• Acoustic Panels
• Bass Traps
• Acoustic Foam Panels
• DIY Acoustic Panels
• Church Acoustics
• Studio Acoustics
• Home Theater Acoustics
• Restaurant Acoustics
• Acoustic Insulation
• Room Acoustic Treatments

Decorating a home is an exciting pastime. So many options exist for wall colors and textures, flooring accessories, and all the little details that give a room its own unique character. While the visual details are the most obvious, the overall look and feel is highly colored by the acoustic characteristics of the room.

Acoustic characteristics depend on the materials used in the expression of a room. Hard surfaces, like hardwood floors, flat walls, or executive desks reflect sounds in the room, and can cause a room to be “bright” and “lively”. Soft materials like plush carpets, area rugs, and comfortable sofas absorb sound energy and dampen the sounds in the room, leaving it “quiet” or even “dead”.

As you plan your home decoration, think about the experiences you want to have in the different rooms. Do you want a boisterous, high-energy room for serving appetizers and aperitifs? Many professional entertainment spaces like restaurants and bars use these kinds of materials to enhance the social experiences of their cliental. Or does the room want a more of a pensive characteristic for reading or resting? Many executive offices are specifically designed to allow their highly paid occupants to focus for long periods of time. Sometimes it is important to completely neutralize a room’s acoustic characteristics, for example in recording studios or movie theaters. When decorating, along with your choices in colors and accessories to compliment the room’s purpose, make sure to choose the right materials to ensure the room delivers the right experience.

In some cases, the home decorator may need to change the feel of the room while constrained by the choice of materials. For example, the goal may be to create a quality reading area in a predominantly hard-wood room. In these cases strategically placed area rugs or other soft materials can have a large impact. Another choice would be to look into special acoustic products from companies like Ready Acoustics. These are especially useful in specialized rooms like home theaters or music listening rooms where acoustic performance is especially noticeable. The manufacturers of these products often provide services to guide designers through the different kinds of products.

Remembering to think about the acoustics of a room can be the difference between a “good” room decoration scheme and a “great” one. The room’s acoustics can guide experiences in the room in way that leaves a subtle but lasting impression. If you’re a professional home decorator, optimizing the room’s acoustics will delight your clients as they live in the spaces you design. And if you’re just taking care of your personal space, thinking about modifying the acoustic characteristics of a room is another avenue you can follow in optimizing your living space.