Are Japanese-style paper screens OK at noise reduction?

[GrouchyKiwi]

We're moving house, and our new place will have a study area upstairs for DH, but it will be open to the stairs/room below. I was thinking about getting a room screen to give him a bit of privacy while he works, and want something that will absorb a bit of the children's noise.

Do paper screens do this, or would we need something more substantial?

I wouldn't think those paper screens would offer too much in terms of sound deflection. How wide is the space that would need to be closed off? Wall to wall?

Paper won't do anything. You'll need something more substantial. Think in terms of the sound absorbing booths they use in office cubicles.

A bookshelf of books would work, but it depends where the noise is coming from. It needs to be directly in the way.

It's more than 4m across, so we wouldn't screen off the whole area. I'm thinking about how cubicles in open-plan offices work. Maybe we could find that kind of a screen.

Cross-post pickle. That's probably going to be the best option.

It's a big space so we've got flexibility to work something sensible.

Out if interest, are those paper screens constantly ripping and getting holes in them?

That does sound hopeful.

I've never used one but I wonder about that too.

So something like this might work?

Screen/partition

It might but it's really ugly. I would make a wall of bookcases before I'd use that.

Might do. It doesn't mention sound absorption though. You'll want one that has minimal opening at the bottom.

It'll be a compromise between how easy it is to move, and how effectively it is. I've seen heavy felt curtains used as sound barrier, but they were almost full length.

It is, but we wouldn't want something permanent. Maybe bookcases on casters so they can be moved. Hmm.

If you want something easy and cheap you could do a ceiling track and thick curtains draping to the floor. Mid prize would be units or bookcases. Best option would be a stud wall with decent insulation, if it's to be a permanent working space.

Can you move some furniture out to the area upstairs and put his study area behind a closed door? In a bedroom or dinning room? Being in an open area with children playing as they should be able to in their own home, albeit down a set of stairs, is never going to work if he is on calls/needs to focus.

Seeing if I can link the floorplan.

The idea is that we make a work space in the far end of the room called "Playroom" here, and the dining room would be a library room.

The sitting room would be the children's play room. We home educate, so I am trying to work out whether we'd be able to do quiet lessons in the library room while DH is working. Otherwise, all the noise should be in a different part of the house and the library door would be closed so the noise shouldn't be a problem.

Maybe it works here

What about using the large playroom as the playroom? That way your husband can use the study or the sitting room as his office?

I need daytime use to be on one level, which is why we're buying this house. So the upstairs will be our room, a games room and work area for DH.

All the children's rooms will be downstairs, as will all the living areas.

Why don't you use the study on the ground floor?

Will be a bedroom.

We'll have to see what sound levels are like when we move in but seems like lessons will have to stay in play room/at the dining table. Thanks for helping me think it through!

Check out the sound levels before you settle on the usage of the rooms. My living room downstairs is open to the upstairs (part of downstairs has a ceiling the full two stories. Sound is weird. I can’t hear the TV in the downstairs kitchen (open plan but around a corner) but if I go upstairs while the TV is on I swear it’s louder up there than it is when sitting on the sofa in front of it. Despite being a lot further away, both vertically and horizontally.

Thanks, that's good advice.

What do you mean by library? Do you mean a room with shelves and books (obvs!!) with cosy seating where adults would relax? Like a snug? I guess that space needs to be something like that as the stairs come into it. If so, I can't see why the office upstairs will be noisy. The kids playroom is at the other end of the house no?

You could find a nicer acoustic screen than that!
Or finangle something up from sheet cork, which is excellent for absorbing sound and is relatively light. And can obviously be used as pinboards.
Or even a row of massive plants? All of which can be moved about.

they won't (we have one)
if you are a little handy you can build a screen with carpet samples or foam covered in fabric.

Yes, that sort of a room, though all of the learning books would be in there too (we home ed). I was playing with the idea of making it a school/learning room but I really don't think we'd manage to be quiet enough, so it will just be a reading room. Or the best lounge, and the actual lounge could be more of a family room. Lots of options, really.

We might even make it a proper room upstairs like the bedroom is. I dunno. Will probably have to live there a while first.

Cork is an interesting idea Zebra.