Even though modern civilization has turned the life of mankind highly comfortable, it certainly has its significant downsides. And yeah! Noise pollution is one of them. Everyone sooner or later faces it at some part of their life. If you’re seeking how to soundproof a bedroom to google, chances are, like many others, you’ve been affected by this problem.
Then, you should be tired of waking throughout the night due to horrible street noise. Don’t worry! We’ve all been there.
Complete soundproofing is crazy-expensive, and it doesn’t make sense if you spend some serious percentage of your life’s savings.
Using a little creativity and a few household items, you can turn your bedroom into heaven. You’ll learn a few basics of soundproofing using which you can easily soundproof your bedroom cheaply, or even for free.
Without any further ado, allow me to present the list of 13 cheap bedroom soundproofing ideas that’ll turn your nightmares into dreams! And also have a sleep in such a way that whenever you’re going to sleep, you know that you’re going to wake up feeling well-rested, refreshed and focused.
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How To Soundproof Your Bedroom Door and Walls cheaply
Seal the Gaps – Use Weatherstripping and Door sweep
Your door is a highway kind of thing for noise to come into your bedroom. And simply closing will not stop the whole noise coming through it most of the time. So, soundproofing your door is quite essential.
Apart from other door soundproofing techniques, here in this section, I’ll reveal how to seal the gaps – that’ll leak noise. Fix this cheap weatherstripping tape where the door or window touches the frame to ensure no air or sound can pass through the gap.
It serves as a sort of insulation that requires you to seal all the gaps around the door. It also serves several purposes like Bugs protection, water defense, thermal leak reduction, and particularly made for sound reducing purpose. Here’s a simple video if you choose to install the adhesive weatherstrip on your door.
Soundproof your Bedroom for free with Blankets
Wondering how can you soundproof your bedroom for FREE?
Well, hanging your blankets on your windows and door can help. It may not be the best solution out there, still has enough impact required for your bedroom.
You can make them work as efficiently as acoustic barriers by choosing dense and thick blankets. Remember Thicker the blanket, better the noise reduction. So, wool blankets or moving blankets will best suit this case.
To have the best effect, make sure the blanket covers the entire surface of the door, walls, and windows. You can use them in two ways.
Stick them to your walls
You can directly attach those blankets to your walls by:
- Nail the blanket against the wall.
- You can glue or tape it to the wall. You need them at industrial standards as the blankets will be too heavy.
- Else, you can suspend them to the curtain rod.
Hang them on the doors
Doors are comparatively hard to soundproof. But with a little bit of effort, you’ll be able to easily soundproof your bedroom door. You can do one of the following:
- Nail or glue them to the door
- Just like windows, you can install a curtain holder for your door and hang the blanket over there.
- If you aren’t using a door, then you can nail the blanket to the surrounding wall.
And for a fashionable look – Hand Acoustic Curtains
Worried about looks of hanging blankets? Don’t worry! These acoustic blackout curtains will not only reduce the noise and have a stylish look but also blocks the sunlight. And you can easily hang them over any wall or door. Yet, they’re comparatively less effective at soundproofing than soundproof blankets.
But they have their advantages. Having a comfortable appearance will surely enhance your sleeping experience than a look like being stuffed by rugs hanging all over walls. I’d personally prefer curtains as I’ll be bringing partners and I won’t mind spending a few bucks for a good look and noiseless environment.
And that should affect your choice too i.e., who is going to visit your room. Even if you’re not interested in investing soundproof curtains, then you can surely go for any dense curtains you’ve. Consider thicker one or layering one on another also will be perfectly fine. In that case, put the thicker one on the top.
What do you think of egg cartoons?
If I’m not the first person to tell you about soundproofing a room, then the probability that the first person you contacted spoke about egg cartoons is damn high.
But the fact is: This is just a myth. What did you think of it?
People still believe that egg cartoons work because they look like they’d do the job. But, they aren’t that good at it. They don’t make such sound barriers because they’re light weighted and porous.
