10 Nice-Smelling Products to Spruce up Your Home
Notice how every luxurious hotel lobby has a signature scent? That’s because fragrances send a distinct message and affect your mental state. Much like how you’ll scrunch up your nose at a whiff of garbage, a pleasant aroma is scientifically proven to impact your mood, well-being, and even work capacity. You likely know that lavender in the bedroom helps with sleep, and citrus is a good option to energize a home office space. But how do you sort out all the other scents throughout the house?
These are the top 10 most searched scents for the home on Google: eucalyptus, fresh linen, fireplace, white tea, mimosa, cedar, bamboo, lemon, pine, and lilac, shares Jenny Lee, lead data analyst at Google Trends. And here’s how you can infuse each of these scents into your space, along with nice-smelling product recommendations.
1. Wash dishes with eucalyptus.
Lemon-scented soaps may be the default for a kitchen, but why not change it up by adding the calming scent of eucalyptus? The Therapy Clean sea salt and eucalyptus dish soap has a delicate herbal, yet perky, quality to it that isn’t too jarring. Plant-based ingredients like basil leaf, cedarwood, and tangerine are supporting players in this cleaner.
2. Have fresh linen for the guest room.
A little goes a long way with L’Avant Collective Fresh Linen laundry detergent. I first discovered the company when testing out their hand soap and Aera diffuser. With the fresh linen laundry detergent, you can up the ante on hosting by turning regular bedding into something out of an executive suite. The delicate fragrance gives the entire room an airy feel. All that’s left is to leave little chocolates to place on your guests’ pillows.
3. Create a fireplace feel in the basement.
Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace Diffuser is your secret to turning a ho-hum basement into a speakeasy. The woody, subtly spicy notes come from pink pepper and clove oil and chestnut, and it has just the right amount of orange flower and vanilla to give your space an air of sophistication. If you’re lucky to have a bar down there, place the apothecary-inspired container on the back shelf as a decorative element.
4. Have white tea in the bathroom.
Candles in the bathroom are always a good idea, but especially if they smell like a bouquet. Rifle Paper Co. Jardin de Paris soy candle is fragrant, even when not lit, leaving a trace of white tea, peony, gardenia, and sandalwood. Nestle the rose-hued glass vessel with the iconic Rifle florals next to the bathtub for the ultimate spa experience.
5. Enjoy mimosa in the sunroom.
Sabon, the natural skincare company known for its body scrubs and lotions, is taking their products into the home space. The limited-edition Aroma Reed Diffuser Mimosa Tea is all about summer and belongs in a natural light-drenched room like a lanai or a sunroom.
6. Clean with cedar in the kitchen.
Leave it to Courteney Cox, who played chef and cleaning enthusiast Monica Gellar on Friends, to upgrade your kitchen. And the actor now has a home line. The Homecourt Kitchen Trio in Cece (which contains a surface cleaner, dish soap, and hand wash) is particularly enticing in the culinary space. Don’t blame us if you can’t stop cleaning countertops with the cedarwood, sweet cardamom, and cinnamon formula.
7. Spritz bamboo all over the living room.
Whether you’re living with pets or teens, this Poo-Pourri Air + Fabric Spray in Bamboo Rain is your BFF. All you have to do is spray it on curtains, carpets, and couches and the entire space will smell fresh and welcoming. Spritz all over, and the combo of bamboo, jasmine, and grass will do the rest.
8. Clean with lemon in the playroom (or any other messy space).
Perhaps people are hardwired to associate the scent of lemon with cleanliness, but anyone who has walked into a citrus-scented room knows it’s clean. That’s why Mrs. Meyer’s All-Purpose Cleaner Spray in Lemon Verbena is a go-to for playrooms. The lemon peel oil shines with every spray (which you can also get as a concentrate). And you know you’ll have to spray everything — from toys to surfaces — as kids truly mar it all.
9. Smell pine in the home office.
Evergreen fragrances can and should be used year-round. When paired with spicy notes like cardamom and pepper, it turns into quite a sophisticated fragrance. The Fernweh Pine & Fir Balsam Scented Soy Candle is soothing, yet will keep you on your toes as you WFH. One reviewer wrote that it made him “feel like you’re outdoors, surrounded by beautiful pine trees, just in your home.”
10. Relax with lilac in the bedroom.
The lavender in the bedroom is so predictable. Lilac, on the other hand, is just as good — if not better — at setting up your sense of relaxation. Cue: the Pura Smart Fragrance Diffuser, which allows you to control two home fragrances via an app. Cater to all your needs by dialing down the intensity of the scent, or switching between the two. Tap into Caswell-Massey Lilac fragrance, inspired by the New York Botanical Garden, as you lounge all day in bed on a Sunday. Or perhaps turn to Pure Placid Summer by the Lake, a subtle scent that calms before bedtime with lilac blossoms, white freesia, hyacinth, and sheer musk.