Saturday, August 11, 2012

Blocking out Noise at Night

Blocking out noise at night can help you get a more restful 8 hours, although depending on whether you're a city dweller or a country dweller, the noise you're trying to not notice can be different. No matter where you live,  Apartment Therapy helps you get back to sleep!

White noise can block out all sorts of obnoxious noises, from early morning birds, to the trash being collected, to neighbors talking next door in a thin-walled apartment.  You can either purchase a machine that specifically makes white noise or there is a WhiteNoise app that will work just as well.  For me personally, noise machines, (the ones that can play waterfall or rainforest sounds), don't work because I can hear when the track starts over.  But using a fan or air conditioner can have the same effect.

Fabric can also be wonderful at keeping out ambient noise.  A set of thick drapes can prevent sound from coming in through the windows and rugs are also great at absorbing noise.  Another trick is to rearrange your furniture and put your bed on the wall across from the window instead of underneath it.  Of course, this only works if your bedroom is large enough to allow options when arranging the room.

Finally, sometimes you can address the underlying problem.  Although you can't ask the birds not to engage in their morning performance, you can (nicely) ask your upstairs neighbor to not wear heels around their apartment or ask neighboring restaurants to coordinate their trash pick-up so it all happens at the same time rather than three or four times a night.

Good luck and sleep tight!

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