When you spend time and energy making your home look great, a signature scent that will make it smell delicious and welcoming is the essential finishing touch. While you may already be using scented candles, there are lots of other ways to perfume your home.
For the best result, clean your home with unperfumed products that won’t overpower your desired effect.
Here are some tips to help you fill your home with a unique and wonderful scent.
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1. Create your scent ‘canvas’
The first thing to do is to ensure you’re not using scents just to cover up other odors. For the best results, start with a perfectly clean base. Whenever possible, use unscented, natural products free of unwanted chemicals and potentially harmful additives. This way, whatever perfume you choose won’t be overwhelmed by strong artificial smells.
2. Choose essential oils
Placing essential oils such as lavender, rosemary, or patchouli around the home is an obvious way to fill it with natural fragrances. However, using neat oils is not recommended –they are somewhat heavy and can leave oil stains on your fabrics. Using a specially adapted aromatherapy spray in each room is a more practical solution. This way, you can use it on curtains, cushions, and chairs to ensure a waft of fragrance whenever you pass by.
3. Use scented plants
While fresh flowers make a fabulous centerpiece, those with a scent tend to be expensive and need to be replaced regularly. Placing scented plants around the home is a wonderful and less expensive way to bring the natural world indoors.
Easy-to-care-for plants will provide intense scents for long periods. For example, geraniums come in many varieties, with lemon, rose, or nutmeg scented leaves. With brilliant white flowers and deep green leaves, glamorous gardenias provide the basis for many classic fragrances. The delicate flowers of sweetly scented jasmine will fill your room with perfume. And herbs such as lavender and rosemary, commonly used in aromatherapy, can be used in any room to great effect. For a more intense scent, just rub the leaves between your fingers.
4. Freshen your drawers
Ensuring your home smells great isn’t only a question of adding pleasant aromas. You also need to prevent or remove bad ones. Baking soda, which absorbs odors, can be useful. To keep your dresser, drawers and even bins smelling fresh, place some baking soda into the center of a coffee filter, with a few drops of essential oil. Draw the edges together and seal with a tie. Place wherever you like and enjoy the clean, fresh smell each time you open.
5. Smells delicious!
Cooking smells can be wonderful and really make a home smell warm and inviting. What’s more enticing than the smell of fresh coffee? This year we’ve seen a resurgence in people baking bread and home-made cakes, and the aromas are part of the enjoyment!
Of course, not all cooking smells are so welcome. When cooking fish or cabbage, switch on the extractor before you start cooking, rather than half-way through, so the odor won’t have a chance to permeate into the rest of your beautifully perfumed living-space.
These are just a few ways to perfume your home.
Featured Image by Tanya Kurt from Pixabay