Sound has a strong influence on how you experience a space.
We all have experienced the sensation of being inside an empty space with bare walls, hard surface floors and materials, and feel that annoying distinctive ringing sound that bounces in waves back and forth between the walls, ceiling, and floor, making conversations difficult. Sound waves reverberate around the room, and without anything soft to absorb them, noise becomes amplified and speech can become difficult to understand.
Here are a few ways to combat this acoustic issue for an improved audio and conversational atmosphere.
If you still have the chance to change some materials, I would say use WOOD. On floors, wall panels, on furniture, objects and even lighting features will improve a lot the absorption of the sound waves and nasty noises.
Upholstered furniture all help to absorb noise, at the same time making the room more comfortable and cozy.
When it comes to flooring, by far the easiest and simplest solution is to lay down a carpet with a really good underlay. Over concrete, tiles or stone floors, use carpets, rugs and natural fibers elements, so you can break the sound travelling from below. Read more about rugs and carpets at How to combine rugs with no mistakes.
Natural fibers are actually very trendy at the moment and easy to find in different combinations. Lamps, baskets, accessories, cachepots, just explore. As a natural product, it also warms and enriches an interior.
Plants are always welcome, bringing freshness, color, balance and sound absorption.
Textile curtains can be another good option, mainly if you have big glass windows or stainless steel frames. You can read more about curtains in the link Correct ways to dress your window.
Due to the porous material configuration, tiles, polyester, Styrofoam, rubber, leather, wool and many other materials serve a dual purpose as they can be made to look like pieces of artwork. Many other materials are available to designers where there is a need to minimize ambient noise without compromising on modern decor.
If you want to know more about how to hang your pictures in the wall, please read Ideas to create a picture wall.
For more critical areas as restaurants and offices, there are several sustainable solutions as acustic baffles and pannels. Made of recycled plastic bottles, extremely sound absorbent, self extinguishable, washable, versatile and easy to combine with decorative features.
Credit: Xico Diniz 
A flutter of echoes can make any space feel clinical, cold and uninviting. Treating your room with smart acoustic choices like the ones listed above can improve understanding movie dialog, clarity of music from the stereo, and most importantly, keep conversations easy and comfortable.
All pictures are from Pinterest.
Hope I helped with some ideas!! Send me your coments or tell me about your acustic problems below!
