Home studio SF CA non symetrical room

A friend directed me to the site and I love it. Thanks all for being hear. I recently moved and wanted to get advice on treating the main living room/ kitchen. My goal is to have a space where myself and 2-4 friends can come over and play some soft jazz and funk, mostly with brushes but with electric guitar, bass and keys. I also play a lot of acoustic guitar/banjo and sing. I record all of these sessions as well. maybe around 85-90 DB tops? I realize I won't be able to get very good mixes because of the room not being symmetrical, but I would hope to be at least able to hear if what I am recording is decent quality or not. (Listen to one speaker at a time?) The place has 8 feet ceilings, old 13- 18' stud placement, the center Grey image next to the keyboard is a sun roof 2 feet deep. The brown in the kitchen are cabinets that go to the ceiling. (Good for dispersion?) There are granite counter tops below them as well as a counter bar 38' high with the plant on it that I could put some treatment on the sides. As of now the room sounds really loud with four people talking, and with a little Bebot iphone tone generator test, there were two low frequencies that really got the place shaking. I've placed my computer on a small mounted shelf (9 inches deep) on the wall between the counter and keyboard so there will be no desk. I'm thinking of mounting the speakers recessed into the wall to save on space, or adding tube trapps next to them. My DAW and mic pre's are in a small rack that I'm not sure where to place yet. Since I'll just be buying DIY absorption I'm trying to keep my budget under $400 Thanks for any ideas of placement and products. seth

Update: So far I got a two free ATS pannels for free :) off craigslist and am going to put them up on the wall behind the Key board. I'm also looking into building some tube traps for base while I decide on buying more panes. Q:I have about 4 square feet of bed foam in pieces of 41" long, 4" wide, 6" deep with peaks along two opposing sides. Do you think I could cut these in half cover with fabric for aesthetics and use for diffusion?

Q:I have about 4 square feet of bed foam in pieces of 41" long, 4" wide, 6" deep with peaks along two opposing sides. Do you think I could cut these in half cover with fabric for aesthetics and use for diffusion?

First, I'd suggest you read the stickies on the front page of this forum if you'd like to get responses to your posts. Second, I don't know what you mean by "bed foam", but most likely it wont work as acoustic treatment (unless it is open-cell foam). Most common foam you find around the home is closed-cell foam (a the microscopic level). Closed-cell foam is no use as an acoustic absorber: only open cell works. Unless you can find out what kind it is for certain, don't bother. It also wont work as a diffuser, since diffusers are not useful in such a small room anyway. Some experts here say that diffusers only work effectively in large rooms. FWIW. - Stuart -

It's also a great fire risk.

Sorry about my post. I read through the the main stickies and thought I had a followed most of the guidelines, but mist the reference area. What else did I miss? And I didn't check the fire safety(which the material is not) so thanks for the heads up.