Sofhu builds Arabic majlis and Turkish sedir-style seating to measure for homes in Broadmeadows, Melbourne, and ships it free from Türkiye. The usual order is an L-shape or U-shape for the front lounge of a single-storey house, as a raised upholstered majlis, a low floor sofa or a wooden bench set. There is no local shop: you send wall measurements and choose fabric and layout with Sofhu.
On this page
The front lounge of a Broadmeadows house is a simple rectangle: a door from the hall, one window to the street, three usable walls. It is the standard room in the single-storey family homes of this part of Melbourne, and it is close to the ideal shape for seating along the walls. An Arabic majlis for a Broadmeadows, Melbourne home nearly always goes in that room. Sofhu makes two kinds of seating for it, the raised and fully upholstered Arabic majlis and the low Arabic floor sofa built from floor cushions, along with wooden bench sets.
A front lounge built for guests
Broadmeadows and the neighbouring suburbs of Meadow Heights, Dallas and Coolaroo, in the City of Hume, have large Turkish, Lebanese and Iraqi communities, including Assyrian and Chaldean families. Turkish and Arabic are among the most-spoken languages locally. In these households the front room is kept for visitors, and it is furnished to seat a lot of them.
Wall seating does that better than a lounge suite. On three walls, with the centre open, the room holds the family, the in-laws and the neighbours at once, and tea can be carried in without stepping over anyone.
Turkish homes: sedir and şark köşesi
In the traditional Turkish house the sedir was a raised seat built against the wall, often on three sides, with the best place in the corner farthest from the door. It was part of the building. In a brick veneer house in Hume it has to be furniture instead.
Sofhu offers two routes. One is a wooden bench-frame set with seat and back cushions, which gives a raised seat in the manner of a sedir. The other is the şark köşesi, the floor-level cushion corner in a kilim-pattern fabric, which Sofhu sells as an Arabic floor sofa. Sofhu also makes a carved-frame Turkish majlis line in solid beech with velvet-textured upholstery, shown on its Turkish majlis page.
The Turkish sedir and şark köşesi guide explains the tradition, and the wooden bench sets page shows frames. If you cannot decide between low and raised, read floor seating versus a raised diwan.
Lebanese and Iraqi homes: the Arabic majlis
Arabic-speaking families often want the formal set: a raised, upholstered base, a fixed back and an armrest between each pair of sitters. In Iraq the diwaniya is expected to be the largest room in the house, and the same instinct shows in how much of a Broadmeadows lounge is given over to seating. For a lighter look, pale velvet with a little gold is an option.
The style pages for the Iraqi diwaniya and Syrian and Levantine seating give the background to each.
L-shape or U-shape for a single-storey house
The choice comes down to the heater and the door.
- If the lounge has three clear walls, a U-shape uses them all.
- If one wall carries a heater, a television or a wide doorway, an L-shape on the other two is the right answer.
- If the lounge opens into the dining area, a single row on the long wall keeps the walkway free.
Floor sofas are not freestanding and must lean against a wall, so a set cannot float across an opening. Measure each wall between its obstacles. The L-shape and U-shape guide shows how the corner pieces work.
Fabric and foam for Melbourne weather
Melbourne’s weather changes quickly and the winters are cool, so velvet or a heavier woven kilim-pattern fabric usually makes more sense here than linen. Either way the covers are zippered and removable, and Sofhu states they can be machine washed at 30°C.
The cushions are filled with 32 kg/m³ (32 DNS) high-density foam and contain no springs. Density is the weight of foam per cubic metre. It is the figure to ask any seller for, because denser foam generally keeps its shape longer, while a light foam can feel firm in the shop and flatten sooner.
How to order
Sofhu is the manufacturer and has no shop in Broadmeadows. Send the wall measurements, a photo of the room and the style you want through the quote form or WhatsApp. You agree fabric, layout and cushion thickness with Sofhu, and the finished set is shipped free to your address. Import taxes or charges may apply to goods entering Australia, so ask how your order will be handled.
Nearby pages: majlis seating in Melbourne, the Dandenong page for toshak sets, the country overview of Arabic sofas in Australia, and the main Arabic majlis page.
