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The Inner West is one of the most varied furnishing challenges in Sydney. In a single street in Burwood, Concord or Ashfield you can find a leadlight-windowed Federation cottage, a 1960s brick walk-up and a new high-rise apartment with a 2.4 m ceiling. Each one wants a different approach to rugs, sofas and tables. This guide walks through what works, and how our Lidcombe showroom, a short drive from all three suburbs, can help you see the pieces in person.

Know your home type first

Burwood in particular is a mix of eras. According to Wikipedia's Burwood entry, the suburb has many Victorian and Federation-style buildings (the Appian Way estate is a well-known example), alongside high-rise residential towers near the station and along the railway line. Concord and Ashfield follow a similar pattern of older houses sitting beside newer apartment blocks. Before you buy anything, decide which of these you are furnishing.

• Federation and Victorian homes: higher ceilings, smaller separate rooms, timber floorboards.
• 1960s-70s brick units: compact living areas, often carpet or tiles, limited storage.
• New apartments: open-plan living and dining, hard flooring, little wall space for storage.

Rugs for period homes with timber floors

Federation homes, which Wikipedia describes as dating from roughly 1890 to 1915 and featuring verandahs, gables and leadlight windows, suit traditional patterns well. A Persian-style rug in deep reds and navies echoes the character of the architecture, and a wool piece gives warmth on floorboards that can feel cold in a Sydney winter. Look at our wool rug range if you want natural fibre.

For sizing, a 2.4 x 3.0 m rug is the safe choice for most Federation lounge rooms: it lets the front legs of the sofa and armchairs sit on the rug and leaves a border of floorboard showing. In a smaller 3 x 3.5 m room, a 2 x 2.9 m rug keeps the proportions balanced.

Rugs for apartments and hard floors

In newer Burwood and Ashfield apartments, a rug does the job of defining a zone in an open-plan space. A modern rug in a low, flat pile works well under a dining table, since chair legs slide cleanly on it. In the living area, pick a rug large enough to anchor the sofa set so the room does not feel like furniture floating on tile. If the unit has a balcony door that gets afternoon sun, choose a colour that will not show fading quickly, and rotate the rug twice a year.

Sofas that fit narrow doorways and lifts

This is the most overlooked step in Inner West furnishing. Many older cottages have narrow hallways, and apartment lifts and stairwells limit what can get through. Before ordering, measure:

1. The width of your front door and any internal doorways.
2. The lift interior and the stairwell turn, if you live above ground floor.
3. The room itself, marking the sofa footprint on the floor with masking tape for a day.

A three-seater around 2.1 to 2.3 m long suits most living rooms here, and modular or sectional designs travel more easily than a single oversized piece. Browse our couches collection and compare seat depth as well as length: a 95 cm deep seat looks luxurious but swallows a small room. A velvet piece like the Dior dark grey modern sofa pictured above gives a Federation room a rich, layered feel while still sitting low enough not to dominate.

Material trade-offs to consider

Fabric breathes and feels softer, which suits Sydney's humid summers, while velvet adds a dressier finish and leather is easiest to wipe clean. If you have a young family in one of the Concord streets near the parks, a performance fabric or leather is usually the practical option. If it is a couple's apartment, velvet or a boucle-style fabric lets you prioritise style.

Tables, storage and finishing touches

Compact apartments benefit from glass or sintered stone tops in a slim frame, because they keep sightlines open. In our coffee table range you will find square, round and nested options: a 90 cm square table suits a tighter room, while 120 cm tables only work when there is at least 40 cm of walkway around them. Rules of thumb: keep the coffee table height about 2 to 5 cm below the sofa seat, and leave about 45 cm between sofa and table.

See it in person at Lidcombe

Photos are helpful, but colour and pile are easier to judge in the room. Our Lidcombe store is a convenient trip from Burwood, Concord and Ashfield, and you can bring your measurements, a photo of your floor and a fabric swatch from your curtains. Our team can help you work out rug sizes and sofa dimensions on the spot. If you would rather browse first, start with our full rug collection and note the pieces you like before you visit.

Furnishing a home in the Inner West is about respecting what the building already offers, whether that is Federation character or an open-plan apartment. Measure carefully, choose one anchor piece (usually the rug or sofa) and build outward from there.