I'm finally starting room treatment. Which brings an interesting question in regards to how the rest of the furniture interacts with sound.
 
For exemple...
 
Technically, among others, I'd have bass traps in all 4 corners of the wall behind my desk. But in each corner, at an angle, I have a little desk (recycled night stands actually) which I use to store gear and stuff - books, cables, pics, strings, DVDs, etc...
 
As such:

 
What happens to bass traps in the lower corners - No need? Above the desk? Get rid of the desks if I really want the best possible sound?
 
Likewise, behind me, 3/4 of the wall is occupied by a closet, filled with cardboard boxes, guitar cases, books, dvd's, old gear, and such, all hidden behind a pair of curtain which closes the closet.
 
Looks a bit naked right now, but this gives an idea - pic taken from behind the desk/monitors. My plan for that right hand side is one bass trap in the upper corner and that's it. The lower corner is in the closet.
 

 
Question here is a bit rhetorical because I don't think I'd like to store stuff elsewhere, though I could, technically. Does it make room treatment less efficient than if I just emptied the whole thing and installed a bunch of bass traps in every corner? How does that particularity affect the sound?
 
I've already notices when I removed them in order to paint that those (relatively thick) black curtains I have installed all over the place do take away high frequencies.
 

 
Confirmed that even just a bit of sound treatment would make a difference - even if I can't afford to fly Ethan W. here to take care of it w/ a limitless budget.
 
 

Well done Rain.  I like the paint work. I dig the colour too.  I really enjoy painting myself actually.  And if you are careful and do a great job it can be very satisfying. I recently had to some painting work and really enjoyed it.  Paint is so technical now and thank god it is waterbased for the most part.  And yes you get to hear a LOT of music in the process.  Except I have got paint on my fave ghetto blaster now!

It looks great Rain.  I too love the color.  The items and areas you describe are acting as traps in themselves.  You will need to do your testing by listening at different levels and sitting in different places in the room to see where the standing waves and phasing occurs.  You will most likely need more treatment to balance out the room but that is up to your ears to decide.  
Great job so far!
 

sound bounces.
 
it ends up where you do not want it.
 
there are some calculators available..
do some homework here:
http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=1
 
 

another good source:
 
http://forum.studiotips.com/index.php?sid=cfe5e8963cd3dec138f404f2895698d1
 
 

no easy answer without a lot more info, but do keep in mind that bass traps are typically designed to control the bottom most octaves, maybe 2 or 3, maybe more?
 
Ignoring for a moment the Tom Hidley designed 20 Hz rooms<G>, let us assume that you need to trap energy in the bottom three octaves - 40 Hz to 80 Hz, 80 Hz to 160 Hz, and 160 Hz to 320 Hz. At 40 Hz you are dealing with a wavelength of roughly 28 feet. Unless your end table has a 28 foot surface it is going to be invisible at 40 Hz.
 
At 80 Hz the wavelength is about 14 feet - table is still invisible.
 
At 160 Hz the wavelength is 7 feet - same result I'd guess
 
and at 320 Hz the wavelength drops to 3.5 feet, at which point a large end table could start to interfere with the behavior of the bass trap, assuming it is purely absorptive and not tuned.
 
It isn't that simple, sadly. The room dimensions and geometry will also play a role, but for the most part you can ignore the end tables in the corners.

Rimshot
It looks great Rain.  I too love the color.  The items and areas you describe are acting as traps in themselves.  You will need to do your testing by listening at different levels and sitting in different places in the room to see where the standing waves and phasing occurs.  You will most likely need more treatment to balance out the room but that is up to your ears to decide.  
Great job so far!
 

Thanks :)  - bass traps are only one step, yes. It's the first thing I mentioned because it seemed to me that this could potentially be the most urgent and obvious part of room treatment, a given.
 
I'm ordering wedges and maybe a couple of other things.

carefully ordering the foam stuff, as most of it is just junk.  Looks cool, but ends there.

mixmkr
carefully ordering the foam stuff, as most of it is just junk.  Looks cool, but ends there.

Took tips from a friend who's studio we visited Saturday. ;)

I think some of the Auralex stuff can approach being OK.  Long time ago, I ordered some fancy looking stuff and it basically did nothing as compared to the bass traps and wall absorbers make with the ubiquitous rigid fiberglass on home treatments you see nowadays.
I will say, I've never walked into a big boy studio and seen rigid fiberglass hanging on the walls or stuffed in corners. (ala Ethan Winer style or his counterparts)  The movable gobos were the only place I saw stuff like that.