But, acoustics works weird, the structure of the egg cartoons turns the sound into heat. You might’ve heard this a million times that sound bounces back on hitting the smooth surfaces like windows and walls. So, you might want to place your egg cartoons tactically in your bedroom, you’ll see a bit less echo. Even though you may not see huge results, their availability makes them worth trying out.
How about Cheap soundproof foam?
If you’re on a budget and looking for other alternatives for soundproofing your bedroom, then these cheap soundproofing foam can do the trick for you. Not only do they bring you peace, but they also add beauty and charm to your bedroom considering the variety of styles and designs available.
But the online sources say something different. They claim that they do not block the sound. And the twist is, they’re correct. In acoustics, the concepts of sound insulation, noise-blocking, and sound absorption are a bit different.
These soundproof foams instead of blocking the noise, they trap the sound waves inside its fibers and convert that sound waves into heat energy. If you’re into soundproofing before, then you’ll know that using soundproofing foam is a vital part of any soundproofing process.
So, where can you put them? Using soundproof foam to cover walls, ceiling and even doors will be perfectly fine. But placing at reflecting points is the key. You can figure it out by listening to various spots of your bedroom and estimating them. Putting it short, experimentation will be the only answer.
Though soundproofing foam doesn’t guarantee you the complete soundproofing, still that should be enough to stop bedroom noise from being broadcasted into the whole house, if you know what I mean.
Install Thick Carpet
Most of the people use carpets to make their floor softer and warmer. But little did they realize that they can soundproof their floor with it.
If you’re having a hard or wooden floor, then it’s high time to think of having a carpet. Hard floors which are made up of concrete or wood are prone to high impact noise. Such floors are likely to cause huge noise for even heavy footsteps.
Thick carpets not only stop the noise from reflecting but also block the noise from the floor underneath. Their soft acoustic structure allows them to absorb the echos and vibrations in their fibers. So, choosing the one with a suitable thickness and cover-up as much surface as possible.
If you’re interested in maximizing the effect, installing these cheap soundproof underlay beneath your carpet will surely enhance the effectiveness by softening the impact of steps.
Even the old rugs can do the thick carpet job for you. You can even use them to soundproof your wall by hanging them – only if you think they’re pretty enough. Having thick carpets will surely reduce the noise of the room, combining it with other soundproofing techniques will give you the best results – even better than being soundproofed by professionals.
Soundproof Your Air vents
We already know that noise can leak through the smallest gaps. But why didn’t you look after that? And what if it is the main culprit, leaking everything from the other side of the wall? Can you do it without blocking air ventilation?
Don’t worry! You CAN soundproof the vent without blocking the airflow.
Want to know how to do it?
Maze vent is the answer! Here’s the structure you want to make which will make possible both soundproofing and allows air ventilation simultaneously.
This bunch of acoustic panels overlapping each other in a special way such that the noise attenuates to almost zero after crossing those panels while allowing the free airflow. And this way is far better than completely soundproofing by installing a single panel as the later will not have ventilation – which you must be needing.
Use Acoustic paint for your walls
If you’re unfamiliar with this, there’s an acoustic sound-deadening paint that will instantly reduce the exterior noise by 30-40%.
You may be wondering: How paint can soundproof the walls?
It just works on the principle of the addition of mass to make it soundproof. This soundproof paint leaves heavy coating which will absorb the sound efficiently. Even though it is called “Soundproof paint”, it will absorb just more than 30 percent of the noise.
If you’re not interested in putting heavy things on your wall and want to have good decoration as well, then this soundproof paint should be your solution.
Protip: If you’ve any teenage neighbour who spends a lot of time speaking on phone, you can request him to shift his bed or wherever they call most on the opposite wall of your room.
Plug up noise leaks
If you have holes that are leaking the noise to your bedroom, then try to seal to the maximum possible extent to as many of them depending upon the purpose they serve.
If possible, Soundproof Ceiling
It is almost impossible to sleep if your bedroom roof is someone’s floor. Having noisy neighbors upstairs in your apartment building or even your home can become a nightmare. Thanks to the advancement of soundproofing technologies, that won’t be that way if you apply them.
