In this post: If you believe life is all about the small pleasures, you’ll love these 10 ways to use home fragrance to add luxury to your day. ⇒
Picture this…. You walk into a well appointed home. It has that freshly decorated look and is neat and clean. There’s art on the walls and pillows lined up on the sofa. The colors are neutral and there’s nothing out of place.
Now picture walking into the same home with fresh baked cookies coming out of the oven!
Infinitely more appealing and inviting, isn’t it? The first was lovely but the second adds a whole new dimension of pleasure to the experience.
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of fragrance in the home. Many of you have told me that you enjoy when I highlight small pleasures, and undoubtedly, adding fragrance to the home is a sure way to add these little luxuries to your life. Let’s take a look at 10 ways to use home fragrance to perk up your day.
1. Aromatic sachets – What a wonderful pick-me-up it is, when you’re rushing hurriedly to get dressed in the morning, to open your lingerie drawer and be greeted by a lovely scent wafting softly into the morning air. These pretty grain sack sachets were sent to me by my friend Ann from On Sutton Place and I love keeping them in the drawers where I start my day.
If you’d like to see Ann’s grain sack sachet tutorial, she shows sachet hearts in this post that would be perfect for Valentine’s Day.
2. Rose water – There’s no question, anything that has rose fragrance in it offers a special treat and even the pale blush color sets my heart aflutter. Rose water has many uses but this one is a hydrating mist for the face and it’s utterly delightful. I find it calming just to look at the bottle. (See source list below.)
3. Scented candles – There are people who use candles and people who don’t. If you’re the latter, you must give it a try! I light candles regularly and so the scents I select really matter to me. The really special ones can be costly, but for me worth every penny. I use them when I soak in the tub or just curl up in the den with a book. I use them when I entertain or when I’m home alone on a rainy day. I particularly love the ones that come in decorative canisters, but ultimately I have many favorites and a wardrobe of candles.
4. Fragrant soaps – When I was a kid, this type of soap was put out in the guest bath and no one would think of using them. I still think they look pretty out on display and it’s nice that they add subtle fragrance to the room, but I also love to actually use these soaps. Any time you can elevate a basic daily ritual to a pleasurable experience is a moment I consider a little luxury. The more your home bath resembles a spa, the better!
5. Fresh flowers – Of course, the most obvious, and most beautiful way to add fragrance to your home is with fresh flowers. If you’ve spent any time on this blog you know I’m crazy about flowers and made the decision long ago to include them in my grocery budget. I think there’s a simple mindset shift that happens when you make this decision, and something you previously viewed as frivolous becomes as sensible as buying coffee. The more aromatic varieties are often the most pleasant, from lilacs and lilies of the valley to hyacinths and jasmine.
6. Pillow mist – Another simple pleasure that adds so much joy, spraying linens with pillow mist adds serenity to your bedtime routine. There are also room sprays and diffusers that can add calm to a room. I love crisp white sheets that have been misted with lavender spray, but there are many other varieties that are equally as intoxicating.
7. Dried lavender – There’s just something so delightful about the vision of lavender and when presented in dried bundles, it instantly transports me to a French country town. It’s the soft purple color, the little neat stacks, but especially the gentle aroma that relaxes us so. I always keep dried lavender in my home and I love walking past it and catching that whispered scent that tells us intuitively to slow down and enjoy.
8 and 9. Potpourri and essential oils – Perhaps the very first home fragrance that caught my attention, even as a teenager I became entranced by potpourri. When enhanced with essential oils it becomes all the more exhilarating. It looks pretty displayed in a charming container, whether a vintage dish or large fruit bowl. My favorite is called The Smell of Spring (linked below) and I’ve been using it for as long as I can remember!
10. Fresh herbs – When speaking of fragrance in the home we cannot forget about foods, and bit of fresh basil on the counter is always a treat for me. I find myself drawing closer to it to enjoy the scent, as it reminds me of summer or a vacation in Italy.
And what about those fresh baked cookies? I say go for it, as often as possible! Realtors say to use them to help sell your home, so why not enjoy the heady aroma while you still live there? I can’t think of anything that would be better defined as a little luxury!
