Settling into a new or first home allows you to slowly accumulate furnishings you love. But often — and believe me, I've been there! — it means living in a home that can be quite empty. With nothing to absorb the noise, every sound echoes and bounces around the empty rooms. If you'd like to make your home a little less noisy, you might want to try this trick I discovered when I was out last night.
I was at the restaurant Comme Ça, which sounds lively even when it's relatively empty. The space has large glass windows, blackboard walls, many mirrors and a polished wood floor — few soft surfaces to absorb the noise. But why wasn't it deafening? Sitting down at a table, I learned their secret: the restaurant carpets the undersides of their tables! The clandestine carpet helps absorbs some of the sound.
What have you done to reduce noise and echoes in your home?
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Comments (16)
I just noticed this last week at the Publican in Chicago and had *no clue* what it was for!
That's so clever. I have hardwood throughout and I simply use throw rugs to dampen the noise. I was once at a cafe with SUPER high ceilings and they actually hung different color egg crates from the ceilings to help with the noise. It worked quite well, was probably super cheap to do, and made for a great decorative element.
Jeanne
http://www.etsy.com/shop/RainyPenguinVintage
Yay! I love the publican. The Mussels are amazing!
One of the first nights in my new duplex, I awakened to the sound of a man talking right there in my bedroom (or so it seemed.) It was my neighbor's boyfriend on the other side of the wall. The next day I put up suede curtains on that wall. It did cut down on the sound and made both bedrooms more, ahem, private.
Change to a white cord on your lamp. Will make a fantastic difference...
@quiltmaster: white cords are quiet, eh?
Looking at the pic, I thought the post was going to be about filling picture frames with sound-absorbing material. Not a bad idea, now that I think about it...
too bad that the corner you chose to make a point is just that....a corner. Had you looked at the entire room you would have seen two separate and I must say gorgeous rugs. Take a look at the House Tour to see the room in its entirety.
I work with produce, so I'm able to take home those odd blue cardboard/eggcrate type boards that sit between apple layers. And when I'm impatient, I'll ask the produce-dude at the market to see if he has any spares...
Oh, and mattress foam pad with curtains over it too! We have 3 parrots, it's much needed :)
@rosenatti - I agree with you, I thought they were going to tell us about backing the pictures too! I'm getting ready to move into an apartment with thin walls and I might just have to give it a try.
I have dense one inch foam backing all my picture frames and mirrors. you can definitely tell the difference in my stair well. The ikea box frames are particularly good for this. They're great for covering fuse boxes etc too
@quiltmaster: you are so right - a white cord it is. thank you.
Great stuff on this blog. Some additional comments. First, there are "ratios" between how much sound absorbing material should be introduced into a room based on the size, shape and surface textures in that room. There are also "thickness" issues. Most of the comments sited here fall short of the intended goal. Carpet under table tops? While it may have a slight deadening effect, the truth is the material is too thin to convert sound wave energy, doesn't have the backing (fiberglass or foam) to absorb enough of the echo, and there's not enough material in the room if the treatment is only underneath the tables. Also, the only absorption going on in this case is when the soundwaves are reflecting down, off the floor, and up into the bottom side of each table. This is a small fraction of the overall level of sound wave reflection going on in the room.
Someone also sited foam in a restaurant. Well guess what, foam isn't class A fire rated, and shouldn't be in there in the first place. The fire marshall would make them scrape it out if they found out. Foam is a great absorbing material for radio stations, recording studios, home musicians, and drum booths, but not public venues like restaurants, hospitals, schools and churches. Plus, foam "flakes" out over time, spilling dust particles down onto your food.
The answer? Ceiling Clouds. Class A fire rated, decorate, cloth covered sound panels that mechanically "float" from the ceiling, designed to interrupt the path of sound waves bouncing around in a room, they will absorb up to 80% of the unwanted echo in a room. They are class A fire rated, don't degrade, and add a nice design feature to most any ceiling. In any room, including an apartment! Check www.eSoundproof.com or call their help desk at 1-800-638-9355 for more information.
They make sound reducing dry wall. I think it has metal sandwiched in it. I researched 2 brands when we moved into our 1962 fixer two years ago. We live on busy street and the noise was driving me crazy. Didn't know it was noisy when we bought it of course. The next course of action will be to replace all the single pane (pain)windows. You can hear everything through those.
gellergeorge, you work for that company. Your post is SPAM
Comme Ca's still pretty loud. I think most loud places are intended to be that way.