A perfectly fragranced home can make all the difference to the atmosphere of your home, your mood and how you and your guests interact with the space. However, when a house is bustling with activity, your home has to juggle many different roles and cater to many different people (and pets as well). So how can you create the perfect ambience that suits your home and its occupants? The answer is getting the fragrance right.
In this guide, we’ll explain the best ways to use fragrance in your home to create the perfect ‘house scent’.
Why Is Scent So Important?
As one of the overlooked senses, fragrance actually plays a vital role in mood, wellbeing and even cognitive function. Scent not only provides an immediate benefit of a pleasant smell, but it evokes a certain feeling. This is thanks to the memory you associate to that smell.
Psychologists explain this with associative learning. This is how the brain uses scent to tie different memories together. Then, when you smell the same scent again, your mind will not only react to that scent, but the memories of that scent and its influences to adjust your mood accordingly.
For example, the smell of creamy vanilla may make you feel happy because it reminds you of childhood baking with your grandparents. Perhaps the smell of cinnamon makes you feel warm and cosy because it reminds you of winters at home and Christmas memories.
It is important to remember that scents don’t have to link back to positive memories. Certain scents can remind you of negative memories too. For some, this could be the greasy smell of school dinners or herbal cough medicines, which you will associate with a mood of being under the weather.
Every scent and its associated mood will be personal to your experiences. This is why creating a home fragrance can be so tricky when considering other occupants or guests. You want to create a home fragrance that is pleasant and largely universal.
Eliminating Negative Smells
Before introducing candles, room fresheners and reed diffusers into your house to create a home fragrance, it is important to consider the odours in your home already. As we get used to scents in the home, we do go ‘nose-blind’. This is why you can often pick up the scent of someone else’s home fragrance, but not your own.
Dampness
With the idea of nose-blindness in mind, it may be time to ensure that you eliminate all negative smells. For example, if a room or area of your home is particularly humid, then this can potentially lead to a damp or musty smell. You can look to remove excess moisture from your home with a dehumidifier, for example.
Putting in place measures to trap and remove moisture from the home is vital in ensuring a great home fragrance. Even micro-sources of moisture such as wet towels, a bathmat or tea towel in the kitchen can all affect the overall scent in your home.
Soft Furnishings
Soft furnishings look lovely but can harbour odour in their fibres. This is especially true when there has been a spillage. This can then allow odour-causing bacteria to then live in the fibres. Steam cleaning your soft furnishing periodically can help to remove odour-causing bacteria and can help to neutralise the scent.
It can also help to make sure you spot treat a spillage or stain when it happens, to reduce its ability to cause a smell. For carpets, you can neutralise their scent by sprinkling baking powder, leaving for a couple of hours and then vacuuming up.
Pets
Pets can be the star of the home, but they can contribute to unfavourable odours too. However, there are simple things you can do to reduce negative smells. This includes ensuring their food is always stored in airtight containers. For their litter trays and food stations, it is wise to choose a spot away from the hub of the home and ideally where there is ventilation.
Regular cleaning of their toys, accessories and beds can also help to remove pet odour too.
All of these can really help to give you a nice neutral territory on which to build your home fragrance.
How To Fragrance Your Home
Once you have removed any negative scents, it is time to start building beautiful scents into your home. A common mistake people make when choosing a home fragrance is to buy just one scent and use it all over the house. However, the most effective and enjoyable way to fragrance the home is to choose complementary but different scents that suit different rooms or areas of the home. With this, you can create scent zones which can tie together to create your personal ‘house scent’.
The Best Home Fragrances
You can introduce scent into your home in a variety of ways. This could be scented candles, wax melts, room fresheners or linen sprays and reed diffusers. When choosing a home fragrance, it is important to look for a quality scent, a product that will continue to emit fragrance for longer than a day or two.
The scent throw of a home fragrance is essential too. A scent throw is how powerful a scent is and how much it can fill a room or space. While it can be tempting to only go for the products with the largest scent throw to get more ‘bang for your buck’, it is essential to consider how you’re placing your scents. If you have a small bathroom, for example, then a large scent throw may make the fragrance far too overpowering for a small or enclosed room.
