From playful pets to cooking huge meals, your home can be filled with a variety of unpleasant fragrances. Fortunately, it’s easy to make your home smell amazing with the right scents and accessories. Whether you love the smell of freshly baked cookies, beautiful flowers, or natural herbs, there are several ways you can fill your home with nose-pleasing aromas.
This guide will show you several ways to keep your home smelling fresh, including some DIY hacks so you can make your very own home fragrances that will last. A pleasant-smelling home will improve your mood, impress your guests, and help you feel like you’re living in a cleaner environment.
Essential oils
Essential oils are a popular choice for aromatherapy and home fragrance. Here’s some information about these powerful and effective air freshening oils.
What are they? Essential oils come from the part of the plant that captures its “essence.” These natural oils are extracted from plants, flowers, and other organic materials and come in a high concentration so they can be diffused into the air, applied to the skin, or infused with other ingredients. They have a very long shelf life when stored properly so that you can enjoy them often as a home fragrance.
Where can you use them? If you’re planning to use essential oils for fragrance, it’s best to disperse them into the air through a diffuser. You can place the diffuser anywhere in your home, including the bathroom, bedroom, or kitchen. Technically, anywhere you have an electrical outlet, you can enjoy the fresh scent of DIY hacks.
Benefits. Different types of oils provide various benefits, but most gear toward relieving stress and anxiety. You can also find essential oils that clear up a stuffy nose, help improve concentration, help you sleep, or provide you with more mental clarity. While they aren’t a cure-all, smelling these oils can improve your mood and make your whole home smell amazing.
Most common. There are tons of essential oils available, but the most common people use for fragrance purposes: lavender, peppermint, lemon, and vetiver.
Humidifiers and Diffusers
An essential oil diffuser or humidifier can help make your home smell incredible.
What are they? Diffusers disperse the fragrance from oils into the air through humidity. These devices are easy to use and come in a range of designs and sizes. Simply fill the container inside your diffuser with water, then add a few drops of your favorite essential oil and turn it on. The diffuser will create a smoke-like substance that permeates the air.
Where can you use them? It’s best to use diffusers in areas away from pets and small children. A bathroom or home office are both great places to enjoy the fragrances of a diffuser. Remember that pets can be sensitive to essential oils, so use your diffuser with caution or only enjoy it in rooms where your furry friends can’t access it.
Benefits. Diffusers make it easy to enjoy fragrances in the home, and you can tweak the scent to your liking. Simply add more drops of oil to the diffuser for a stronger aroma, or add less if you prefer it to be more subtle.
Most common. Plug-in diffusers are the most common choice, and they can be plugged directly into a wall outlet or stand on top of a table or shelf. Both designs are typically used for home fragrance and require electricity for them to work.
Incense/Palo santo
For a strong home fragrance, consider incense or palo santo. These home scents are great for occasions when you need to freshen up your home’s smells quickly.
What are they? Used for centuries, incense is a dried, concentrated fragrance that comes in either a slender stick or a cone. You can light the incense with a lighter and let it slowly burn as the fragrance releases into the air. Palo santo is a type of wood from the palo santo tree that can be bundled together and slowly burned to release the scent of its natural resins.
Where can you use them? Incense or palo santo can be enjoyed anywhere, but they’re most effective in small rooms since the scent doesn’t reach far distances. Keep these items away from children, and be sure to use an incense holder or dish to catch the ashes as they burn down.
Benefits. This home fragrance is excellent for relaxation, meditation, and to help clear the mind. It also works well to eliminate unpleasant odors in a kitchen or bathroom.
Most common. Aside from palo santo, the most common types of incense are patchouli, ylang-ylang, and sandalwood, but there are hundreds of scents available.
Natural Essences/DIY Infusions
If you prefer to do things DIY, you can make your own natural essences and infusions to freshen up the scent of your house.
DIY natural essences. There are several ways to make your own natural essences, and it depends on the source of the fragrance. For example, herbs and flowers can be dried and made into potpourri. You can also extract the natural essence of fruits like lemon to create a homemade air freshener. Simply add the lemon juice to a spray bottle with some water and use it to freshen up the bathroom or kitchen in a pinch.
Dry flowers. You can dry your flowers in just a few simple steps. Gather your flowers and remove the leaves, then bundle them together using a string. Hang the flowers and allow them to air dry in an area without direct sunlight for three to four weeks and enjoy as a sachet or in potpourri.
