Question:Our new house is near an expressway, and the noise has become louder after our renovation. How can we reduce the racket?

Answer: It could be that the materials you renovated your home with have worsened the noise problem. Hard, smooth surfaces such as polished marble or ceramic floor tiles bounce sound around a room and can even amplify noise. If your new walls have hard, smooth surfaces - perhaps cabinets with mirrored panels or glossy laminates - these materials are adding to the problem.

Cover the floor near the window with a big, thick pile carpet like the one pictured to absorb sound and use thick curtains to deaden external noise. Remove any mirrors and consider changing your cabinet doors to fabric-padded panels. Plant some thick shrubbery along the balcony edge to cut down road noise (and beautify your home, too). Taken together, all these actions will definitely improve your noise situation.

Photography: Aik Chen
Design: Studio XMSL