For most people, sitting in front of a television fully immersed in a movie or getting lost in the rhythm of their favourite music is their ideal way of relaxing. If the acoustics of the entertainment room falls below the optimal range, then their experience would be severely affected.

Acoustics refers to the way sound waves interact with objects in their paths. It describes how your environment affects how you hear a sound, whether from a speaker or a human voice. 

While the speaker system you use is important, the furniture, walls, flooring, decor pieces and windows also play significant roles in a room’s acoustics, especially for musicians who are using the room for playing an instrument. Here are some tips that you can easily implement to elevate your sound experience in your entertainment room;

Get The Correct Sound System for Your Musical Instruments and Sound Devices

When you have the perfect setup in sound technology, your acoustic needs are already halfway met. Nowadays, there is a wide variety of speakers and home theatre systems with different sizes, shapes and customizations.

While you do not need a concert hall or cinema-level setup, you should give significant consideration and capital to purchasing something suitable.

At the very least, you need a central speaker where most of the dialogue and sound originates from, then two supporting speakers to be placed on the left and right, respectively. You can talk to an audio specialist at Morris Brothers Music Store about the ideal size and types of speakers to buy for your instrument and your space.

You can also search online for the best sound systems within your budget that will complement your guitar, brass, rhythm or wind instrument.

Keep Sound Out

You might not get the fully immersed experience you need to enjoy your favourite movie because outside noises clash with the sound generated from your speakers. Noise from passing cars, playing with kids, pets and household appliances can interfere with the acoustics in a room. The best way to tackle this issue is to get your music room adequately soundproofed.

While the material used for insulation, especially in the walls, can provide a level of sound cancellation, you might need to add more materials to achieve total sound insulation. You can hire a contractor to fill the space between the room’s outer and inner walls, which will keep outside noise from coming in.

Adjust The Acoustic Profile

The acoustic profile of a space is the unique sound produced due to how sound waves interact with the elements. Sound can either bounce off or reflect from a surface or be absorbed. An optimal acoustic profile is one with a balance in the level of reflected and absorbed noise.

As sound leaves your speakers, some of it reaches your ears while the rest bounces on reflective surfaces in the room before reaching your ears.

The time interval between the direct and reflected noise, as well as an excessive amount of the latter, can lead to low-quality sound. Hence, you need to employ certain strategies to get a balanced acoustic profile:

• Reduce reflective surfaces: Flat and hard surfaces such as wood, glass, tiles and stone should be covered with fabric and tapestry or, if possible, removed.
• Add more absorbent materials: Soft and thick materials like rugs, furniture upholstery and foam can trap sound. You can take it a step further by installing acoustic panels and bass traps specially designed to absorb sounds at various frequencies.

Rearrange The Speakers 

The placement of your sound system and your accompanying musical instruments can make or mar the audio quality of your TV room. There are locations in a room that are highly recommended for good sound production. Just shifting your furniture or speakers from one position to another can make a lot of difference.

Ensure that the speakers are not placed directly in front of the sofa, coffee table or wall. If your speakers are placed on tables, whether glass or wood, shift them to sit at the edge instead of the middle or the far end.

A full-length carpet or, at least, an area rug placed in front of the speakers would provide enough protection from floor reflection. You can also use thick curtains to cover windows and glass walls or doors to absorb sound.

Have you ever thought about getting a home extension? Perhaps you need more space in your house or wish to increase its value. In either case, a home extension could be the perfect solution for you.

There are several types of renovations and additions you could make to your home. The most popular extensions involve adding another bedroom, expanding your kitchen, and constructing an outdoor patio.

There are many reasons why people decide to add extensions to their homes. Everyone has their own reason for wanting one. It all depends on your needs and living situation.

Often, the decision is based on money and how much house extensions cost. There are affordable extensions available for most homeowners. 

You should weigh the cost versus the reward. Below are the top seven reasons to add an extension to your home.

1) New Bedroom for Growing Family

Families grow all the time. If you and your partner decide to have another child, you might need another bedroom for the newest member of your family. 

It could be more economical to build an extra bedroom onto your existing house than to purchase a bigger home and move into it.  

2) Home Office

More people than ever are working from home. The recent coronavirus scare had forced millions of people to work from home.

Some of them quit their jobs and started home businesses to become financially independent. That is why home offices are the latest trend in home extension projects.

A home office is necessary if you need to work from home. Do not rely on your bedroom as a home office because there are too many distractions. You need a designated room for work-related matters only. 