Where can you use them? You can enjoy natural essences and DIY infusions anywhere, depending on what you create. A potpourri burner can be placed on the kitchen counters or in your bedroom or bathroom for a subtle, fresh smell.
Benefits. One of the most significant benefits of this method is that you’re only using natural ingredients, so there’s no worry about any possible toxic chemicals getting into the air. Doing this yourself can also help you save money on expensive candles, oils, and air fresheners.
DIY Infusions. To make your own DIY fragrance infusion, simmer your choice of plants in a crockpot on low for 3-4 hours, then refrigerate the contents overnight. Remove the oil film from the top the next day and use it as your own custom infusion to fragrance your home.
Air Fresheners
Air fresheners make it easy to add scent to any room quickly, and they come in a myriad of formulas, formats, and smells.
What are they? Typically featured as a spray, air fresheners add instant fragrance to your home. You can also find them in the form of beads, gels, reed diffusers, and more.
Where can you use them? You can use air fresheners practically anywhere, but make sure that you don’t spray too much at once, or it may cause irritation of the eyes or nose. Ideally, these home fragrances are best for bathrooms, laundry rooms, and small spaces or the kitchen whenever you need to remove unpleasant cooking smells.
Benefits. Air fresheners are extremely easy and convenient to use, and they can be enjoyed virtually anywhere. They’re best for knocking out foul odors fast, but you can also use the bead, gel, or reed diffuser styles if you want the fragrance to release continually.
Most common. The most popular choice for air fresheners is pump sprays or aerosol sprays simply because they’re portable and quick to disperse into the air.
Candles
With their flickering flames, candles are an excellent choice for relaxation and pleasant smells in the home.
Where can you use them? Candles can be enjoyed in any room, but it’s essential to make sure that they’re out of the reach of pets and children. Never leave a burning candle unattended. They’re best for smaller spaces like a home office, bedroom, or living room to fill the room with fragrance.
Benefits. You’ll find candles in a ton of different scents, sizes, and containers. They’re a perfect way to add a decorative touch to your home while filling it with beautiful smells simultaneously.
DIY. You can make your own homemade candles with a few simple materials. Add a few drops of essential oil for fragrance, then fill clear glass jars with melted wax, add a wick, and let them dry before enjoying them in your home.
Most common. The most common types of candles come in a jar or glass container, but you can also find pillar candles that don’t have anything around the sides or decorative candles in ceramic holders.
Smells for every occasion
Different smells evoke different moods and can help with a variety of issues. Here are some familiar smells for every occasion that you can try in your own home.
Concentration. Try lemon, eucalyptus, or peppermint to promote alertness and help with productivity, focus, and concentration.
Relaxation. Soothing scents like ylang-ylang, rosemary, and lavender can help you feel more relaxed and help make your stress melt away.
Sleep. Lavender is the most popular smell to help induce feelings of sleepiness. Other good choices include clary sage, cedarwood, and bergamot.
Meetings. Citrus scents can promote positive feelings and attitudes for meetings. Try peppermint to help with alertness, or use vanilla to help relieve anxiety.
Babies. Babies require mild, soothing fragrances like chamomile, tea tree, and lavender to promote feelings of calm.
Smells for each room
Here are some recommended smells to try in each room of your home.
Office. Lemon is a wonderful smell to promote alertness, while peppermint and cinnamon can help to improve concentration and stave off brain fog. Rosemary is another great option that can help promote clear thinking while improving memory.
Bedroom. Vanilla, lavender, and sandalwood are all excellent choices for the bedroom. These scents promote feelings of calm, reduce stress, and may help to induce sleep.
Kitchen. The best smells for a kitchen are light and citrusy, like lemon, orange, and grapefruit. Citrus scents can cut through harsh odors, and they’re best for kitchens to help keep this room smelling fresh and clean.
Bathroom. Try ginger, peppermint, or eucalyptus for a fresh scent in the bathroom. Sandalwood and sea salt scents can turn your bathroom into a relaxing spa-like environment.
Shower. Hang fresh eucalyptus from your showerhead. The steam will release the plant’s natural oils to create a bright, minty scent.
Living room. You can enjoy almost any smell in the living room, including seasonal scents like pine or gingerbread during the Christmas holidays. Other great options for this room include fruit scents like green apple or warm scents like almond.
Whether you prefer scented candles, air fresheners, or incense, it’s easy to make every room of your home smell amazing. Research the variety of fragrances available so you can decide which ones will give you the most benefits and which will work best in every room. With the right scents, you can enjoy a fresh-smelling home that lasts.
Written by Dirce Guerra