Make the bedroom soundproof – Nine simple tricks

If there’s one room in the home where you want as little noise as possible, it’s the bedroom. And yet some sources of noise can keep us from sleeping: passing police sirens, loud music from the room or apartment next door and so on.

But with a few simple and inexpensive tricks, you can ensure that significantly less noise can penetrate your bedroom and sleepless nights are a thing of the past.

In this article we will show you how you can soundproof the three most common weak points in the bedroom, namely the windows, the door and the walls, without spending a lot of money. Here we go.

In order to improve the soundproofing of the bedroom , there are different solutions, depending on where the noise is coming from. In the case of street noise, one should mainly improve the insulation of the windows (e.g. with new rubber seals or soundproof curtains). If, on the other hand, the noise is coming from other rooms or apartments, the insulation on the doors and walls needs to be improved (e.g. with acoustic foam or heavy vinyl mats)

The window

When it comes to street noise, the window is often the key weak point. With these simple tips, however, you can greatly improve the sound insulation of your window.

1. Improve the window seals

Over time, window rubber seals tend to become stiff and flat. As a result, they no longer seal the window properly and noise from the outside can get in more easily. To check this, you can pinch a sheet of paper between the window frame and the French door and then try to pull the sheet out. If it pulls out easily, the seals are in bad shape and should be repaired.

You can either exchange the current seals for new seals or you can attach additional sealing strips *. This is very easy and is explained in this video .

2. Insulate the roller shutter box

The roller shutter box can also be a weak point for noise. Especially with simple plastic or wooden boxes, it is worth insulating them additionally. There is also special roller shutter box insulation * to buy. This effectively insulates against noise and also improves thermal insulation.

In this video you can see how you can insulate the roller shutter box .

3. Attach soundproof curtains

Soundproof curtains can be a simple yet visually appealing way to reduce noise pollution.

Compared to ordinary curtains, they are thicker and heavier. As a result, they absorb the sound more and reduce the reverberation in the room. The result is significantly more pleasant room acoustics.

Moondream *  curtains  , for example, are specifically designed to provide the best possible soundproofing. They are particularly solid and heavy, so that noise is effectively absorbed or even reflected.

The door

You often think that the noise comes straight through the wall. Most of the time, however, the door is the real weak point and you should definitely check the door first before you start working on insulating the wall.

Here are the top 3 easiest tips to soundproof a bedroom door.

1. Seal the gap between the door and the floor

Many doors have a large gap to the floor. No matter how solid and thick the door is, noises can easily get through the gap into the bedroom. But this problem can easily be fixed.

Simply attach an additional silicone strip * or use a foam draft excluder *. On the other hand, brush strips * are more suitable for exterior and drilling doors .

2. Improve the door seals

Similar to the window, good door seals are also important for sound insulation. As with window seals, you can easily replace porous door seals with new rubber or foam seals*.

3. Make the door thicker and/or heavier

If the door is very light and thin, it often becomes a bit more complex. One option, of course, is to swap out the door for a new door with as much mass as possible. The heavier the door, the better it blocks out the noise.

If that is not an option, it may be a good idea to cover the door with acoustic foam insulation mats on both sides. This absorbs the sound and reduces noise pollution. This is particularly convenient with self- adhesive insulation mats *, which can also be easily cut to size for your door.

You can find some more helpful tips for soundproofing a door in this article .

The walls

With very thin walls, it is sometimes not enough to just insulate the doors and windows. Then a little more work is required.

Here we show you three simple yet effective ways to soundproof your bedroom wall.

1. Put the wardrobe against the “problem wall”.

A very simple option that can already work wonders is to place a wardrobe against the wall through which the noise is coming.

If possible, the cupboard should be as solid as possible and well stocked. Due to the high mass and the insulating clothing, the closet can both completely stop and absorb sound waves.

This also works very well with a densely packed bookshelf .

2. Hang soundproof curtains on the wall

Soundproof curtains can almost be described as a multifunctional means of noise protection. Because they not only improve the soundproofing of windows, but also of walls.

These curtains from the Moondream * brand, for example, are specially designed to block out as much noise as possible. For this reason, they are particularly heavy and dense. In fact, they can reduce noise by up to 12 decibels . This cuts the noise in half!

3. Cover the wall with acoustic foam or vinyl mats

Insulation mats made of acoustic foam * can also be helpful here. However, you should note that a large part of the wall must be covered with these mats for it to be really effective. So-called acoustic images are therefore usually not particularly effective. Although they are also made of acoustic foam, they usually only cover a very small part of the wall.

Mass-loaded vinyl* mats , on the other hand , can be very effective and offer the advantage of taking up less space than foam insulation mats. However, they can be a bit more expensive overall and are more complex to install.

Both foams and vinyl mats have the disadvantage that they are visually rather negative. It is therefore worth combining this option with curtains.

In general, it can be said that the three methods mentioned are particularly effective in combination with one another.

A detailed explanation with many other tips on how to make a wall soundproof later can be found in this article .

CONCLUSION

In order to make a bedroom soundproof, one should first take care of the insulation of the windows and doors. These can be made significantly more soundproof with simple means, e.g. B. by replacing the seals. If there is still too much noise in the room afterwards, the wall must also be insulated. To do this, you can place a heavy wardrobe in front of the wall or additionally insulate it with soundproof curtains, acoustic foam or vinyl mats.