How to plan and design the perfect at-home music room

Looking to build a music room at home? You can maximise the space while still maintaining good relations with your neighbours and other family members if you learn how to build one carefully. Whether you’re a beginner or you’re just about to start a major recording project, see our simple five-step guide to planning and designing the perfect private music room.

Step 1: Decide on the room’s purpose

You should only create your design after deciding whether the space will be utilised for rehearsals, performances, or recordings. If you’re an amateur musician and you only play one instrument, it could make more sense for the room to be dedicated to practice. Alternatively, if you’re an experienced producer and it’s likely that you’ll be jamming with friends too, a multi-purpose space could be much more suitable.

Step 2: Choose your location

You’ll need to think about whether this new room will be inside or outside your house. If you have space available in a basement, outbuilding or garden, separating your music room from your living space could be a sensible choice.

Once you’ve picked a spot, you’ll need to think about making sure you can use your equipment in it. It could be necessary to supply electricity to these places before you set up. Ideal for indoor and outdoor spaces, underground electric cabling could help you to supply your music room with reliable power in a safe yet unobtrusive way.

Cables could be configured in various formats, which include:

• Mains power cables – ideal for applications including the wiring of household appliances and tools. They’re available with either a PVC, rubber, or CPE outer sheath with between 1 to 5 stranded or solid copper cores.
• SWA cables – with durable braiding and galvanised steel wire insulation surrounding the cores. Suitable for indoor or outdoor installations, they’re frequently used for underground cabling.
• Multicore cables – available with 2 to 20+ cores. Screening or braiding can help to minimise external interference and promote a stronger signal.

Step 3: Assess the work required

Once you’ve chosen the space, you’ll need to work out whether any substantial remodelling has to be done. Renovation tasks might include adding or removing walls, painting, or replacing the floor. Prior to installing furniture, additional lighting, and decorating the space, you must also consider whether the area has to be soundproofed and how much soundproofing is required.

If it’s looking like a massive project, don’t take on too much work by yourself. There are plenty of ways to find reliable contractors to help bring your vision to life.

Step 4: Soundproofing

Music is all about producing the right sound, so where can you get those perfect acoustics? The more sound you can contain, the happier those around you will be. Likewise, you’ll want to reduce the chances of external noise impacting your sound recordings in the music room.

Spend some time assessing the sound transfer in and out of each room to see how you could achieve this, working out if any adjustments could make it an easier job. Perfect sound absorption should enhance the acoustics of the room through clarity, so you’ll need to think about furnishings too.

There are several potential solutions to help you approach this:

• Muffle sounds with rugs or pads placed over tile or hardwood floors; wool fibres have a higher rate of sound absorption than synthetic yarns.
• Use honey-combed shades and insulated curtains reduce sound reflecting off glass
• Add plants for aesthetics and sound absorbing
• Use thick, soft furnishings like curtains and draperies to cover long, thin walls

Additionally, sound diffusion corners could help you to strike the perfect balance in your new music space. Use bookcases or bookshelves in a corner or install room dividers to make sure your room doesn’t absorb or reflect too much sound.

Step 5: Make it your own

Lastly, you’ll need to style your new music room according to your vision and try to make it feel like a space where you can be creative. One of the best ways to achieve this is by using lighting effectively.

A recording studio benefits from a variety of lighting options, including ambient lighting systems, in addition to conventional illumination. Some of these could also be used to meet the needs for stage lighting. Potential projects could include:

• LED lighting systems for the floor and ceiling, projectors, and spotlights
• Adjustable lighting system that can modify the hues of the lights

However, you should also think about furniture and where to place it. The number of people using your music room will determine which kind of furnishings are required. Your choice of furniture should also complement the aesthetic you want to preserve in the music room, so don’t forget to tailor it to your tastes. Are you generally more formal, conventional, or modern?

For an environment both cosy and motivating, use furnishings and modern conveniences that will contribute to the best effect for you and your projects.