When it comes to upgrading your home and making it a more pleasant and enjoyable place to live, many of us will focus on the aesthetics and on what our home actually looks like. While this is important though, it is far from the only aspect of your home that you should be thinking about and there are many other important considerations for making sure your home is as good to live in as it possibly can be.
One often overlooked factor for instance is noise. A good home is one that is beautiful and spacious with lots of room to do all the different things you want to do but it is also one that is serene, quiet and restful to spend time in.
The best homes should be quiet so that you can sleep better, so that you can hear yourself talk/hear the things you watch and so that you aren’t disturbing the neighbors or your guests all the time. If you’re happy with the way your home looks and operates, perhaps it’s time to think about how you can make it quieter and more peaceful.
Top Ways to Create a Quiet Home
Insulation
One easy and straightforward tip for making your home as quiet as possible is to make sure it is well insulated. This means having thick wall insulation and thick insulation in your loft. Many of us think about insulation in terms of heating only but actually it serves another important role in keeping noise to a minimum. If you live near a busy road, then insulation in your walls can help make this less of a problem.
Decorating
Insulation isn’t just achieved by stuffing your walls though. You can also add insulation in other means by filling your rooms with insulating materials. One easy way to do this is to add more cushions to your sofas which will absorb extra sound. Heavy curtains are also excellent at reducing the noise that comes in through the windows.
The Right Rooms
Some rooms are always going to be noisier than others. If you have a front-facing bedroom that’s by a busy main road for instance, then this is likely to get a lot of noise coming in from the traffic. Solve this problem by making sure the rooms that need to be quietest are the ones at the back of the house.
Appliances
Did you know that studies have repeatedly demonstrated the role that environmental noise has in creating stress? If you live in a space where there is constant whirring and whining then you’re much more likely to get angry, to have arguments and to experience high blood pressure and heart rate in response to stress?
Now think about how many different noisy appliances and devices most of us have around the home – from fridges that whine to TVs that constantly ring with a high-pitched noise. Another common issue is garage door openers which often vibrate and rattle when they operate, waking everyone up when you head to work.
Newer garage door openers are often much quieter and will avoid vibrations. Likewise, when choosing any other appliances you should think about the noise they create as factor when deciding which model to go with.
Turn off all appliances that you aren’t using and when you choose any new machines or devices, always factor in the amount of noise they’re going to make as an important point.
Padding
A lot of noise is created by people generally clattering and banging around the house. Washing dishes and stacking plates are pretty noisy activities, as is moving furniture around.
Fortunately, it’s possible to pad many of the things that create this noise. Place ‘slippers’ on the legs of your chairs and pad the inside of your cupboard doors with a little cork. Rubber mats can also reduce noise when washing up. Generally look for all the biggest causes of noise in your day and then take lengths to address each one however you can.
