Arabic Sofas & Majlis in Pennsylvania: Philly to Pittsburgh

How do long walls and TV-wall L-shapes divide into equal seats?

Because no seat piece runs past about 75 in (190 cm), a long Pennsylvania wall is divided into equal seats, rounded up to the next whole piece, and each seat is cut to its share of the wall. Equal seats also keep every cushion small enough to be vacuum-packed for the trip, and the seat heights and import steps for US orders are set out in our national guide for American homes.

Wall or room	Pieces	Each piece about	Seating run
One wall of 108 in (274 cm)	2	54 in (137 cm)	108 in (274 cm)
One wall of 84 in (213 cm)	2	42 in (107 cm)	84 in (213 cm)
L along 173 in (439 cm) and 102 in (259 cm) walls, before any TV stand is deducted	4: three on the long wall, one on the short	57 in (146 cm) and 74 in (189 cm)	About 247 in (628 cm)
Seats only along 94 in (240 cm) and 83 in (210 cm) walls	4: two per wall	47 in (120 cm) and 41 in (105 cm)	177 in (450 cm)

From the atelier

Questions buyers ask

I want a 108 in (274 cm) sofa in one piece so guests do not sit on a seam. Is that possible?: A seat that long cannot be cut as one cushion, because no seat piece runs past about 75 in (190 cm). A 108 in (274 cm) run is made as two equal pieces of 54 in (137 cm) set end to end, which line up as one sofa and are easier to carry and turn.
What is the total length of an L made from standard cushions, in meters or feet?: Each standard seat is 75 × 27.5 in (190 × 70 cm), and in an L the second wall gives up one seat depth to the corner, so two seats cover about 75 × 102 in (190 × 260 cm) of floor. Custom lengths change both numbers to fit your walls.

What do you measure when a TV stand or a door takes part of the wall?

Give the length the seating may occupy, not the whole wall, and note where the TV stand starts and ends.
A guest seat beside a door works only if the door still opens fully past it, so draw the swing on the sketch.
Mark heaters and windows with the distance from each to the nearest corner.
Send plain phone photos and a hand-drawn sketch with the numbers; a drawing generated by an AI tool can show a room inside a room and muddle the layout.

Lengths can be sent in feet and inches. The measuring guide for majlis rooms has a printable worksheet for them, and the majlis planner shows how many seats they make.

Istanbul runs 7 to 8 hours ahead of Eastern time, so 8 a.m. in Pennsylvania is 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. in the atelier.

Can two rooms of different sizes share one fabric and one seat height?

Each room gets its own layout and piece list, so two Yemeni-style rooms, one large and one small, can share a fabric and a 16 in (40 cm) seat height while having different corners and lengths. 16 in (40 cm) is roughly the seat height of a regular living-room sofa, and on a wooden base the seat sits at 14.5 in (37 cm) to 16 in (40 cm) depending on the model.

Can you order the seats alone, without backrests or armrests?

A seats-only order is possible, leaving out every backrest and armrest, for example along a wall where you already keep cushions or bolsters. Long runs are still divided into equal seats, so a 130 in (330 cm) wall becomes two seats of 65 in (165 cm).

Champagne and brown majlis along the walls of a long room with gold swag curtains, a star-shaped coffee table and a gray medallion rug — Champagne and brown seating along the walls of a long room, with gold swag curtains, a star-shaped coffee table and a gray medallion rug.

How does a set get to a Pennsylvania living room?

Expect an L to arrive in two or three boxes and a larger layout in more. Tracking numbers come by email once the order ships, one for each box, because the boxes may be delivered on different days. What import charges apply is stated in your quote.

Delivery to the US and Canada is by tracked express courier — ask us for the current transit estimate.

Ask us

Import duties for US deliveries are set by US Customs — ask us how they apply to your order before you pay.

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Eastern time sits 7 to 8 hours behind Istanbul, so a Pennsylvania morning lands in the Istanbul afternoon.

Pennsylvania clock (Eastern)	Istanbul in summer	Istanbul in winter
8 a.m.	3 p.m.	4 p.m.
1 p.m.	8 p.m.	9 p.m.
7 p.m.	2 a.m. the next day	3 a.m. the next day

How large are Pennsylvania's Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian communities?

ACS 5-year estimates rank Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian ancestry as the three largest Arab groups in Pennsylvania, and in Allentown about three in four Arab-ancestry residents are Syrian.

Place	What the figures show	Source
Pennsylvania	Arab ancestry: about 77,800 residents, about 0.60% of the state	ACS 5-year
Pennsylvania	Lebanese about 23,100, Syrian about 14,800 and Egyptian about 12,400	ACS 5-year
Allentown	About 1,900 residents of Arab ancestry, about 1.5% of the city, about 1,450 of them Syrian	ACS 5-year
Philadelphia metro area	About 40,900 residents of Arab ancestry	ACS 5-year
Pennsylvania	Afghan about 2,700 and Somali about 1,200, counted separately	ACS 5-year
Pennsylvania homes	Owner-occupied homes about 69.3%, single-family detached units about 56.6%, buildings of 20 or more units about 7.0%	ACS 5-year
Middle Atlantic division	About 48.8% of new single-family starts in 2024 had a basement	Census Survey of Construction
Philadelphia	Average daily highs run from about 41°F (5°C) in January to about 88°F (31°C) in July; snowfall about 23 in (59 cm) a year	NOAA normals

What belongs in a spare kit for an event-rental business?

A business that rents floor seating needs to swap the one piece a client damaged, not retire the whole set. Seat cushions, backrests, corner backrests and armrests can be ordered one by one, along with replacement foam and covers-only sets, so keep a small kit of armrests and backrests on the shelf; floor cushions and spare majlis pieces lists the loose pieces. Order the spare covers with the first set, not after the first busy month.

Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry describes a bedding and upholstery program that requires registration and law labels for upholstered furniture and stuffed articles made with new filling materials, so a business that rents or resells seating in the state should check with the Department what applies to it.

Venues that buy, store and reuse seating for events are covered on Arabic majlis for organizations and events.

Local questions

Can I raise a 8 in (20 cm) set to 12 in (30 cm) later?

Adding a 4 in (10 cm) layer later turns a 8 in (20 cm) set into 12 in (30 cm), and adding a 8 in (20 cm) layer turns it into 16 in (40 cm). Because the layers are separate pieces, not sewn together, the top one can also come off and double as a floor mattress for guests.

Can I start with one wall and add pieces later?

A majlis is modular, so you can start with the main wall and add seats, backrests or armrests later, and the pieces can move with you to another room. Ask the team how a later piece will match the fabric you chose first.

What are the sets made of, and is the rug the same?

It depends on the design: the range includes velvet, chenille, linen-look weaves and cotton-polyester blends, and the matching rug is a flat-woven kilim style, not a deep-pile carpet. Ask for the composition of the exact design you are considering, especially for rental use, where covers are handled often.

Can we measure on a video call after work?

A video call for measuring and design can be set up. Istanbul runs 7 to 8 hours ahead of Eastern time, so tell the team which hours suit you and ask what can be arranged. Have the wall-to-wall lengths ready, with doors, windows and heaters marked on a sketch.