Home Fragrance Source List
For some of my favorite home fragrance options, click on the items below for direct links to the products. Where actual items were no longer available, I’ve provided similar options.
(This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.)
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Definitely agree with how important fragrance is in our homes. I love the battery candles but also burn scented candles and have quite a collection of them for every season. For January I like a clean citrus scent. One of the nicest compliments I had was when my teenage granddaughter told me myt house always smells so good!
I’m a citrus fan, too… 🙂
What a lovely post! I think your ideas are wonderful and thank you so much for the sources. Also…thank you for including my sachets. 🙂
You are most welcome, Ann, and thank YOU!!
Oh my thank you for sharing these great ideas for using wonderful scents
My pleasure, Norma!
Lory, thank you for your fragrance suggestions. I use scented candles and have noticed they infuse their scents into my furniture fabrics, keeping the house smelling nice even when I haven’t burned a candle for awhile…like when you bring something home from a store that has candles and you can still smell it on the item months later. I also like sachet in my drawers and it makes the furniture smell nice as well. Hugs!
Yes, so true about the lingering scent!!
I love adding a fragrance to our home decor. The smell of fresh baked goods, a slow cooking pot roast in the crock pot, and a spicy cinnamon, orange, cloves, and apple simmering potpourri are some of my favorites. I remember coming home from school as a kid and walking in and smelling fresh baked chocolate cookies. I pronounced, “This smells like Grandma’s house!” My mother was thrilled with the compliment. You’ve inspired me to be more indulgent with home fragrance “decor”. I am going to light my candles more often for me, and not just for guests. I might try some pillow fragrance sprays. Thanks for the ideas.
So glad to inspire!! And yes, baked goods = yum!
Who doesn’t love a fresh, clean scent when entering a home? You have given us excellent ideas to accomplish just that. I bought a reed diffuser and love it. So many fragrances are made with artificial and sometimes harmful products so I tend to stick with essential oils. Nothing says lovin’ like something from the oven…fresh bread, cookies, pies, cakes all are wonderful smells. My sister-in-law’s house always smells so nice and I don’t think she uses any candles or essential oils. It is probably due to the fact that her house has been cleaned to within an inch of its life. ha! Keeping trash emptied and dishes washed up goes a long way to preventing malodorous scents. You would think people could figure this out, but when my husband was a home inspector, you could immediately tell the houses that were not clean. Lory, another great post!
Yes, all great points! Thanks Donna!!
I enjoy you blog and your subjects. Unfortunately, your page drops and has to be reposted far too often. Each Saturday, I begin and finally give. Thought I should let you know. I use an Apple mini Ipad.
Thank you for letting me know. But what do you mean by “drops” and “reposted”? Do you mean it’s slow loading? Or?
Great ideas for creating lovely scents in your home. I think it is so important to make a home environment that appeals to all the senses.
Adding flowers to the grocery budget is a great idea. It’s hard to be cranky when they’re fragrant fresh flowers around. Many years ago I fell in love with aromatherapy and even got a certificate to practice it. I no longer make any fragrances, candles or bath products but I buy lots of them. Right now I’m in love with room sprays and diffusers and I just can’t get enough of them. Lovely post and thanks for sharing it with us at Celebrate Your Story.
I couldn’t agree more Lory! Fragrance is so important in a home. I usually have a candle lit everyday, but I love some of your other ideas that I don’t normally use! I’m going to have to purchase some pillow sprays and potpourri!
Sheila
xo
Lory, I consider this another “Little Pleasures” post. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Your source list is simply wonderful, if a little dangerous. I got lost quite a while in each of those sites. What a treat! But I’ve also enjoyed your gorgeous photography. I want to go out and replicate those still life images and buy EVERYTHING in them! My favorite scents for the home are lavender and citrus as well. However, last year I found a marvelous scent at Pottery Barn in a hobnail diffuser bottle called “White Flower” that is so good! I stocked up but I’m going to be sad once it’s all gone, this one is not part of their regular line). Thank you for all the clever inspiration! I’m going to try to remember to burn more candles just for me.