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.

I use Chapter Organics reed diffusers. They last for absolutely ages, like 4-6 months, so are well worth the money imo. I’ve got some candles too, just having the lids off can leave a nice subtle scent in the room, and they don’t give me a headache.

I am of a fan of open windows and having bedding changed weekly and keeping on top of regular cleaning and washing of things like throws/ cushions etc
I know two people who do not change bedding often and do not open windows and you can really smell it if you have to go to their toilet upstairs.

Aldi number 4( pear and freesia) or number 11 ( think it's peony?). Nicer than Jo Malone, and longer lasting. They don't often have them in stock so snap them up if you see them!

I love fragrances around my home and have lots of reed diffusers and candles but the quickest and cheapest way I keep a room smelling fresh is popping some if your favourite fabulosa or zoflora disinfectant onto cotton pads and wiping my window frames on inside (upvc) then hiding the pad behind my radiators. In winter when the CH goes on the smell intensifies but pads need replacing more often…..it’s a game changer!!

I agree with keeping doors/windows open when you can but how do you keep the damn flies out at this time of year ?? Bloody things are everywhere.

Windows open for fresh air is a big one. We have an open plan downstairs and one thing we did when we had house viewings on was to put a pot on to simmer gently with sliced citrus (oranges and lemons) and some spices (cloves, cinnamon sticks, star anise). Made the house smell lovely and inviting, didn't take long to work and you could reuse the mixture for a few days.

We have windows open and I try to wash soft furnishings often. I like these reed diffusers if anyone is looking for a cheaper option https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/prices-open-window-reed-diffuser/431482-311120-311121?gbraid=0AAAAADnhuuVTHrYB3aL8pQPdLwgIMRPy&gclid=CjwKCAjw55GmBhBIEiwA5QSMxHjWM7OzzU6BWpGX3xiHJLmdwYuL0ymsEtNl6ZdYMPXWTWKvddjoBhoCDXEQAvDBwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

@Lakeyloo net curtains is the secret to keeping flies out but they’re not fashionable anymore.

Aldi Hotel Collection reed diffusers. I was highly sceptical about reed diffusers until I visited a pal and her house smelt lovely. I have one upstairs and one downstairs. Usually last 8 weeks.

Agree the main things are to air whole house by opening windows and doors, wash soft furnishings more than once a year, and change bed linen weekly.

I know you said not candles etc but short of permanently baking some bread / baking a cake / having lots of flowers around I'm not quite sure how you would get that without a little extra help.

House is clean and we always have the windows and doors open when it's fine. We currently have a bumper crop of sweat peas growing so you do get wafts of those in the living room which is lovely.

But I do like the odd scented candle, as long as it's not sickly / sweet / artificial smelling and not too strong. I'm very picky on what I do and don't like.

A very personal thing but my absolute favourites are: Skandinavsik Skog (very much a winter smell though) it's glorious, smells like sticking your head in the Christmas tree / a walk through a pine forest. Skandinavisk Hav or Ö - fresh and light, Hav smells like the sea. Beauty Pie Rèves d'Eze (beautiful summery smell, smells just like basil and mint) and Beauty Pie Leather, Violet Leaves and Labdanum (hard to describe, definitely wintery, like I imagine a sexy Scandinavian hotel would smell).

@IdealisticCynic whatever else you do, just try to change the scent of laundry liquids/freshners/diffused etc on a regular basis, as it’s very easy and quick to go ‘nose blind’. That’s when you can no longer discern the nice scents you’ve used and you can feel your home doesn’t smell nice, yet visitors find the smell quite over powering! Change the smell and give your nose and brain something new to register.

Flat cats mesh panels that Velcro round the windows. Bought two to stop the cats getting out then bought more to stop the flies getting in!

Lots of ideas I agree with.

I don't like synthetic fragrances- important to

Open windows daily.
Wash throws/rugs/cushion covers regularly.
If I need to clear odours, cooking etc I make a simmer pot. Throw in whatever is handy- to a small amount of water and simmer for 20 minutes or so.
I use cinnamon, cloves, citrus peel, lavender, fresh rosemary, rose petals, anise.

