We have the original Kohler toilets the builder installed in our home. The toilets are so quiet (and our hearing is still very good), neither one of us can hear the toilet flush if we are in a neighboring room. The rooms bordering our master bath toilet are the laundry room and the garage. The guest room is on the other side of the house.

I often wondered if a floor plan such as a Gardenia, for example, would be best for the various issues that are being discussed here. Guest wing on the opposite side behind pocket door, and master suite somewhat bufffered by the dining room area being situated between the master bedroom and living room. Also the master bedroom has the extra little hallway so it doesn't open up directly into living area.

Anyone have a Gardenia that could verify that?

I went to an open house for a $1.6 million new house in Pine Hills. The master bedroom windows were within 12 feet of the pool equipment next door, and I could hear the humming noise with the windows closed. Be careful what you buy.

Noise
 

I have a Gardenia and you do not hear the TV from the living area. The dining area does buffer the noise.

I also have a Gardenia. If the bedroom door is closed, I hear almost nothing when DH gets up early for golf.

The peeps across the street have their home on the market. They want a Begonia or Gardenia ~ Don't want a house with the bedroom in front, which they currently have.

For the OP, I'd suggest what others have mentioned: replacing the hollow-core door with a solid core door. Adding rugs if possible. Hanging a tapestry or fabric pictures to stop the sound from bouncing around. Soft surfaces to stop the sound from bouncing around.

We added pleated shades on our patio doors. Imagine a pleated shade turned sideways, so you draw both sides to the center. It helped a lot.

The Gardenia is my favorite plan.

It offers perfect privacy for guests or for working in the office/den.

The placement of the television, in the living room area, can be on an outside wall, as far from the master bedroom as it can get, with the dining room area in between.

When we replaced the carpet in the living area and all bedrooms, we replaced it with carpet — not laminate or wood or tile. As much as I like open concept design and high ceilings, carpeting and upholstered furniture help with the noise level, especially when entertaining a somewhat large group. — (Wine Away can be ordered on Amazon. I have not had to use it yet, but I have heard it works really well. :) )

Carpeting does help some with sound, but a lot of people prefer hard surface flooring in their TV houses.

I think there are other easier solutions offered in this thread. I just stopped in when the Gardenia came up. I think the vinyl-sided model is called the Camelia — same floor plan. (Please correct me if I am wrong about that name.)

How about street noise? Our mbr is pretty close to the road. Has anybody soundproofed for street noise?

We had noise from our neighbor's pool and enclosed our lanai with double pane low E windows and it really helped. My son has hurricane glass (this might be triple pane) on his windows and we do not hear a thing. Maybe just doing the one window that faces the street will help.

You need to determine the real cause
 

Your post that it is noise might or might no be so.
Noise, if it can't be stopped can be controlled. There are companies that do this. You can make that bedroom as quiet as a recording studio. It is not cheap. The person reporting that they can't sleep might then say it is too quiet.

Exercise during the day can help.
Eating earlier can help.
Perhaps, there is something bothering the person having
trouble sleeping.

You mention sound from the living area. The obvious question is what is the sound.

Think backwards-when did it start?

I must have toured the same open house. The home was gorgeous with a multi level lanai complete with Jacuzzi, summer kitchen, bridge over a wading river which emptied into the gorgeous free form pool, a walkway to a fire pit, and lots of tropical foliage. The home was just beautiful, inside and out, including a gorgeous view in the back of the home.

I would not ever consider this home if I could afford it. The noise in the master bedroom from the pool equipment from the home next door was deafening (with the windows closed). The pool machinery lined nearly the side of the home next door.

That is a wonderful feature of the Gardenia model. To not see the master bedroom from the living area is also a bonus. Our home also has a wall which separates the living room from the master bedroom. This feature was a must in our home.

We have an expanded begonia with the same layout as the gardenia. The master has it's own entry hall and the dining room buffers any noise from the living room. The TV wall is at the opposite end of the home and the master bath is separated and on the other side of the laundry. It is a very well thought out design.

The Gardenia floor plan feels like 3 separate and distinct living spaces. The Master ensuite, Living-Dining-Eat in kitchen and the Guest suite. It also has a distinct entry foyer/hallway that allows passage through the entire house without having to walk through any rooms.It is more of a square design rather than rectangular and will need a wide lot if a golf cart garage is desired. Best overall design that has remained relativity unchanged for 20 years. It was called the Magnolia in older designs. I’ve been in 3 of these houses from new to 14 to 20 years old. They have refined it along the way and is very much in demand with the golf car garage. It can also accommodate many stretches that will give it the feel of a premiere house without that
price tag. The only negative is the 9’ width lanai which needs at least a 5’ stretch to make it totally functional if you want full seating and/or a full size outdoor dining set.


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Another plan similar to the Gardenia/Begonia is the Citrus for those looking for a smaller, less pricey home. It is considered a hybrid - an upscale cottage placed in designer neighborhoods. But if you look at the floor plan, you will see it has some of the same benefits we have been discussing. You can purchase one with a golf cart garage, but even the standard size garage is very spacious. Definitely need an enlarged lanai on this model though as width is only 8 feet. Otherwise, a lot of good features in a small home.

The Williamsburg model is a totally bumped out Gardenia. Still the 9' lanai though.

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