Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Every homeowner knows the basics. Keep the lawn mowed, the gutters clear and the appliances serviced regularly. Years of running a household can build a lot of great habits of responsible homeownership, even for individuals who rent. But an often overlooked factor that can help a house feel like a home is not just a tidy interior and handsome exterior. One of the best ways to make your home your own is to make it smell the way you want it to.
Every home has a smell. Depending on your lifestyle, your habits and behaviors will influence the way your house smells, as will the number of pets and additional residents that live in the household. Any pet owner knows that even the most beloved animals have their own stinky smells, and the more people that live in a home, the more variety of fragrances, both pleasant and disagreeable, also live there. While the occasional stink may not be entirely preventable, there are several ways to prevent your home from smelling overall like old sneakers and musty cat litter trays. Here are some ways to keep your home smelling great.
The first step is a good cleaning routine. Scoop the cat boxes, do the dishes, take out the trash, and bathe the dogs. Think about the areas of your home that might naturally have a build-up of unpleasant odor, and tackle those odors at the source! While you are working, try not to overlook smelly areas that are adjacent to these tasks. For example, what good is bathing Fido when the dog-bed he sleeps on each night smells like months or years of doggy-escapades (seriously, when's the last time you cleaned that thing?!)? A few good naps and your freshly-cleaned pooch will be smelling like his old, dirty self in no time. And what good is doing the dishes if you don't sanitize the sink and garbage disposal afterwards? Sure, the sink may be empty, but the drain is still full: of smells! No one wants their home smelling like a to-do list, so be sure to consider all the unfinished items on yours before you start to worry about the next step.
Once your house is refreshed, consider the lingering scent of the home as a whole. Do you still smell the stale remnants of last night's onion-glazed salmon dish? Did those burned scrambled eggs from the other morning stick around too? Did the mountain of laundry you just washed and put away leave a lingering smell in the laundry room? Even after the offending items are cleared away or cleaned, their smell can remain, trapped within the walls of your freshly-tidied home. If the weather is pleasant, consider opening up the windows and letting in some fresh air. If that's not an option, circulate the stale air by turning on a ceiling fan or adjusting your thermostat to get the air in your home moving. This will help to displace old, stinky air, and replace it with air that smells more neutral.
While these two steps are often enough to get the average home smelling fresh, some homeowners may choose to add a pleasant fragrance to their home. For those wanting more of a natural fragrance, slow-simmering a pot of citrus, mint, cinnamon and other spices can make your home smell sweet without using commercial home sprays. The presence of fresh flowers can also increase the natural fragrance of a home.
For those who enjoy stronger fragrances in their home, incense, scented candles and essential oil diffusers can quickly disperse the aroma of their choice throughout the household. It is important to only use these commercial fragrances in the way they were intended to be used, to ensure safety of everyone in the home. All homeowners should be aware of which fragrance methods are safe for animals and people that live in the home, and should never use DIY “hacks” that have not been deemed safe, like using laundry soap in wax burners, etc. Be mindful of sensitivities and allergies when selecting a fragrance to use, and remember that, when it comes to adding smells to your home (yes, even good smells), less is more. A hint of fresh fragrance can help a house feel comfortable, fresh and clean, and can help you to take a deep breath and say, “It's good to be home!”