How Can I Soundproof a Bedroom?

Soundproof a bedroom by sealing its gaps first (door, window, outlets and wall base), then adding mass or decoupling to whichever wall the noise comes through. Sealing is cheap and it matters most, because sound slips through any opening it can find: one unsealed 1/8 in. gap 1 ft long drops a wall from STC 46 to 36 in PABCO's Sound Design Guide (opens in a new tab).

Shoot for a quiet room, not a silent one. The World Health Organization (opens in a new tab) recommends "less than 30 A-weighted decibels (dB(A)) in bedrooms during the night" for good sleep.

1. Door: put on a sweep and self-adhesive gaskets along the stop until you can't see any light.
2. Window and outlets: caulk the gaps in the window trim, pad the outlet boxes on the noisy wall and seal the wall base.
3. Noisy wall: a second drywall layer took an insulated 2x4 wall from STC 34 to 37 in USG's lab tests (opens in a new tab), and resilient channel on one side took it to 48. If you share that wall with a neighbor, follow how to block noise from a shared wall.
4. Echo last: if the room still rings, hang a few 2 in. panels. You'll find picks in soundproof wall panels for bedrooms.

Stop at the first step that gets the room quiet enough. Panels never stand in for steps 1 to 3, because they absorb echo and don't block anything, as the soundproof panels guide explains. There are more answers in the soundproof panels FAQ.