Whether you can hear every step your upstairs neighbors take, or are lulled to sleep (or kept awake) by the hum of nighttime traffic, there’s a way for you to reduce noise in your apartment. See, noise reflects off of hard surfaces like your walls, floors, and ceiling. The more open space you have, the more room there is for sound to bounce off and echo throughout your home.

Fill the void with furniture! Certain materials absorb noise particularly well; think dense but also soft. Let’s focus on the specific, noise-offending parts of a home that will make the greatest impact in soundproofing your apartment.

SOUNDPROOFING WALLS.

Use bookcases, shelves, and artwork to help soundproof your walls. You can also consider springing for acoustic panels if you want to go all out. If your landlord allows it, paint your walls with soundproofing paint. Personally, I love my white-noise machine for drowning out excess noise while sleeping.

SOUNDPROOFING WINDOWS.

Thick, heavy curtains can help block noise from coming in through your windows. Remember, the softer and heavier the fabric, the better the noise-reducing quality. You can also use caulk and sealant to reduce any noise creeping in through your windows. Creepy noise, be gone!

SOUNDPROOFING FLOORS.

Whether you can hear your downstairs neighbors’ conversations or they’ve complained about your audible footsteps, a heavy-duty rug will be your best friend when trying to soundproof your floors. Adding a rug pad under your heavy-duty rug will do double duty, effectively minimizing excess noise. What’s that, downstairs neighbors? Nothing but church mice up here.

Apartment décor isn’t just pretty. It’s also pretty good at reducing noise in your apartment—from art and curtains on your walls to rugs on your floors. Or, if you prefer a more surrealist style of décor like Brad Bellflower, perhaps you’ll put art on your floors, rugs on your walls, and a kitchen table on your ceiling. Whatever melts your clock.