throw pillows (and blanket) in different patterns, colors and textures, a rug, you could put a sofa table behind your sofa and put 2 lamps on it. I would move the sofa closer to the tv, and get a coffee table. It wont be very difficult. These are the cheaper and easier things to find!

oh and get rid of the beanbag. it looks like a big black trashbag thats filled up.

Rug and colorful art & throw pillows stat!

Get the October issue of Real Simple - there's a big spread on throw pillows starting on pg 179.

Also helpful: http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/decorating/decorating-throw-pillows-10000001629952/index.html

I agree with the above! Get rid of the beanbag - I would look for some cute chairs on Craigslist to put in front of the mirror.

if your couch is the problem - and it's not leather but vinyl or faux leather you can actually spray paint it with vinyl spray paint (available at Autozone!) a variety of colors. I saw a tutorial on it a few weeks ago and Ive been obsessed with buying a vinyl sofa on Craigslist ever since :)

http://www.johnnyinadress.com/2011/08/spray-paint-your-sofa.html

If you can, raise the TV a bit your neck will thank you (you can raise the trunk itself with a base made from 2x4 s and painted). Also agree with nixing the bean bag. You can get one of those coffee tables with little stools underneath it that slide out for extra seating if you entertain many guests.
http://www.amazon.com/Storage-Table-Southern-Enterprises-35-75/dp/B003O1V6IC/ref=sr_1_3?s=furniture&ie=UTF8&qid=1316539174&sr=1-3

Not so sure about the beanbag, but the sofa would be fine with some cool pillows and a nice rug to bring in some color and texture. It's very neutral in style and color so I think you could "dress" it however you like. Is there a piece of art or a photo that you love that you can draw color inspiration from?

http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/decorating/living-room-dining-room-makeovers-00000000058774/print-page6.html

Great room! Love the windows and light and the trim work.

It's easy to make a beige sofa disappear behind great acccessories...the bean bag chair will be tougher. If you sew, make some sophisticated curtains for the windows and some throw pillows.

The area between the two bookshelves would make an excellent home for a nice reading chair and side table....

I used to have a beige sofa and I hated it---a big boring blob right in the middle of my living room. Throws & pillows can help, but a great colorful patterned rug would give you even more visual balance. And then if you buy a chair to replace the beanbag, you'll have a cohesive look for the room.

Nice room, btw. Jealous of the windows!

Visit the Dash and Albert website for some rugs - I'd warm it up a bit in your room using a kilim type of rug with maybe some red and tying in pillows, a throw, and some artwork in with the same color, plants would help too and would look nice in your window on a nice table or with some seating. Yes - the bean bag must go! ;)

I guess the grass is always greener, because I have a dark green sofa that I'm tired of, so beige would be a breath of fresh air. Want to trade? :) I agree with everyone about using a rug, curtains, and accessories to dress up your room. It really does have good bones.

I agree with all the others. The beige sofa could be a nice base for lots of color and interest elsewhere. Add a beautiful tribal rug or kilim and colorful throw pillows. Get rid of the bean bag. If you had a place to put art, I would say add some colorful art, but it looks like you don't have much wallspace for that.

"oh and get rid of the beanbag. it looks like a big black trashbag thats filled up."

seriously

Don't worry about the beigeness of the couch. Pillows, a blanket if you want.....some chairs in the room, some art on the walls a coffee table, some flowers......and when you want to refresh things a few years down the road, you'll be glad that the most expensive thing in the room is beige and can stay while all the accents get replaced

You didn't mention whether you are on a tight budget or not, but I would get rid of the beanbag and the trunk. I agree with the poster who said a nice chair and side table would be great in front of the window. Colorful artwork, curtains, rug and colorful accessories will help it to not look so bland.

Bean bag = the opposite of sophistication!
Get rid of that thing. It'd be better to just have guests sit on floor pillows if seating is out of the budget. I agree with the other commenters, dress up the couch with an attractive throw folded over the back and get 3 to 5 throw pillows in like colors and patterns.
Put a few framed prints/photos/whatever on the walls, and get a taller piece of furniture for the television. And maybe put some attractive pottery on display in that corner built-in. That house looks like it has good bones!

Large scale bold pattern drapes would be great. Idea to cover boards with fabric or paper and insert them into the back of the bookcases as a pop of color. As well as a great area rug will really help pull together the room.

Karen
www.citeradesign.com

Don't despair! Beige allows you to be flexible with your colors. Your expensive stuff (the couch) just happens to go with whatever color you want! This makes your color scheme flexible and easy to update if you get bored.

Like everyone else, I think you should get rid of the bean bag. Replace it with a bench you make yourself from some 2x4s, MDF, foam, and fabric. Or you can make a storage bench as well. Either would look fabulous in the nook under the window where the bean bag is currently sitting.

Instead of using the trunk for your tv, use it as a coffee table. Then, find a cheap sofa table or bureau on craigslist for the tv and paint it to match your new color scheme.

Also throw pillows can add a splash of color rather inexpensively, so can blankets. I recommend HomeGoods if you have one near you, they have a wide variety of pillows that range from fun and funky, to sheik and sophisticated.

Cheap frames (IKEA's are great and come with mats) with black and white photos would be great. You can give them a splash of color by wrapping the mats with wrapping paper that matches your color scheme.