Creating Ideal Home Fragrances
While this guide will offer advice on the best scents for your home, it is essential to remember that home fragrance is very personal. As mentioned earlier, scent will trigger memories, so if a particular scent triggers an unpleasant memory, then look for a different fragrance that offers the right mood for the room.
The Textures Of Scent
Before choosing a home fragrance, it is important to consider what impression you want your home to give. For example, if you want a room to feel warm and cosy, then woody scents can help to give this impression. Ocean, sea salt and fresh linen fragrances create the feeling of a gentle breeze. This is perfect for a light and airy home.
It can be so easy to simply select your favourite smell for a room, but it can really throw the whole feeling of the room off. For example, a cosy snug with a roaring fire may not work well with a fresh, floral scent. Similarly, the clean, crispness of a bathroom will feel at odds to a smoky, musky scent.
If there is a smell that you love, but that doesn’t suit the home, then use this as your personal fragrance. You can still create the perfect house scent with home fragrances, but then have a personal fragrance that you bring out every so often when you are having some me-time. This is also a great way to compromise if you share your home with someone that doesn’t love the same scents as you!
Seasonal Scents
Another important factor to take into consideration is that the time of year will also impact on how you want your home to feel. In spring and summer, you may want to throw open your windows and create a fresh, floral or citrus scent which reminds you of spring sunshine. In autumn and winter, you may want to focus on warming spices and rich flavours that help to make you feel cosy when you come in from the cold outside.
Don’t be afraid to switch up your scents throughout the year, to create a home fragrance for all of the seasons.
The Best Home Fragrances For Each Room
Hallway and Reception Area
As soon as someone steps through the door, this will be the first impression of your home, and this scent is important. Typically, elegant and warm scents can work well here, like our Neroli and Rosemary home fragrance.
Kitchen
The kitchen is synonymous with memories of cooking and baking. You can add to this, with a kitchen fragrance of baking, herbs or fruit. A fresh burst of citrus with peppery herbs can help to transport your kitchen to your favourite meals. We think Thyme and Petitgrain is perfect for this space.
Dining Room
The fragrance in the dining room must be subtle, so as not to disrupt the meal. This is where light citrus scents can work really well. A quick spritz of our Bergamot and Orange Blossom room spray can work wonders to create a relaxing space for a dinner party.
Living Room
This is a room in the house where you can experiment and regularly change the scent to suit how you are using the space. For a base scent which is clean, inviting but spirited, try our Wild Pear and Cedarwood fragrance.
Home Office
Your workplace needs to be productive and stimulating without being overpowered by fragrance. Again, the zestiness of Thyme and Petitgrain can work wonders here. Alternatively, the lively scent of Seaweed Cyclamen and Water Lily can create a fresh, clean scent that is perfect for concentration.
Bathroom
The bathroom not only needs to feel clean, so you’re ready for the day, but also relaxing for when you’re unwinding at the end of the hard day. Ozonic fragrances such as Pebble Beach can help the space to feel fresh and clean. However, when it comes to a relaxing bubble bath, Chypre fragrances can help you unwind. Our Violet, Cardamom and Cherry Blossom scent can transport you to a state of bliss.
Bedroom
For the bedroom, home fragrance can help to set the scene for calmness and relaxation. Rose fragrances are known to help relieve stress. Similarly, aromas of jasmine and sandalwood can help to create a romantic atmosphere. Our Blackcurrant, Leather and Birch fragrance offers a unisex appeal with notes of sensual Moroccan jasmine.
Getting Your Home Fragrances Right
Before buying a different scent for each room, start small and gradually integrate and layer your fragrances. Start by fragrancing the key areas of the home and look for where you can build scent. This is much easier than trying to get multiple scents to marry together straight away. Have fun, experiment and enjoy the new dimension that home fragrance can bring to your living space.
Remember, if you need help selecting your ideal home fragrance, speak to the scent experts at The Wax House!
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