For decades I have declared that art, décor, and acoustic treatments can all work together to make a room look more than acceptable to potentially fantastically stylish. With great frustration I would encourage people to make some small changes to the decorations they hung on their walls, or look for specific common aesthetically attractive room décor which also provided acoustic benefits - to no avail, if the product wasn't featured in an issue of Southern Living or the home décor section of Lowe's they refused to make any effort.
Recently, with my recent divorce, I have been investing in paintings by local artists as shown in my thread on the subject (here). Most of these pieces are displayed in large rooms with a very lively sound plagued with boingy echoes and deafening reverb. Since most of the paintings I've purchased are canvas stretched over a wooden frame, I decided to test my theory on a great way to calm a room without resorting to the perceived "ugly" traditional acoustic products.
So, I went on Amazon and ordered a box of 1" thick sheet of Owens Corning 703 compressed fiberglass. Since most of the stretched canvas art is on a frame with at least a depth (or thickness) of more than 1", I was planning on merely filling in the space behind the canvas with the mostly stiff fiberglass and cover that with something to keep the fiberglass fibers which might break off from floating around the room I put the art in.
Sure enough, I have installed the fiberglass in three of the larger pieces, used old bed sheets I would otherwise toss out to "seal-off" the backs with a staple gun and scissors, and got amazing - I mean truly amazing - results.
Here is a photo of the process while I treated one of the pieces I placed in my very open and sparse front room with a wood floor:
The art itself:
The back with some OC 703 cut in pieces which fill most of the area, it was just over one full 24 x 48 sheet needed to fill this much area:
Then, I stapled (using as few staples as absolutely necessary) some fabric from an old stained bedsheet):
The result in that room was immediate and obvious. The room isn't completely dead, but it has fewer echoes and less reverb, making it seem quieter and more intimate. There are two other pieces in the same open space which will also get this treatment, so the end results, without any visible acoustic material, will be a much more livable space.
I am so glad I finally get to test this out.
Recently, with my recent divorce, I have been investing in paintings by local artists as shown in my thread on the subject (here). Most of these pieces are displayed in large rooms with a very lively sound plagued with boingy echoes and deafening reverb. Since most of the paintings I've purchased are canvas stretched over a wooden frame, I decided to test my theory on a great way to calm a room without resorting to the perceived "ugly" traditional acoustic products.
So, I went on Amazon and ordered a box of 1" thick sheet of Owens Corning 703 compressed fiberglass. Since most of the stretched canvas art is on a frame with at least a depth (or thickness) of more than 1", I was planning on merely filling in the space behind the canvas with the mostly stiff fiberglass and cover that with something to keep the fiberglass fibers which might break off from floating around the room I put the art in.
Sure enough, I have installed the fiberglass in three of the larger pieces, used old bed sheets I would otherwise toss out to "seal-off" the backs with a staple gun and scissors, and got amazing - I mean truly amazing - results.
Here is a photo of the process while I treated one of the pieces I placed in my very open and sparse front room with a wood floor:
The art itself:
The back with some OC 703 cut in pieces which fill most of the area, it was just over one full 24 x 48 sheet needed to fill this much area:
Then, I stapled (using as few staples as absolutely necessary) some fabric from an old stained bedsheet):
The result in that room was immediate and obvious. The room isn't completely dead, but it has fewer echoes and less reverb, making it seem quieter and more intimate. There are two other pieces in the same open space which will also get this treatment, so the end results, without any visible acoustic material, will be a much more livable space.
I am so glad I finally get to test this out.