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What Are the 3 Methods For Choosing a Home Fragrance?
There are 3 ways to choose your home fragrance. One option is to select fragrances by season; this will help you get into the holiday spirit, while keeping your home smelling fresh and exciting. Another option is selecting a signature home fragrance based on your personal preference, whether it is natural scents, floral, citrus, or something else. The last option is to strategically choose scents in order to create a certain atmosphere in each room. Scent experts recommend doing this in order to create the best olfactory experience in the home.
Seasonal Fragrances
In the same way that you would change out the wreath on the door seasonally, you should consider matching your home fragrances to the time of year. Scent is as central to a home as the color of the throw pillows and the centerpieces on the table. The best way to usher in the new seasons is to change fragrances to complement the weather.
The best fragrances for fall should have hints of pumpkin spice, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, or sandalwood. When winter comes, it is best to switch to heavy fragrances because the cold temperatures will cause scents to fade faster. Woodsy scents like pine and mahogany, as well as sweeter scents like vanilla, sugar cookies, peppermint, and coco are excellent choices for winter.
Springtime is best for light, airy scents that do not stand out as much. Floral or citrus scents are best because they will complement the fresh flowers and warmer days. Floral fragrances are also recommended for summer to make your home feel bright and warm. The best fragrances for summer are florals, jasmine, vanilla, and anything with a hint of citrus.
Personal Preference
A signature scent is the icing on the cake that turns a house into a home. According to Mark Crames, Chief Perfumer at Demeter Fragrance, “Scent is personal and powerful. Nothing evokes emotion like scent." There is no such thing as the wrong way to choose home fragrance.
Most of us have a preference for certain scents over others. Some prefer florals, while others sneeze at the thought of them and opt for sweet, bakery-inspired scents instead. Many people choose fragrances that remind them of their childhood home and that bring back fond memories.
When you choose a signature home fragrance based on personal preference, you should choose a handful of complementary scents that you love. You can either have one scent for your entire space, designate each scent to a different room, or combine multiple scents to fill up your home.
Fragrances for Each Room
The final method for how to choose home fragrance is to have a different scent for each room, depending on the desired atmosphere for that space. This is the approach that Garrett Munce advocates for in his book, Self-Care for Men: How to Look Good and Feel Great. Scent is as vital to the atmosphere of a room as the color scheme and furniture. Utilizing fragrances in each room will provide you and your guests with a delightful olfactory experience.
What is the Best Home Fragrance for Each Room?
According to fragrance expert Manon Gandhi, “picking the right candle for your house is just like picking the right perfume for your body—think about how you feel in a particular space and the idea is to create that mood.”
The Entryway
When guests first enter the home, it should be inviting. The best way to do this is to place vanilla or spice fragrances near the door, either in the form of a candle or diffuser.
The Living Room
The living room is normally home to comfy couches, throw blankets, and a fireplace or TV. As the heart of the home, the living room should smell as inviting and homey as it looks. Pine, sandalwood, and other woodsy scents are the best way to amplify the comfort of the living room. Floral can also be an option, depending on the decor in the room.
The Kitchen
Kitchens normally have plenty of scents of their own, so there is no need to overpower the smell of delicious food. The best fragrances for kitchens are the ones that signal cleanliness and neatness; citrus, tea-like scents, and herbal scents are best for this.
Bathrooms
It is also important to give off an aura of cleanness in bathrooms, especially in order to cover up the less pleasant smells from that room. The key to making bathrooms feel clean and pleasant is not to douse the room in fragrance. Instead, eucalyptus or sage will naturally cloak other odors and keep the room smelling pristine.
The Bedroom
Lots of activities happen in bedrooms. The fragrance for the bedroom should depend on what you need out of that space on a given day. If you want to create an atmosphere of excitement, rose, jasmine, vanilla, lavender, orange, cinnamon, and ginger are excellent choices to set the mood. If you want to relax and unwind, the best scents for creating a calming environment are rosemary, lavender, sage, lemon, and peppermint.
For day to day fragrances, fragrance expert Manon Gandhi suggests, “opt for vanilla, vetiver or fruity scents as they are distinctive yet subtle.”
Why Is it Important to Choose Fragrances For Your Home?
Most people like to say that their home smells fine, so it doesn’t need any fragrance products. However, choosing a home fragrance goes beyond just covering up bad smells. In the same way that you decorate to make your home appealing to look at or play background music to set the mood, home fragrances can also enhance your home.
Here are 5 reasons why you should incorporate signature fragrances into your home.
- Smells trigger memories, so incorporating familiar scents and smells linked to fond memories can improve attitude.
- Scent can help regulate cortisol levels. The best way to manage cortisol levels is to de-stress, which can be aided by calming fragrances.
- Your home is a reflection of you, so it is fun to match the fragrances to your unique personality.
- Home fragrances make spaces more welcoming to guests.
- Fragrances are a key part of self-care and helping you unwind at the end of the day.
How to Choose the Right Home Fragrance Products For You
Choosing signature scents for your home is what sets the tone and the mood for the space, but the method for creating those fragrances also has significant bearing on the overall atmosphere. There are an abundance of options for fragrance products, including candles, wax melts, reed diffusers, electronic diffusers, wall plug-ins, air purifiers, room spray, hanging sachet fragrance bags, and natural options, such as a bouquet of flowers on the table.
Candles are a classic home fragrance tool; they set the mood better than any other fragrance product. However, wax melts took off in 2021 as a safe, smoke-free, more sustainable alternative to candles. According to fragrance expert Rajiv Sheth, soy wax melts are a great option for home fragrances because, “it is non-toxic and a more sustainable option for a healthy environment. It also burns slowly making the experience last longer.”
If you want strong, long-lasting scent in your home, then candles, wax melts, electronic diffusers, wall plug-ins, and room spray are the best options. Products like reed diffusers, wall plug-ins, and hanging sachet bags are the best for providing your ideal fragrance with minimal maintenance.
A big trend going into 2022 is embracing sustainable, natural fragrances. Products like reed diffusers and hanging sachet bags are perfect for giving off strong fragrances, while embracing nature and sustainability. Many people are going straight to the source for their fragrances. It is more popular than ever to utilize natural ingredients by keeping flowers on the table, covering surfaces in potted plants, decorating with scented pine cones, and boiling cinnamon sticks.
When you are choosing home fragrances, you do not have to pick just one fragrance product. In fact, most fragrance experts recommend layering fragrances for a more enjoyable olfactory experience. For example, you may light a candle at certain times of the day, but utilize reed diffusers and wall plug-ins to keep the space fresh around the clock. Hanging sachet fragrance bags are ideal for layering fragrances because they can be placed in small areas, such as a walk-in closet, to complement the scent of the main room.
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