How to Choose the Right Fragrance for Every Room
We spend quite a lot of time choosing colours, furniture and lighting for different rooms in our homes, but fragrance can make just as much difference to how a space feels.
That doesn't mean you need a different candle in every corner of the house! But certain styles of fragrance do lend themselves particularly well to particular rooms.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Hallway - make a lovely first impression
Your hallway is often the first part of your home that you and your visitors experience, so it's a great place for fragrance.
Fresh citrus, green, floral and botanical fragrances all work beautifully here.
A reed diffuser is particularly useful because it fragrances the space continuously, and the natural movement of people through a hallway helps the scent travel.
Just don't put it directly beside a radiator or in a strong draught, as that can make the liquid disappear much more quickly.
Living room - this is where you can have some fun
The living room is probably one of the easiest places to experiment with home fragrance.
Florals, woods, amber, fruits, spices pretty much anything goes depending on what you enjoy.
You could use a reed diffuser for everyday fragrance and then light a candle when you want something a little stronger, or simply fancy a change.
It's also a lovely room to change with the seasons. Something fresh and floral can feel wonderful in spring, while woods, amber and warmer fragrances really come into their own when the evenings start getting darker.
Kitchen - work with what's already going on
Kitchens are slightly different because they're already full of smells.
Coffee, toast and whatever you've got cooking for dinner are all competing with your home fragrance, so this isn't necessarily the place for something extremely heavy.
Fresh citrus and herbal fragrances can work particularly well.
And a practical point: keep candles and reed diffusers away from cooking areas, heat sources and anywhere they're likely to be knocked or splashed.
Bedroom - something a little softer
For bedrooms, many people prefer something less intense.
Lavender, soft florals, gentle woods and clean, fresh fragrances are all popular choices.
A reed diffuser can provide a subtle fragrance throughout the day, while a candle is lovely in the evening, but always extinguish it before you go to sleep.
And don't feel that a bedroom has to smell of lavender. If your idea of relaxing is citrus, rose or sandalwood, choose that instead!
Bathroom - fresh and fragrant
Bathrooms are brilliant places for reed diffusers, particularly because you can enjoy continuous fragrance without needing to remember to light anything.
Citrus, fresh herbs, florals and aromatic fragrances all work well, but richer fragrances can be lovely too.
Just bear in mind that bathrooms can be warm and humid, which may affect how quickly a diffuser evaporates.
Home office - choose something you actually enjoy
You'll often see certain fragrances described as being ideal for concentration, productivity or focus.
We'd rather keep it simple.
If you're spending several hours in your home office, choose something you genuinely enjoy smelling.
Fresh citrus, green and aromatic fragrances are popular choices because they can make a workspace feel bright and fresh, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing your favourite floral or woody fragrance instead.
There really aren't any rules
These are suggestions, not a home-fragrance rule book.
If you adore a rich woody fragrance in your kitchen or want your bathroom to smell of roses, go for it.
The important thing is choosing fragrances you enjoy and thinking about the size of the room, where you place the product and how strong you'd like the fragrance to be.
Your home doesn't need to smell the same from one room to the next.
In fact, one of the nicest things about home fragrance is opening a door and discovering a completely different favourite fragrance waiting on the other side.
