How to make house smell lovely

[IdealisticCynic]

Anyone got tips on how to make your house smell nice - preferably without using artificial smelling air fresheners or scented candles? You know when you go into someone’s house and it just smells really lovely? I want that!

Our house is clean, I try to open windows etc, etc. But I want it to smell good each time I walk in and I don’t know how.

What kind of smell - fresh bread? Coffee? Flowers? Line-dried laundry?

Something warm and inviting but not overpowering. I suppose a floral/vanilla type scent?

We have coffee scent covered - we make and drink a lot of it.

Windows open is a big one!

But also cleaning soft furnishings - washing curtains, cleaning fabric sofas, washing cushion covers, cleaning rugs / carpets can make a huge difference. Odours cling to fabrics so I find that when I've done a big clean and washed all soft furnishings it smells incredible.

I love a simmer pot too in winter - basically a pot of water on the stove top with nice smelling bits in (orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves etc) and that scents the house incredibly but obviously it's a scent rather than a clean smell if that makes sense.

I keep all the windows open daily, dust and damp wipe surfaces and mop floors regularly. I keep the back door open and internal doors closed while I'm cooking.

I burn Arabian bakhoor, which is a solid incense and the house smells beautiful.

Essential oil diffusers are another huge favourite! I have neom ones everywhere, the scents are incredible and don't smell "fake" as they're essential oils so they're the real thing, they're lovely to have going. I tend to put them on in the morning, they'll run throughout the day and when you are wandering about it's a lovely fresh scent of fragrance.

I do take pride in a good smelling home - delivery people often compliment it, and I've got pets so I take that with a lot of pride 😂

That’s a good tip @cruffinsmuffin I probably don’t wash the soft furnishings enough. My cleaner will regularly Fabreze the items, but maybe I need to get a proper wash sorted.

I have an old house, so good ventilation to stop damp. Weekly washing of pet beds. Making sure carpets dry out quickly when washed. Making sure drainage is maintained, so you don't get the smells coming up through the sinks.

All of the above but I have just swapped from Febreze type fabric freshners to homemade essential oils spray (2 parts water, 1 part rubbing alcohol from Amazon and 10 drops or so of essential oil mix) and it is so much nicer/better. Lasts longer too and you can play around with mixes. The Clean Mama website gives some nice options

Do you mean reed diffusers or those plastic plug in ones please? The plug in ones really don’t suit our decor so I am loathe to use them as they can be quite prominent. I’m yet to find a really good reed diffuser but if you say the Neom ones work, I’m very happy to give it a try!

Definitely windows open. I'd look into indoor air quality/pollution before buying scented things.

I definitely don’t have time to dust and mop daily and am very impressed you manage! But the bakhoor is a great tip, thank you.

I have a White Company diffuser in my hallway and people always say my house smells nice. They do loads of different ones. I like Verveine (lemon verbena).

People always comment on my house smell and I'm afraid I do cheat and use Rituals sticks in oil

Everything clean- skirting boards, window sills and soft furnishings seem to be missed the most. Curtains and cushion covers washed, lampshades dusted, etc. A clean smelling room often comes from laundry detergent and cleaning products, you don't have to use zoflora and febreeze for that. Essential oil diffusers/wax melters (soy ones best). Fresh flowers and pot pourri with floral essential oils are nice.

The Aqua di Parma diffuser is lovely it is expensive about £78 it lasts around 4 months. Just bought my second one. It's a beautiful citrusy Italian summer scent

Also there's one called aqua de elba I think it's also Italian - I first got one after smelling it in our hotel room in Florence. That's around the same price but I think it may be a a little bigger than the aqua di Parma

These Reed diffusers are really good, I love the rosemary one and they're not artificial smelling

https://valentte.com

Sorry posted too soon it's this

I have wax melts from village wax. My oh came home.yesterday and said it.smalls amazing in here.

Jo Malone reed diffuser.

I was given one as a present last year and it's still going. My living room smells lovely. They are expensive but I wouldn't hesitate to get another.

I definitely struggle with this and I know our house doesn't smell great. 3 young children (one in nappies) and 2 cats means it's a struggle to stay on top of the normal laundry/toys/cooking etc never mind washing pet beds and cushions and things. Now they're back at school I might get more of a chance.

Opening windows helps but it doesn't solve everything (plus our house is freezing).

Been following this with interest. My partner would shoot me if I bought a diffuser for over £70 😂 cheaper alternatives anyone ? I'm not a fan of incense.

Not the plastic plug in ones from the shops, they give me a headache!

The neom ones are both stick ones and electric ones - the electric ones are my fave. You put water in and a few drops of essential oils and it diffuses it into the air in this adorable little steam stream! They're really effective and don't smell artificial in any way because they're essential oils.

I find they tie in with my decor too, there's lots of different branded ones that will match your home styling choices!

I polish with a simple can of spray, a couple of times a week in different areas - keeps the dust down.

Then have windows open with doors so that fresh air circulates.

Clean the loo with chemicals twice a week to make sure no bathroom smells linger

I suppose a floral/vanilla type scent?

Something citrusy is nicer like petitgrain in a diffuser. I find vanilla sickening!

Be careful spraying essential oils around if you have pets though.