That is a gorgeous piece of furniture! A solid, dark grey fabric would be more contemporary while still honoring the honey tones in the pine. You could add a pop of colour or patterns in pillows. (whatever coordinates with the rest of your living room, but citrus and punch hues would be beautiful off a dark grey)

What about leather ? The wood part included. This could be a piece of a kind !

Simple nubby fabric. How about a grey men's wool subtle plaid? No flowers or shine.

What other pieces will be in the room that will need to mesh with the sofa?

Regarding the leather comment ... You would seriously cover the whole piece; including wood, with leather ? ... Not in my comfort zone ... Like the couch too much !

It's hard to give the best advise without having any knowledge of the surrounding pieces (<<that was not suppose to sound rude --apologies if it does). With that said, a pretty thin-lined navy blue plaid pattern could be fun and updated. The structured lines of the plaid would be unexpected and play well next to the curved lines of the beautiful wood frame. You could then mix and match some throw pillows that accent the blue pattern and greys of the room.

Let us see the rest of the room, so we can see what this needs to look good with. Unless you are re-doing everything completely.

"Modernize" can mean so many different things. But your fireplace and the table in the corner are not modern at all, so tread cautiously to make sure you end up with the look that you want.

Here are some wild and crazy ideas to update traditional furniture. www.wildchairy.com

Big fan of the middle option Maureen posted. That is what I was trying to describe. A picture really is worth a thousand words.

yespesto,

I was thinking about Chestersfield type of couch but you're right, I should have ask you first what is the style you looking for. But seeing the furniture, that's what came in my mind.