How can I make my office smell nice?

[susannahmoodie]

I have my own small office at work and get paranoid about it smelling fresh.....the thing is that air fresheners or plug ins or sprays or anything chemically gives me a terrible headache. And I think h&s would mean candles out of question.

Also I don't want the smell to be too obvious, just fresh. I do like eucalyptus/menthol type smells which have the added bonus of clearing my sinuses this time of year! But olbas oil seems a bit medical....! Can anyone recommend a nice reed diffuser or something else that would work?

Berger lamps, if you can find one, deliver a pleasant waft of scent and there is a wide range of fragrances.

Wax melt burner. Woodwick?

I've got an air purifier for my office. It just cleans the stale old air con smelling air. Made a huge difference, I'm less muzzy headed in the afternoons now.

Recently got a rhubarb and freesia reed diffuser from Next as well. I was a bit worried that it would be cheapo synthetic overload but actually it just smells nice and crisp.

My office is slowly turning into a bit of a spa: also have a daylight lamp and sometimes play ambient "concentration" music.

PMSL at this thread. Monty Don, White House and Lime and Bat. It's all a bit 'Heston does home fragrances.'

I don't have my own office any more, but when I did, everyone used to comment on how lovely it smelt. It was basically a combination of drinking fruit tea, using scented alcohol hand gel during the day and spraying myself with perfume at some point in the morning. Also the window was usually open at least a crack all the the time. I don't mind artificial fragrances but I have colleagues with asthma and allergies and didn't want them expiring on me every time they came in.

Have you got windows that open? Not all modern building do as architects seem to be a bit dickish that way. Any fresh air, even city air, will be better than pongy candles/diffusers/civet cat arse smells.

if no opening windows it is going to reek, either of stale aircon or of the artificial stinks mentioned above. If you blast perfume about don't expect meetings to last too long - which I suppose could be an advantage.

Totally agree that fresh air's always best, if opening window allows for such.

The idea of crushing the odd leaf from pots of growing mint/ rosemary/ lavender is also a good one...and living greenery inside is always a plus.

Air purifier also a great suggestion; I've been thinking about one for a while. tiger, is yours a charcoal filter or an ionic? And do you mind me asking which brand you're so pleased with?

at special's description of "civet cat arse smell". Probably ties in quite perfectly with the current White House resident...

autumn. It's ionic: a BreatheFresh. It makes a very slight whirring noise, like the fan on a pc. I don't find I notice it. It also produces a very faint breeze (it's not a cooler) which I like.

Several colleagues have noticed how airy my room is. The diffuser is very faint too, but just freshens the place up.

^Thanks for that info. Useful to have a personal recommendation.