Why does the house carry sound so much

layoutnoise reductionsound-proofing

My home is a 1100sqft, single story home and it carries sound very far and clearly. It make the house 'loud'. When I sneeze loud I hear a high pitch echo. Voices seem to be amplified and with a slight echo. Are there tools to verify what I am experiencing and what can be done?

The floor is tile. The ceiling does not have 'popcorn'.
The house's layout is like this:

_ = walls
. = hallway
M = master bedroom
B = bathroom
R = bedroom
K = kitchen + dinning room
L = living room
G = garage

[    ][B1][        ]
[ M  ][B2][_   K   ]
[___]......._______]
[R1 ].[R2 ].[      ] 
[___].[___].[   L  ] 
[         ] [______]
[    G    ]
[_________]

Best Answer

Make sure you have carpeting, or even area rugs. Get some furniture in the place. Then move up the walls with various artwork, preferably some kind of cloth or canvas. You'd be amazed at how much a hanging tapestry absorbs sound. The emptier the home, the more you'll hear echoes.

Edit: I almost forgot, hang some curtains.