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

Hi Laura- I am not sure why you are showing us the bird pictures. Is it because you want us to see the shades of red you like? Are those the pictures you want on the wall? I too favor light curtains, especially as your room is painted that darker gray and the sofa is that same gray. If you want red as an accent color, you can add a vertical red band to the edge of the curtain panel. See below. You can buy a light-colored curtain and have a red band sewn on by the person who does your tailoring. As for art work above the sofa, the horizontal dimension should be 75% of the width of your sofa. You could get one piece that is that width, or get two pieces whose combined width including the separation between them adds up to that. If red is your accent, have some red in your art, and have some red in your throw pillows. But don't have them necessarily solid red. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. You can use a print or stripe or textural weave with red and gray (is gray the color of your sofa? or whatever the color of your sofas, that color plus red). I would not have the coffee and side tables from the same set, that is too matchy-matchy. If your end tables are round, then the coffee table can be square. If your coffee table is square, then your end tables should be round. In any event, you do not need or have room for end tables on both end of that sectional. The side near the door has no room or need for an end table, people at that end can use the coffee table. You can use a smaller end table at the end with the lounger, and please carefully measure that space (maybe move the sectional a bit closer to the door?) before you purchase an end table. Another thing to think about (and what do you think Houzzers?) since that far corner is so tight, instead of having that floor lamp there, what about a wall mounted sconce? You would get two, one for either end of the sofa. They come in many styles, and some even are adjustable to slide up and down. You could get one that is a plug-in so that you don't have to pay an electrician. You can also get a plug in hanging ceiling fixture. I love this contemporary fixture by Torre and Tagus which is pricey, but you probably can find a less expensive version that is plug in or can be converted to plug in. I can't tell how dark a gray your walls really are. I would favor a lighter shade of gray for the walls. If red is your accent color, then I would consider a red ottoman as shown in the photo above which is also shown with a sectional. You can have a lovely large wood tray to put on top for serving, and the ottoman can serve as extra seating, and you can even find an ottoman with storage inside. As for rugs, it depends what your tastes are. If you want to go contemporary, you can get a swirl design in red, black and white and gray. Or a handmade Oriental in either a Persian or nomadic style.

If you want to stay neutral, your current rug looks pretty good. however, you might benefit from bringing in an accent color, which could appear in the pattern of the rug, a throw pillow or two, and some other accents around the room, to pull it all together.