Tips and tricks to make your home smell amazing

Whether it’s relaxing floral scents or something fresh and fruity, how your home smells can affect the way you feel and even how relaxed you are.

But while we’ve all got a scented candle or two, there’s more to making your house smell incredible than just setting the wick alight.

From candle strategy to diffusers and old fashioned simmer pots, here’s everything you need to make your home a sweet smelling haven!

CONSIDER THE MOOD OF THE ROOM

Before you commit to a scent, think about the kind of atmosphere you’re trying to create. You may want something fresh and citrusy in the bathroom for example, a soft floral smell in the living room or something a little spicy for the kitchen. Smell has a powerful effect over our feelings, so spare a thought for how you use the room.

DECIDE BETWEEN FOODIE AND FLORALS

Our sense of smell is closely linked to how we taste, so consider where you’re putting foodie and floral fragrances. Rooms where you prepare and eat meals are much better suited to foodie, fruity and herbal scents, while florals are great in places where you like to relax.

USE DIFFUSERS FOR BACKGROUND SCENT

Reed diffusers and plug-ins are great for creating a subtle ‘background’ fragrance for everyday living. Choose a scent that you love and let that become the room’s signature smell, saving your candles for special occasions.

HAVE A SCENTED CANDLE STRATEGY

Where you place your candles can influence how effective they are and how the scent travels. Lighting them next to an open window for example, may not return the best results! Popping some near a doorway is a good idea, as it’ll be the first thing people smell when they enter. Dotting scented candles around the corners of a room can help the fragrance to mingle, even when they’re not lit.

LAYER UP SCENTS THAT COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER

Mixing and layering different scents is a great way of adding more atmosphere to a room, especially before guests call in, but think about whether the different smells ‘fit’ together. The easiest way to do this is to simply smell each fragrance one after another and take notice of how they make you feel. Is it a little jarring? Do they seem like opposites? If so, keep experimenting until you find a combination that feels right.

BOIL UP A FRAGRANT BROTH

Simmer pots have been used for decades as a quick and easy way to fill the house with a great smell. Simply simmer a pot of water on a hob and toss in fragrant ingredients like slices of citrus fruits, cinnamon sticks, fruit peels, dried herbs or plants like lavender and eucalyptus, or even essential oils. Leave it to simmer for an hour or more, to let the aroma spread through the house. Just remember to keep an eye on the water levels, as you don’t want the pan to boil dry.

BAKE YOUR WAY TO A SWEET SMELL

Some good old baking is a sure way to get your house smelling sweet, but it’s not just cakes and cookies that’ll smell great warming in the oven. Popping some citrus peels, vanilla extract or essential oils in a heatproof bowl and leaving on a low heat in the oven for an hour will leave your home smelling warm, cosy and welcoming.

For more scented candles and home fragrance ideas, see the latest from George Home here