With beige) (and with natural wood trim like you have, I agree with Karen that bold colors and design work well. How about kilim rugs or pillows? I think that always looks nice, and look here for inspiration: http://sosmartalec.blogspot.com/2011/06/hello-good-bye-rug.html

I agree with others that you should get rid of the beanbag and warm up that corner with painted inexpensive chairs or a cozy overstuffed chair. Raising the TV on higher media stand and using the trunk for a coffee table would be a good start. Adding a mirror and/or some artwork and some side tables with lamps will warm everything up too.

If you're confident with a staple gun, I think you can reuse the bean bag fabric for an ottoman. I'd give it some spunk by adding some metal studs or some upholstery buttons of a different color to make it pop.

Ottoman tutorials.
http://inmyownstyle.com/2011/03/how-to-make-a-no-sew-round-ottomanpart-1.html

http://inmyownstyle.com/2011/03/how-to-make-a-no-sew-ottoman-part-2.html

I also suggest using the trunk as a coffee table and it can hold throws and other things. As a table, it'll function better. You can't even open it with the tv on top of it.

Try Craigstlist or a thrift store to find a console for your tv. Curtains can also help in make this room pop.

I don't see any of your personality in this room so I wouldn't be able to suggest a color. I like to start with a piece of art or a rug and go from there. I favor teal, red and yellow.

Good luck.

Colorful rug. Pillows/throws. Plants! Fabric slipcover for beanbag if you must keep it. Accessories.

I definitely think a colorful rug would help. Colorful ANYTHING for that matter. We just moved into a historic hotel-turned-apartment where all the preexisting cabinets, walls, and floors are various shades of gray, white, and beige and we are dying for some color! You can find pretty decent rugs for cheap on the target website or at ikea. And I would replace that beanbag with a cozy floor-sitting area (comfy rug and throw pillows), I think it would look nicer and feel sort of novel to guests.

I think you're thinking the sofa color is an issue just because it looks a little lost and sad in that empty room and blends in with the wall. I'm not in love with the color or anything, but from the pictures it seems like it would be a totally fine base for other colors and patterns. It's fairly neutral. I just wouldn't a) try to go too cool with the rest of your colors to mask the couch b/c it will just stick out, or b) try to go too earthy to go "with" the couch because it sounds like you don't really want to go down the beige/browns/tans path.

Despite the polarizing nature of Restoration Hardware in the last couple years, I would look at them for some ideas of how to style a room around beige-ish couches without having to go heavy on the earth tones and keeping it light and sophisticated.

I dunno, I think that it's beige leather thwarts the usual "throw a bunch of awesome cushions on it and call it a day!" approach somewhat. But it doesn't really seem like my opinion is shared, here.

The windows look quite nice. And how considerate of the architects to locate the ones on that wall so you can put a tv there without feeling bad about blocking a potential view!

Depending on your area, you can always shop around on CL and see if something you do like more, and which is reasonably priced, pops up....

I wouldn't go the colourful accessories route in this particular instance, since you said you wanted smart and sophisticated rather than fun.

Instead, take your cues from fashion and think Ralph Lauren etc. That is, team your browns and beiges with navy, white and cream.

To be a little more useful (maybe), with your beige and black leather, I'm thinking a black-cream-gold scheme, and retaining elements of slickness everywhere rather than softening things up too much. Like, the cushions in this post would look good on that couch, along with maybe some black leather ones.

The trunk and the tv both seem a bit small for the viewing distance... I think you should get a real console in any case, quite a bit longer than the tv itself. You can put the trunk to the side of the sofa? I think it's too small to work as a coffee table, too. So I think you should get a coffee table and a console, and if wood they can be a similar color as the trim (and it seems the sofa feet). Maybe a Lane coffee table; feels a little cliche (to me) but they seem easy enough to find on craigslist and fit the "sophisticated" look well. (And of course there are tonnes of Lane end tables to coordinate, if you think you need them.)

Rug... I think the beige caravan rug would be pretty nice. Natural but with textural interest. Although I fall into the other camp, if this works for you you can also refer to RY's ode to neutral rugs for more sources.

re: coffee tables, glass or lucite could be nice, too.

Go look at today's Robert Shiell house tour for ideas on bringing in color via art and accessories...

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/roberts-art-filled-classic-english-homehouse-tour-156453

I don't know why, but this room (including the leather sofa) is calling out to me for a worldly vibe. I'm thinking a Navajo blanket over the sofa back, some highly textured pillows to go with, and a noguchi-esque coffee table to put feet on. Maybe it's just texture texture texture combined with a vibrant geometric pattern of some sort that's calling out to me.

I think sophistication can be had within the colors you have, by adding texture and shine via, silks, faux furs, crystal, and mirrors. This way you can make it look like the bland colors were part of a neutral, sophisticated master plan. If you really want to keep the bean bag chair perhaps add more pouf seating in a cluster ( <A HREF="http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=37520260">like the faux fur pouf chair in this Polyvore set</A>). A wall of taffeta or shantung drapes (floor to ceiling) and modern crystal lighting could add a grown up vibe despite the bean bag chairs. Target has some very affordable options. Geometric patterns like the west elm overlapping squares chairs could also add interest.

oops sorry about the failed code the link is here:

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=37520260

Beige can be very sophisticated if you layer it with a variety of light neutrals like white, gray, and other colors of beige.

I love West Elm for pillow covers.
glam neutrals
textured neutral
ethnic neutral

As for the beanbag, not sure what to do with it. like many others, I'd lean toward stashing it somewhere or throwing it out.