apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Two thoughts on this:
1. Wouldn't citrus peels quickly rot and create a quite unpleasant scent? (not to mention attract fruit flies)
2. TEA! Open tea bags (peppermint and chamomile are my favorite) and pour contents into pretty glass dishes. The leaves not only emit a pretty yet unsweet smell, they absorb foul odors throughout your home. This works particularly well in the bathroom.

There is nothing like a real fire!!

um, if your friends are allergic to scented candles, i'm certain they'd find scented and shredded perfume ads even worse. trust me on this, nothing says "nausea" like a perfume strip in a magazine.

because i am extremely sensitive to perfumes, i suggest soy candles scented with natural essential oils. not only are the natural scents less offensive, soy candles pollute far less.

My advise as a long time allergy sufferer and scent-burning aficionado- Burn good quality candles- bee or soy wax with natural scents from essential oils (i.e. not java vanilla latte or pumpkin spice). Stick with 1 or 2 clean scent! Burn high quality japanese incense like Baieido, which uses REAL sandalwood and spices or Snow Lion (Tibetan) which is blended from REAL herbs. Use incense that has food grade ingredients and has a REAL world scent- not an invention of the perfume industry. Use organic essential oils (I use divine essences from Montreal) that are sustainable and organic and put them in your humidifier or heat diffuser. Resin incense produces lots of smoke but can actually help allergies- Frankincense cleanses the air if you have the flu, we always burn it when sick.

I've got to agree with a previous commenter, I don't mind a regular candle but those magazines perfumes drive my sinuses CRAZY. I would imagine a lot of people sensitive to candles would be sensitive to those too.
I made a diffuser for the bathroom, with a glass bottle, some 'Mrs. Myers' Lemon Clean Day Soap' the lemon verbena scent, and used a couple bamboo skewers as diffusing rods. Just flip them over whenever you need to freshen the room. The smell is fresh, clean and all natural.

Reed diffusers - you can get them anywhere dirt cheap.

Does anyone know where that green table comes from?

Please no perfume ads!
I cannot tolerate any artificial scents, and natural candles with essential oils are a godsend.

I have a little slatkin candle from B&BW in balsam that my husband and I LOVE. We keep it in our bathroom medicine cabinet, lid off, and rarely light it, but it keeps the room very lightly scented like Christmas trees :P

...but I have to say the best smells (particularly this time of year) are from baking!

I'm looking for something exactly like the green table as well. I need a c-table where the top can be swung out of the way. Looks like the green table has that function. Thanks in advance!

We use a little distilled water with a drops of essential oils in it. Place in a spray bottle and use to freshen linens, curtains, or just spray in the air (helping to humidify as well). Another favourite is to warm coffee beans in the oven and then put in small glass bowls and place around the house.

In cold weather if you're having guests over, make mulled wine or mulled cider. The house smells nice, and you have a warming drink to offer your friends.

If you're decorating for fall or winter with evergreen boughs, pine cones, or dry or fresh eucalyptus, these will definitely also bring their own spicy scents.

In general, if expecting allergic guests, I steer clear of all man-made scents -- they're much likelier to cause a reaction than essential oils, spices, or tinctures from plants.

Real beeswax candles. They don't need to have any additional scents in them -- the beeswax alone smells divine!

I can't believe you would fry onions just to fake people into thinking you'd cooked something from scratch.

I spy a packet of McVitie's digestives. YUUM.

Wish I knew about the table, but I suspect it's a UK thing, which I am not.

outonalimb -- I ditto you -- beeswax candles leave a wonderful mellow scent without being overpowering.

Maybe not shredded perfume samples—scents like that can be painful to sit in a room with. I'm a fan of the fire, baking, cooking and garbage disposal methods. I also like the smell of recently-brewed coffee, but that might just be me.

Japanese incense is very light and more than tolerable for people with allergen sensitivities (like me); the Nippon Kodo co. has a non-traditional line that has food scents that are amazing (a chocolate/coffee scent called Paris Cafe is my favorite).

I would be doing all those other things to cover up a fried onion smell.

1. that prom dress spam is amazing!

2. i have recently discovered tuberoses at my local farmer's market. i really hope no illegal immigrants are picking them for horribly low wages because i can't help but buy them every week, the natural perfume is SO amazing. a couple stems in the living room and a couple in the bedroom, and our house smells amazing!

I'm as amazed as most here seem to be at the idea of using magazine perfume strips. Those are the bane of the magazine industry. When they find a way to scent the internet, we're in big trouble!

My grocery store sells those country-style cinnamon brooms for decoration/scent. I put it in the bathroom and the smell lasts a few months.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who balked at the idea of using perfume strips from magazines. I'm really sensitive to scents (strong perfumes are one of my migraine triggers), and the first thing I do when I buy a magazine is rip those horrid things out and put them in the garbage can outside--I can't stand even having them in the trash can inside!

the article already mentioned my favorites (lemons in the garbage disposal, cinnamon & spices on the stove) but i also LOVE the smell of cedar or other woodsy branches. evergreen branches smell amazing...refreshing, clean, cozy, warming. it's everything you could want! :)

I fill a small stainless steel bowl with water and a few drops of essential oil (usually orange, cedar, sandalwood, lavender, lemon- nothing too pungent) on one or two radiators in the house. It smells glorious.

Marce, firstfriday:

I just saw this table mentioned in another AT post:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/tables-dining-occasional/adjustable-small-tables-from-pb-teen-047382

It looks like it's Jasper Morrison's NesTable:

http://www.vitra.com/en-gb/office/products/nestable/overview/

Unfortunately for me, it's far from inexpensive...

I would try a Scentsy Warmer. There is no flame (a warmer uses a low-wattage light bulb) and the wax doesn't evaporate into the air so there is less risk of a conflict with allergies. The wax also doesn't exceed body temperature so there is no burn risk to your pets or children.

You can find out more HERE

I don't know why the link (above) didn't work.
www.marymiddleton.scentsy.us

Ikea makes a similar "laptop" table for really cheap... it's called the "dave". I used mine to death. It's certainly not as pretty as the green one, though...