Helpful Tips for Sound Control in the Home

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Sound control in your home plays a particularly important role in comfort. Residential designers be it architects, interior designers, or builders are challenged to incorporate acoustics into their design solutions. Acoustic controls are considered a must in public, educational, and some commercial spaces. Have you ever wondered how museums are designed to be so quiet?  What about churches like Sagrada Familia in Barcelona designed by the great architect Gaudi? The sound control is amazing given there is marble on the floors, the columns, and parts of the ceilings.

What may be overlooked in residential design is sound and how it affects our emotional state.   It is an important part of holistic design. Sound flows through the windows, under the doors, through the vents, and through the walls. How do you want to control sound in your home?  Sound also bounces off the floors, walls, and ceilings and can make it difficult to understand conversations or even think.

In order to effectively control sound in your home, it is important to understand both sound reverberation and sound transmission, as well as ways to address each.

Acoustic Control

Sound reverberation occurs when sound bounces off surfaces. Open floor plans with hard surfaces create reverberations and makes it difficult to control noise levels.

What will help reduce reverberations? Here are 5 suggestions!

1. Carpeting or other soft flooring solutions such as LVT

Home Control

2. Drapery and other soft window treatments

Sound Control

3. Walls can also absorb sound

Home Sound Control

4. Ceiling heights in ratio with room size

House Sound Control

5. Ceiling treatments such as coffering

Home Sounds

Sound transmission occurs when sound moves between materials. Sound transmissions are more difficult to control with residential design, but there are measures that can be implemented to help reduce sound transmissions to an acceptable level. Below are 4 areas to assess when trying to mitigate sound transmission in the home.

  1. Sound controlled glass for windows and doors
  2. Underlayment used with wood floors and other types of hard surfaces
  3. Soundproofing walls and plumbing chases
  4. Door sweeps

Stay tuned into our blog for more helpful information on creating a healthy and happy home! Are you looking to improve your home’s overall wellness and functionality but don’t know where to begin? Give SDG a call. Our team would love to help!

Improve the Flow of Your Home

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Many have mentioned to me the challenges of living and working at home during this time of the pandemic and how chaotic their environment has been. Architects are now discovering that beautiful homes that have been designed with open floor plans work well for creating a welcoming environment, but do not work so well for multifunctional needs. Here are some questions to consider to improve the flow of your home.

The flow of a home should consider the use of space, traffic patterns, views, and natural daylight. Here is a list of considerations to keep in mind when you are thinking of how to re-configure your space. These questions and guidelines can be applied to your home whether you are building new or remodeling.

1. If you might need a space to have multiple functions, consider a sliding door system so you can close it off when privacy is needed (or if its messy😊)

Flow

2. What are the access points of entry to a given room and how does that impact the use of the space?

Your Home Flow

3. Is a view to the front important to see who is dropping by or leaving packages? Or is a view to a garden important to keep your mind balanced and healthy?

SDG

4. Is there enough natural light? Would you need to consider skylights or clerestory windows to optimize your wall and floor space and still maintain natural light?

The flow of a space

5. How are you planning to treat your windows? Will you cover them with shades, drapes, or shutters? What are the benefits of each and how will the window treatments affect your natural light?

Home

Schlosser Design Group specializes in holistic living and wellness in design and has been helping families and individuals create homes that are both beautiful and functional for decades. Whether you are building a new home from the ground up, remodeling your existing home, or needing to refresh your spaces to be more conducive to your current needs, SDG is here to help. Call us today to see how we can assist in bringing form and function to your home.