How to Deaden Sounds in Big Rooms

Lay area rugs throughout the big room. Area rugs make a room feel cozier -- than exposed tile, brick, concrete, wood or laminate -- and are effective for reducing the noise and echoes in rooms. Break up the types of area rugs that you use. For instance, in a large room put a giant rug underneath the sitting area, a runner in one of the corners of the room and a smaller rug someplace else.

Decorate the room with assorted furniture pieces. Fill the area with sofas or sectionals, upholstered chairs, wooden bookcases and room dividers. Fill the bookcases with books, as this helps, too. The more furniture and fabric you can fit into the room, the more the sound deadens.

Add accent items to the room, such as a large potted plant that's full of leaves. Hang art on the walls, but leave off the glass coverings.

Hang drapes over the windows. Exposed window glass is a surefire way to make a room louder or have more echo. While shutters are also effective for deadening sounds, heavy fabric curtains are a more sound-deadening solution. Cover as much wall space as possible with the curtains, from left to right and top to bottom.

Decorate the walls with wall tapestries. Wall tapestries are blankets of fabric that are usually colorful and intricately patterned. They not only add color to, and dress up, empty wall space, but are effective for locking in the sound of a large room because they cover the walls.

Install fabric panels on the walls of the room. Staple insulation fills to the wall first, with a staple gun. The fills absorb the sound. The fabric panels, which are for looks and more sound absorption, are stapled or glued on top of the insulation fills.