While we don't typically do a ton of residential work, because so many of our solutions are geared towards commercial spaces, when online real estate giant Redfin asked if we could give our top tips in 175 words or less, we answered the bell. Whether you are an architect or client, sometimes it can be difficult to quickly summarize the how and why of sound clarity. We think this bite-sized blurb could be just the thing you need to get started.
"Acoustic solutions will do two things for your space: they will make all the wanted sounds in your room clearer by reducing noise and they will allow you to reduce the volume of sound sources because of the Lombard Effect — the involuntary tendency to increase a source's volume in a noisy reverberative environment. Leave the old egg crate style foam in the past (it’s useless) and select something with a high NRC value or products that you can use more of — we recommend as a starting point a panel square footage equal to 5% of the total cubic volume. For a 10x10x10 room you would roughly need seven 2ft by 4ft panels, or a little less if you have carpet and other soft surfaces. You can also add to the room’s ambiance by selecting wood veneer covered solutions, a printed canvas-wrapped panel with your artwork of choice printed on it, or by backlighting it with some LEDs."