Start by preventing bad smells. Otherwise you're just trying to mask them and you end up with a fug. Empty all your bins every day or two (particularly in the summer), empty litter trays, have a really good extractor fan fitted in your kitchen — particularly if you're open plan. Find ways of keeping any smelly waste (nappies, paper or plastic used to wrap fish, onions and garlic trimmings/ peel) outside. Sniff kitchen cupboards. There is nothin smellier than rooting potatoes or veg. Cook anything really smelly outside or in the futility room with the back door open and the door to the rest of the house firmly closed. Keep the microwave in the utility room, too. You don't need a cooker, you can buy a plug-in hotplate from Ikea:

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/tillreda-portable-induction-hob-1-zone-white-70493503/

Wash the place down as advised by others. Clean drains and traps in the kitchen and bathroom. Clean the inside and outside of the loo and the floor around it. Wash the walls around the loo if you have men and boys in the household. This is why: it's scary:

https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/splashback-study

Hire a carpet cleaner and clean the carpets and upholstered furniture. Check animal bedding and wash if required. Open windows, even when it's cold, to allow fresh air in and smells out. This is particularly important if you live in a highly insulated modern house designed to be draught-proof. You're often just sitting there in a swamp of stale air, cooking and pet smells — and then adding chemicals and perfume to try to counter the pong.

You can use an air purifier:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/air-purifier-reviews/g22866172/best-air-purifiers/#product-47eee12f-cce8-407a-a64c-548cacad4de5

Or if you have serious money, invest in an MVHR system, which removes the smelly, damp warm air from your rooms, brings in air from outside and uses the heat from the old air to warm it up, then circulates it around the house so that every room feels as if you're breathing fresh air — which you are.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/t-magazine/best-incense.html

My house smells lovely. I achieve this scent with piles of horsey equipment, preferably which he has trodden on/weed on/sweated all over. My car also shares this aroma.

I'd like my house to smell like a nice hotel room, in fact I actually bought some of those stick things that I had smelt in a very fancy restaurant loo in Portugal. My bathroom still doesn't smell of it.

so I've just accepted that my house will always smell of cats and horses

Although actually it smells really nice right now as I have just roasted a chicken

Bake something delicious, that always makes the house smell nice.

Open widows daily, clean regularly, polish wood furniture and floors with beeswax.

Agree with you - hate zeflora scent boosters ect. Three dogs here so i tend to hoover nearly every day. I have some vacuum scent things from HG and put them into the hoover bag. Also open windows doors ect when i can. Also use neutradol carpet freshener when hoovering, the one especially for animal smells. Floor washed twice a week. If it can be washed in the dishwasher it goes in , dishwasher cleaned out every month aswell. Bins empty regularly and washed. Keep dust down. I get my carpets washed every year, being doing it for years. Wash cushions etc regularly. I like candles coming into winter, Rituals and Aldi favorites, get Neom and Jo Malone as presents they are fab

I’d like to get an oil diffuser. What’s the nicest essential oil to use for a fresh, clean smell?

I keep the windows open all the time

My old neighbours used to have a plug In air freshener and their house always smelt gorgeous and inviting.

I did buy a plug in which I do like but I never use it because I like to smell nothing at all just fresh air

I wouldn’t hire a carpet cleaner again. We got one from a well known diy chain and the carpet stank for days after, they obviously don’t check the previous person has cleaned it before returning which you’re supposed to.

I also keep my cat's litter tray outside in the back garden for her to use during the day. I only bring it in to the house overnight after I've cleaned it & then put it outside in the morning. My house doesn't smell of the contents of a cat's litter tray. People are surprised that I have a cat, they often comment that my house doesn't smell of cats.

@Hallionflossie wouldn't hire a carpet cleaner. I get a company in to do it. they come with three men and clean every carpet rug I have plus sofa for about 300e. excellent job.