There is a particular kind of warmth that you feel when you walk into a home that has been styled with intention. Not just decorated — but arranged to reflect the people who live there, the culture they come from, and the way they like to gather.
For many families across Auckland and New Zealand, that feeling comes from a cultural living room. A space built around floor seating, handmade textiles, low tables and décor that carries meaning beyond its appearance.
If you have been searching for ethnic home decor NZ and wondering where to even start, this guide is for you.
What Is a Cultural Living Room?
A cultural living room is a space designed around traditional seating and décor styles from Middle Eastern, Afghan, Arab, Pakistani and Central Asian cultures. Instead of a conventional sofa arrangement facing a television, the room is built around the people in it.
Floor seating lines the walls. A low table sits in the centre. A handmade rug anchors the space beneath everything. The result is a room that feels open, welcoming and genuinely different from anything you will find in a standard New Zealand furniture store.
It is the kind of space where guests feel immediately at ease. Where family gatherings naturally stretch longer. Where the atmosphere does the work before a single word is spoken.
The Four Elements of a Complete Cultural Living Room
Getting the right result comes down to four things working together. Miss one and the room feels incomplete. Get all four right and the space comes together in a way that is hard to explain but immediately obvious when you are standing in it.
- Floor Seating — Arabic Majlis or Afghani Toshak
This is the foundation of any cultural living room. Everything else is built around the seating.
Arabic Majlis is the traditional Arabic floor seating style — cushioned sets arranged low to the ground, typically along the walls of the room. They come in geometric patterns and colours that suit both traditional and modern New Zealand homes. Available in blues, greens, teals, charcoal black gold, brown, grey and more.
Afghani Toshak is the Afghan equivalent — longer, flatter floor cushions with traditional Central Asian colour combinations. Red and gold, red and blue, black and yellow, grey. Deeply familiar to Afghan families and increasingly popular with anyone who wants genuine cultural floor seating in their Auckland home.
Both are available as a cover only, or with inner foam included.
- The Rug
Before the seating goes down, the rug goes down.
A handmade rug is not just a floor covering. In a cultural living room, it defines the space. It ties the seating together visually, adds warmth underfoot, and brings pattern and texture that manufactured rugs simply cannot match.
Afghani handmade rugs are hand-knotted using traditional techniques. Every rug is unique. The tribal patterns and deep colour combinations found in authentic Afghan rugs complement both Majlis and Toshak setups and add a layer of cultural authenticity to the room that you cannot get anywhere else in New Zealand.
- The Table
A cultural living room needs a low table at the centre. This is where tea goes. Where food is placed during gatherings. Where the room finds its practical anchor point.
Gold and chrome coffee tables in mirror and glass finishes work exceptionally well in this setting. The reflective surfaces complement the colours of a Majlis or Toshak arrangement without competing with the pattern and texture of the seating.
- Nesting Tables for Flexibility
If you host regularly — for Eid, Ramadan, family gatherings, or just weekends — nesting tables are worth considering alongside a main coffee table. Nested tables sit compactly when not in use and pull apart to create additional surfaces exactly where they are needed.
How to Arrange a Cultural Living Room in an Auckland Home
For a larger living room, line two or three walls with floor seating, place a large rug across the centre, and anchor it with a coffee table or table set in the middle.
For a smaller space, one wall of seating with a single rug and one low table is enough. Even a partial cultural living room setup creates the atmosphere — you do not need the whole room to feel the difference.
Why New Zealand Families Are Choosing Cultural Living Rooms
For Afghan families, the Toshak is a daily fixture. The floor is where life happens — where meals are eaten, where children play, where guests are welcomed properly.
For Arab families, the Majlis carries generations of tradition around hospitality and gathering. It is the room where the important conversations happen and where guests are made to feel that their visit matters.
For Pakistani, Indian Muslim, Kurdish, Syrian and other Middle Eastern families, elements of this style connect to something familiar and meaningful — something that gets harder to find in standard New Zealand furniture and home décor stores.
Why Choose Imperial Homegoods?
- Auckland-based business with a showroom in Te Atatū Peninsula
- Viewing available by appointment — see the products in person before you buy
- Collection from Rosebank Road and Avondale, Auckland
- NZ delivery available
- Arabic Majlis, Afghani Toshak, handmade rugs, coffee tables and nesting tables all in one place
- WhatsApp support — fast, personal and direct
Where to Find Ethnic Home Decor in Auckland
Imperial Homegoods is an Auckland-based home décor business specialising in Arabic Majlis, Afghani Toshak, handmade Afghan rugs, coffee tables, nesting tables and cultural home décor.
We are the only business in New Zealand offering the complete cultural living room setup — all four elements, in one place.
Together, these elements create a complete cultural living room that combines comfort, tradition and practical living.
View our full ethnic home decor collection on our website to see everything currently in stock.
Or contact us on WhatsApp for photos and personalised advice. We will help you put the right setup together for your home.