Most people claim these acoustic foam panels are more than enough to soundproof your ceiling, and that is true. No doubt as it one of the safest, affordable solutions and the easiness of installation. In most of the cases, acoustic foam panels will come with adhesives themselves, if not provided then you can use a good glue or even better if you can use this adhesive spray.
If you’re thinking of having the best design for your bedroom and price isn’t the issue, then these stylish ceiling clouds not only soundproof your ceilings but also bring a heavenly look to your sleeping paradise.
If possible, have furniture or bookshelves
Wouldn’t it be great if your furniture does the soundproofing job for you? Yeah, you can dampen the sound using your household furniture such as chairs, sofa, dressing table or even a bookshelf. And upon that, you can also add a textured pillow to your sofa or chair which makes another layer of a soundproof buffer.
So, where can we place the furniture?
Naturally, as per soundproofing laws, you can place the furniture against the wall from which most of the noise is penetrating your bedroom. Make sure that you don’t unbalance the decor of your bedroom while placement.
Protip: If you’re getting severely disturbed by sound of TV in the living room, you can vertically install the speakers so that they can only bounce between ceiling and floors without propogating throughout the room.
Hanging art isn’t a bad idea
Why not install a decorative and cheap Canvas art to not only soundproof your bedroom but also to beautify your vision at night which will give you a sort of fairy tale type of sleeping environment?
You may be wondering: So, does canvas art soundproof your room?
And the answer will be a big NO! So, why am I listing it here?
Here’s the point: You can cut some cheap acoustic foam fit into the hollow side of your canvas.
So, you’re killing two birds with one stone here.
Consider Having a White Noise Machine or a mobile app
Well, if you are not interested in doing such kind of repairs to your bedroom and looking for a simple straight forward solution, then having a white noise machine should be your best go.
Ever heard about white noise machine?
If not, those machines are specially designed for producing white noise. White noise is special because they operate in frequency we can’t hear and it masks all other unwanted noises and you can’t hear the noise and it’s as if they’re eliminated.
Here’s a beautiful image that describes the working of a white noise machine.
And these machines are not going to cost you a fortune. There are plenty of models available in the market that are even specially designed for bedroom sleeping.
Since I want to save you the struggle of searching, I’ve done some study and with some practical experience, I’ve found this white noise machine will best suit your bedroom experience.
Even a mobile app can do the job for you. Almost everyone has this secret weapon in their pockets which they can use to change the world. Why not change use it to change your life?
There’re plenty of apps out there that can produce the same type of noise which you can use to deceive the unwanted noise while sleeping, or even when you need to have peace in a noisy environment.
Want to know the best part?
This is the most economical choice!
What Can You Expect from those Solutions?
Well, you cannot expect 100% soundproofing using these cheap do-it-yourself solutions. Still, it should be more than enough for you to have a peaceful night. And have human living conditions even if you’re living in the streets with horrible night noise.
And the best part? – You don’t need to pay hundreds of dollars to acquire professional insulation(which you don’t even need).
Don’t forget that noise just like air can leak through the smallest gaps. So, sealing the sound leaking holes in your bedroom is the key to soundproofing your bedroom. Windows and doors are highly prone in this regard.
Some final tips on Soundproofing a Bedroom Door & Walls
So, that’s all I know about soundproofing a bedroom and from professional experience and deep research, I’ve brought you these tried and true tricks that will make enough difference.
And in case if none of them works or for some reason you’re not able to apply them, then don’t worry! You can invest in other noise dampening products instead. Luckily, I’d good research upon them and have come up with their reviews.
- You can use these pretty cheap yet effective noise-canceling earmuffs that stop all sorts of noise. If you’ve loud neighbors or roommates, getting a pair will be your best go.
Did I leave anything? If you have any suggestions or experiences, please share it in the comment section below. That way, you’ll make lives better by making them learn more about it and come up with new ideas.
