would cost way beyond my budget. And since I need 120" length, that seriously limits my choices of ready made. So I am really hoping these from overstock will work! Thanks again for all of your input, it is really nice to have a place to get such good input so quickly!

I guess I have been too embarrassed to fill you guys in on what I did ~ especially after you all worked so hard coming up with ideas for me. :( Well, I will put the blame on DH - but I returned the quilt! Kabergs - don't get mad at me...but he wasn't really "feeling" the color and I was so frustrated trying to find something to go with it that I just gave up and returned it. I did get my new samples from Ellen. I haven't talked to her personally yet. I am going to put together my fabric samples and pictures of my rooms (LR/DR/Foyer/MBR) so she can choose which color. I ordered sample pots of wheat, parchment, aqua (for the jack and jill bath) and gustavian grey for DH's office. I just painted some boards and have been moving them around to catch the light. I am definitely going to paint the powder room Berry Red so I didn't order a sample pot of that. Aqua and gustavian grey are good to go in the rooms mentioned above. I am still deciding between the wheat and parchment though. I am leaning toward wheat but you know, I really want to know that the house is painted if you know what I mean. I love walking into color and I am not sure if wheat will give me that reaction. DH likes the GG in his office which opens into the foyer. He doesn't like color (would prefer white walls) but GG is light enough for him. I am going to order sample pots of bronze and cognac for the MBR. When I got the new sample cards the bronze was different from my old card. I like the old card better and I am not sure why the new one is different. I will probably go with Cognac though. It is dark enough but not too dark. We did get some pictures framed to hang in there and we also bought a sofa table to put against the long wall. I will hang that large picture above the table and put my collection of family pics and a lamp on it. I found a chair (it is so comfortable) that I will put next to the table for reading. I ordered another quilt from linensource and will look at the colors when that comes in the next few days. Sorry this is so long! I have been busy over the holidays. The whole family was together so I put all my decorating on the back burner! Thank you for thinking of me and I will let you know what I decide!!

Thanks everyone! I guess it's back to the drawing board. Fwiw none of the side tables are necessarily staying, I wanted to start with the coffee table and then move on to finishing the rest of the room. It sounds like the consensus is a rectangle, and not as light as I'd been shooting for. @nosoccermom, the table we have has seen a decade of two boys. Much of the finish has been rubbed off the top. I don't mind it too much but it's one of the few things in the house my husband feels strongly about. I should just refinish it as @linelle suggests. But I have so many unfinished projects and so little time to do things like this (as opposed to seemingly unlimited time to procrastinate work by surfing the internet!) @olychick, you nailed part of my issue - any table that is equally useful when sitting on either sofa would take up too much space in the room. I'd thought about bunching tables or something like @jlc712 posted, but I wondered if I'd drive myself nuts trying to re-align them every 10 minutes after my kids drag them about the room. @Beverly, rattan + kids is a bad combination, unfortunately. I like some of the first tables you posted, but my husband nixed ones that look rustic-y. Maybe something like the first table @starnold posted? I really like the oval, and the color seems like it could work with the dark brown sofas. I'm sure part of my problem is that I'm just so used to the light table; I need to try out something darker to get over that hangup. Thanks everyone!