Thank you all for your input! I'm seriously considering the rust color. I'm afraid of a change but I really do want a change. We have red all over our house! I have fallen in love with this particular sectional, which of course is gorgeous in vanilla, but I have kids and a dog. The red offered is very bright cardinal red, and I think one of these colors is still my best bet. The sectional isn't too expensive so it's not something we plan on having for 10+ years. I think I'll be able to live with my decision for a while.

I am in a similar situation looking for a sectional. I will throw out my thoughts and maybe it'll help. First- way back a wise woman once advised that green is always a smart color choice when decorating because every color flower always looks great on a green stem. Listening to that made sense and I purchased olive green sofas to go in a cream colored living room with a light colored carpet. It worked very well, anchored the room and provided a nice color. With the light colored carpet I eventually painted the room a darker gold(Laura Ashley) and that looked beautiful too. I had even considered a muted yellow but with my natural light I could not seem to find the right shade. At times I changed out my accent colors with plums, terra cotta, red, lighter greens...I never was at a loss decor-wise because everything seemed to work with the green. I was very happy with this arrangement until I pulled up the carpet and re-did my wood floors. Now all of my darker furnishings - sofas, area rug, mahogany furniture- look too dark on top of a wood floor. I say this because buying furniture is long term and tastes change and renovations occur. Leather would be very nice choice for you too providing a visual anchor and adding both texture and color. It has good clean up and durability for children. (green was too-hid an awful lot from my own messmakers!) Now I am considering a neutral tweedy light brown and trying to think ahead to various color schemes after I tire of my gold walls. Writing this, I realize I would consider the green again but my area rug is a darker blue-grey Karastan bought at auction for $60.00 and I really want to use it. I hope I'm not sorry. Such decisions, I don't know if I spent this much time thinking about marriage and children!!! :) Hope these musings help!

I'm curious about something. When I was looking at barstools I found that by looking on commercial furniture sites you often got a much better bang for the buck, more choices in finishes and fabric/leather options. I'm wondering if the same is true for armchairs as in commercial vs. residential mass productions. I was just looking on one site called Kellex Commercial and they have some great choices in fabric for their armchairs. This is just one of many commercial furniture sites. On regular shopping sites like PB, RH, and all the rest you only get a few choices in fabrics that are not overly exciting. I'm wondering if anyone here has used the commercial furniture stores instead of the usual places. Here is a link that might be useful: Fabric and leathers

Something light and slightly cool to work with your rug like Sherwin Williams Opaline is what comes to mind. And to look more pulled together consider adding that teal/green tone in accents in the living room (throw, pillows, art).