Hey everyone!

I am in the process of (possibly) buying a new house. So far so good, but now we need the home inspection...

Anyway, I've taught at my home for the past few years now. I have a lovely baby grand that I keep in my living room, which has nice, old, hardwood floors.

This new house we're looking at, has carpet in the area I want my studio to be. At first glance we just said we'd rip it up and put hardwood in, but when we went to go look again we started feeling guilty, because it is nice, new carpeting.

Ideally, we would all love to teach in a big empty room with high ceilings, and a hard floor, but that can't always be accommodated. Do you think it would be unwise to keep the carpet, and teach in that room? I know the sound quality will suffer a little, but the majority of my students are surely too young to even be able to tell the difference lol.

I also want to maintain a professional atmosphere, and hardwood is a lot 'classier' than carpet... did I mention it was green? :S

Thanks everyone!

What is wrong with carpet?

Take your shoes off at the door please (when it is raining or snowing)

Absorbing harsh notes.

Warm and inviting.

You have a baby grand? What size? and make?

My home studio used to have a small upright in the LR but I lived alone so it was fine. I also taught in a pro studio at a Piano Ctr and in a the music room of a Middle School.

Students were there for lessons and learning.

There are those here on this forum who have wonderful, ideal home studios. They make me smile. How fortunate for the teacher AND the student!

Mordent, it sounds like there is guilt about wasting a good carpet. So don't waste it. Remove it in one large piece and then advertise it on craigslist. Someone would love to have it.

It sounds like your preference is for the look and resonance of hardwood, so I would go with that. I have a large area rug over hardwood floor in my studio. Sound is still resonant. My guess is that carpet wall to wall absorbs more sound than an area rug. You did not mention using an area rug though. Without any rug it's bound to be more resonant in the room.

I teach in my home's basement so as not to drive other people in my household insane. It's carpeted, and a bit cold. I have yet to hear a complaint concerning the situation from any students or their respective parents.

The sound quality that the room provides isn't terribly important. What is important to the student and parent is that you are an effective, kind teacher, and that you maintain your surroundings in a nice, clean and orderly way.

My studio has two Yamaha U1s, hardwood floors, and plaster walls, which makes for a lot of sound. Too much sound, really, so I have a large (shag) area rug. It makes the room sound a little more...calm.

So personally, I don't think carpet is a bad thing, although I'm sure it will get worn out pretty quickly with the high traffic a studio can receive. So, if you don't like it, it probably won't last long anyway.

My home studio is far from ideal. We live in a basement apartment (my husband's in grad school, and that's how we could save on rent and not go into debt), and the piano is in the living room. I have to send my children to daycare or a friend's house while I teach, so the house is usually quiet, but I have no control over things like carpeting. I do find that carpet seems fine, but I don't teach advanced students.

This is what I would do. Remove the carpet, install hardwood, then have the removed carpet cut to fit an area rug size. Best of both worlds! A friend of mine just purchased a carpet remnant for this purpose and it is very nice. Kind of trendy even.

That's my studio And I have two 6-foot grands side by side. The room has a very "live" acoustics.

All hard surfaces makes for too much sound. My studio has two grands and wall-to-wall carpet. The walls and ceiling provide enough feedback.

We ripped out the original carpeting in the studio and replaced it with industrial grade Berber. It handles the wear very well, and as others have noted, serves as sound absorbent as well.

This is my experience too. I have two pianos (1 grand, 1 upright) and wall-to-wall carpet. I don't know how close your neighbours will be in your new house, but mine say they can't hear anything unless they're outside and near the music room. Worth thinking about.

Personally I don't care for carpet, but I would love to have it's sound absorbing benefit in my studio! I get bad flutter echos.

thanks everyone for your advice!

We decided to take the carpet up and put hardwood in. My mom is actually interested in the carpet so thats good. I really don't like the carpet AT ALL but I did feel guilty for getting rid of it, thankfully my mom wants it

I've always had lessons in big plaster rooms with NO furniture or rugs, and ceramic flooring. I guess it's what I'm used to. There is such a thing as too much sound, but I have a plush leather sofa set that will help to absorb the sound.

I know most people don't have an ideal studio, right now mine is far from it. I just got lucky enough buying this new house to have a room all to myself on the main level that's excluded from any household traffic, so I want to do it 'right' I'll post before and after pics!

Thanks again guys!


EDIT: and whoever asked it's a black baby grand, Young Chang

Congrats! Will you share a picture of it with us?

I know you've already decided. Just wanted to share this in case it helps someone else. When I lived in Germany, my piano was on a wood floor. (Not sure it was hardwood, though. Maybe pine?) Here, it is on carpet, and I've been disappointed by the muffled sound. I mentioned it to my piano tech, and he told me that I could probably get the sound I wanted by sitting the piano on a sheet of clear acrylic. He's worked with several churches that have done this and it works well. I haven't tried it yet. (My piano, an upright grand, is extremely heavy, so getting anything under it will be quite a trick.)