Sound bothering you?
If you live in clustered apartments, you might want to block the noises coming from all around you. You can read more about typical noise problems in this site here. Some apartments have thin walls that you can hear what your neighbor’s day at work was like. You can hear their every footstep and the click of their glasses and this can be irritating over the long run.
You might want to have some quiet and want to soundproof your walls, ceilings, and floors. Fortunately, you can always add thicker insulation to dampen the sounds coming from different places of your apartment.
But if you don’t have the budget for the insulation materials yet, (Don’t worry! They are affordable and easy to install), you can instead use furniture and other elements that are already present in your home. Here are some techniques to get you started in blocking off all the noises that are coming from the outside.
Tips for Blocking Noises
Invest in Thicker Carpets and Rugs
The sounds outside can bounce off when you have thicker carpets installed on the floors. You can get a rug that is large enough to cover an area of your home if you find that the sounds are coming from specifically from this place.
A quality underpad on the floor will also help you block the sounds inside. When you sit on a chair, you can prevent any unnecessary creaking when the furniture shifts slightly. You can also consider installing some area rugs that will not only help with sound absorption, they will also make your room more beautiful and stylish.
Use Heavy Curtains to Help Soundproof
Hang Heavy Curtains
If you currently have window shutters, you can consider removing them and replace them with heavy draperies. There are premium blackout curtains that can prevent you from hearing unnecessary noises such as barking dogs, kids crying, and cars zooming outside. You can get curtains with sound deadening material that is made of velvet or microfiber polyester for better soundproofing.
These window hangings are very useful in absorbing vibrations coming from the outside. The heavy fabrics with pleated styles can double the sound reduction effect especially when you compare these to those hangings that are made up of linen. Another benefit that you can get from curtains is that they can match your home décor because you can choose from a wide range of styles and colors.
Push Bookshelves on Walls
If you have books sitting and gathering dust in your attic, you might want to clean them up and stack them on bookshelves. Push a large bookcase against a wall where you can usually hear your neighbor’s talk loud and clear. The larger the shelf, the better.
Fill it up with large stacks of textbooks, novels, and magazines. You will not only decorate your room and make good books accessible; the pressed pages are also effective in stopping sounds. While some people love open spaces inside their rooms, the bookcases can act as funnels for sounds that come from the outside. Read more about making bookcases here: https://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/how-to/a117/1273111/.
Get Soft Furnishings
For some people, hard furnishings will never go out of style in their homes. Some examples of these are tables, beds, and more. But they can replace their chairs with the soft upholstered ones that can prevent noise. Benches with foams are great places where one can rest because they can reduce noise that is coming from the outside. With soft furnishings, you can get the benefit of sleeping well, avoiding accidents from sharp corners, and sound reduction at little to no extra cost on your part.
Decorate Room with Tapestries and Hangings
If you find your wall to be a blank space, you can decorate it with paintings, pictures, portraits, and a lot more. These tapestries and decorative quilts will do the trick of ricocheting the sounds and preventing them from reaching your ears. They can help in absorbing vibrations from the other side of the wall. What others do is they invest in insulation materials, get the wall layered up, and add the paintings and tapestries as extra absorbers.
Wall hangings are great ways to add color to your room while blocking off unwanted sounds at the same time. There are felt wall art that you can create in your spare time to dampen the sounds. Some may not have the time to awaken their creative streaks and might try to buy existing artwork. If you are one of them, you should attach a small piece of foam at the back to add an extra layer to the wall.
Try Re-Arranging Your Room
Rearrange Everything
If you have tried everything and you can still hear your neighbor’s chatter from the other side of the wall, you can rearrange your furniture around. You can place the television on the wall where the loud voices of your neighbors can be heard. The TV can act as white noise which can benefit you.
If you have a bedroom where you want to drown out the sounds of your brother’s guitar strums, you can place your bed as far away as possible from where the noise is coming from. Swapping some furniture around may be a small thing, but they can significantly impact the way you rest and sleep at night.
A Final Word
There are a lot of other things that you can do to soundproof your home. You can talk to the pros who can install premium quality materials so that you won’t hear outside noises for good. But if you are on a tight budget, for now, you can try the above tips and see if they work for you. Another thing that you can try is to talk to your neighbor and make them do the same thing so that all of you can get the peace that you want in each of your own homes.[
