Please do not look at your interior design plan in bits and peices. Look at it as an enitre plan. I personally do not like trendy things, but everyone has their own definition of trendy. You are living here - you have to be happy with it. I buy a new couch every ten to twenty years. It is a custom Ethan Allen. I no longer have pets. I take good care of my furniture and it's an investment for me. My taste is eclectic. I like a classic and simple style. A friend of mine has three cats. She gets a couch every few years. Her cats rip it up and then she covers it up with throws. Thats is not my aethetic. Everyone has different priorities and a different style. Put in top HOUZZ search box different styles (one at a time) such as transitional, rustic, casual, etc. Look at the pictures. Note what you like and don't like.

13 ft long is a doozy of a sectional - this must be a huge room. I’d prefer a mix of sofas and chairs for a space like that - but the leather seems like a neutral, unobjectionable color and the lines of the piece are very clean so I would not think it would feel dated soon

We currently have a sectional that is 12x10 and the room could handle the extra foot. They also have this gray color available. My husband is set on the reclining feature this couch offers, but I am unsure of either color.

I like the depth of the gray (colorwise) - what else is in the room like rugs and flooring?

If you are worried about trends, gray the dated choice. Every color can look great, or terrible. La_la girl has the important question. What else will the sofa be paired with?

The trend of " I want a SECTIONAL not a couch" will be dated before any certain color of leather.

We have an Ekornes Oslo leather sofa and loveseat - our second ones in 30 years - as pictured below. Sand leather with teak wood (this pic has walnut, couldn't find the teak). A bit of Scandanavian modern.

Your question seemed more about color than style, but I "get" that the sectional is huge. If you have the space, go for it. For color, I like the Sand rather than grey.

IMO more than the color the choice of a sectional is IMO rarely a good idea and for sure a huge one Much nicer and more comfortable seats with a mix of sofas and chairs If you have the space 2 sofas 2 chairs or a nice longer sofa and four chairs . I always think armrests = comfort and you will see chairs fill first, then sofas and on there the middle set rarly ever and that is what you get with a sectional a bunch of middle of the sofa seats. Are you always drawn to beige/ cream colors then the color is fine if you are planning this becuase it is a deal and you never use that color it is not a deal.

We have white oak wood floors. Pretty much everything else in the room can go, curtains, rug, paint color, etc. We currently have gray walls, and I would like to lean more towards warmer colors now. I threw out the idea of 2 sofas, but my husband isn’t budging on the sectional. We have had our current sectional for 9 years and has worked great for our family. The reclining feature is what is making this search difficult. Thinking more of a color scheme of this picture.

Seems like the sand should work based on the direction you want to go

I much prefer the sand color vs. the gray. Easier to work with, lighter and brighter, and everyone’s saying gray is out and beige is in. I really like where you’re going with your boards above!

We have the sofa version of this Bracci sectional.

https://www.braccisofas.com/collections/smart/

Less heavy looking than the Bernhardt one. You can also order it in around 20 different colors of suede and leather.

As far as color, that depends on the overall design of the room and the rest of the house. This sofa style is more modern than my other furniture, but it is a separate room and I paired it with a traditional rug to keep the room more transitional. You need to consider the sectional style and not just the color.

A fair amount of reclining options in Italian furniture. Bracci, Gamma, Nicoline, Calligaris, Natuzzi.

Hancock & Moore are US made. Sectionals (hancockandmoore.com)