3) Increase Your Home’s Value

Larger homes are worth more money than smaller homes. A real estate appraiser considers the heated square footage of a home when determining its value. 

If you increase your home’s heated square footage by adding another bedroom or expanding the living room, you will also be increasing its value.

Think of home extensions as a real estate investment. Even though you are paying thousands of dollars upfront, you will eventually make that money back should you decide to sell your home.   

4) Home Theatre

The one thing better than a home entertainment centre is a home theatre. Imagine adding an entire room devoted to fun and entertainment only. 

It could be filled with large flat-screen televisions, video game consoles, films, DVDs, and stereo systems. 

Home theatre rooms are a great way to entertain your family, friends and guests. Most people only dream of having a home theatre of their own. But if you love movies and television, you could get a lot of use out of this room.

5) Home Gym

An excellent investment to make is in your health and wellness. Why pay for an expensive monthly gym membership when you can build your own home gym?

A home gym is relatively simple to create once you have the extra room constructed. You could also convert an existing room into a home gym, such as your garage. Then you do not have to drive to the gym whenever you feel like working out. 

6) Outdoor Living Space

Do you like to eat or entertain guests outside? An outdoor deck or patio is a popular home extension option for people who like to socialize in nature. 

It also offers a beautiful view of your backyard, swimming pool and garden if you have them. You can still build outdoor living space even if you do not have massive amounts of land. 

Just a little bit of extra square footage is all that is needed to create an outdoor living space. It can be big or small.

7) Additional Storage Space

Do you need more storage space in your home? An extension could be constructed for this purpose. 

You could add an attachable shed, a bigger garage, or an additional room for storage purposes only.

Ask the contractors and builders to advise you on the best way to add more storage space. They can recommend a cost-effective solution.

Image source Pixabay

Australian homes and businesses utilize digital technology more now than ever before. Not only does digital technology get utilized for work and personal use, but it also improves the security of properties too.

The invention of smart technology has allowed common household items to be connected to the internet, such as lights, locks, ovens, and surveillance cameras.

You can use this technology to monitor your property and ensure that it is secure from any location in the world.

Good property security does not just include the physical security of your home or business. You need to protect your digital technology and computer systems from hackers and cyber intruders.

It is even more imperative if you have smart technology controlling the functionality of your building.  

Below are the top five ways to secure your home or business with digital technology.

1) Back-to-Base Security

NBN is the national broadband network in Australia that puts the internet into every home and business in the country.

The problem is that if you have traditional back-to-base security, it uses old landline technology to alert security officials when your premises are being robbed.

If you want to maintain your home or business’s back-to-base security system, you will need to upgrade it to have NBN alarm monitoring.

Your system will stay online during the upgrade, so there will not be any downtime. Once the upgrade is finished, you will have complete control over everything from your mobile app.

There will never be a need to worry about downtime because of bad connections or fallen lines outside.

The GRPS system contains a back-up battery in case the power goes out. That way, it will remain functional even when no electricity is running to your property.

2) Install a Security Camera System

A security camera system can offer a wide range of benefits to your home or company’s security.

One of the most significant benefits is remote monitoring of your property. You can install surveillance cameras on top of the front and back doors of your building.

Then open your mobile app and watch a live video feed from the cameras to see who is on your property.

If you have a business, you can set up cameras in your building’s various rooms. You can switch to different video camera feeds with the tap of a button on your smartphone.

There is no more straightforward way to monitor the activity of your property from a remote location. You need a Wi-Fi connection and smartphone to watch your property from afar.

3) Fingerprint Readers

Are you tired of using passwords on your computer and alarm system? The problem with passwords is that you have to write them down to remember them.

If someone were to find your list of passwords, it could put your entire security system at risk. Fingerprint readers are the perfect alternative to securing the computers and security of your property.

Rather than remembering a password, you can use your index finger’s fingerprint to verify your identity. You will not have to write down or remember passwords ever again.

4) Smart Lights and Locks

You can control smart lights and locks from your smartphone. Suppose you drive somewhere and then forget whether you locked the front door of your home or business.

You can just open your mobile app, and it will tell you if the door is locked. If it is not locked, the app will lock it for you remotely. The same goes for the outside lights as well.

5) Mobile Text Alerts

You can set up smart sensors on the doors and windows of your building. If someone uninvited were to open a window or door, the sensor would send a text alert to your smartphone to warn you.

Then you can check your surveillance camera video feed to verify the intrusion and call the authorities to stop them.