Smell impacts everything – from our memory and dreams to our well-being and mood. Scents also affect our concentration, productivity, memory, and love.
Our sense of smell is thus critical to a well-lived life. Then why aren’t more of us paying attention to how our home smells? We spend over a third of our lives at home, but most of us don’t think about the sensory experience of our home design.
If you’re looking for how to keep your house smelling fresh, this article is for you. In this article, we walk you through six easy ways to keep your home smelling fresh.
1. How to Keep Your House Smelling Fresh – Start With the Bad
You may not even realize it, but there may be elements in your home causing the space to smell bad. Mold is one of the most significant factors contributing to a foul smell, in addition to must.
Do a thorough deep clean of your space to find the smelly culprit. Following are some familiar sources of bad smells in most homes:
- Leftover food: Old takeout boxes, as well as stains and spills, can build up odor over time and contribute to a foul odor
- Dirty laundry: Watch out for your laundry hamper and piles of contaminated clothing, as the built-up bacteria and sweat can cause smelly bacteria growth
- Dust: In addition to affecting the air quality in your home, built-up dust can also create a musty, stagnant smell
- Pets: Watch out for pet accidents and fur, as a build-up of these can cause mildew and mold, which adds to the foul smell
Once you have these essential bad smells sorted, you’ll be ready to add healthy ways to keep your house smelling fresh.
2. Open Some Windows
The best way to keep your house smelling fresh (not to mention the cheapest) is to crack open a window. You’ll be surprised at how much of a difference this practice makes.
Opening a window lets in all the fresh air and wind, which circulates and removes and existing bad smells in the space. For example, windows let in air, which eliminates lingering cooking and food smells. They are also effective in bathrooms and rooms where there’s painting or renovating happening.
3. Begin With Neutralizing
Some people try to find powerful scents to mask the bad ones. This is a flawed strategy to adopt if your home isn’t smelling relatively as fresh as it needs to. The old smells will mix with the new solid perfume to create an unseemly mixture.
Instead, we recommend using an odor neutralizer that sucks up old odors without adding a scent. Some examples of this are activated charcoal filters, which suck odors out and purify the air.
4. Go DIY!
You don’t always need to opt for top-of-the-line perfumes and scented products. If you’re looking for tricks to keep your house smelling fresh, why not go DIY? Here are some DIY hacks that will transform your home:
- Mix cornstarch, rubbing alcohol, vinegar, and essential oils for a fabric refresher
- Mix coffee with baking soda to freshen up musty closets and drawers
- Add essential oil drops to your fireplace or furnace to diffuse the scent throughout the space
These simple and budget hacks go a long way in making your space smell clean. Not all perfumes need to be expensive!
5. Deal With Moisture
Moisture will be one of the biggest obstacles to your fresh and clean home. That’s because mold and mildew love damp surfaces and areas! This, in turn, can create a humid air with a musty smell that’s difficult to get rid of.
How do you know if you have a high humidity house? Well, you can use a hygrometer to test humidity levels in each room. Anything above 60% is a moisture-ridden space, which will likely need a humidifier.
Humidifiers help remove the trapped pollutants and foul odors in the space. The air will instantly feel less stuffy and more clear, which is an indicator that your space is on the way to smelling really good!
If a humidifier is outside your budget, find affordable moisture-absorbing products such as sponges or towels. These can go a long way in reducing the humid air.
6. Opt for Beautiful, Unique Scents
We saved the best advice for last – perfumes. Scents allow you to get creative with your home and can be an instant mood booster. Pick a scent you enjoy to feel a sense of relaxation, luxury, or energy – whatever you’re in the mood for.
The best part about picking out a scent is that it can become your unique signature. Thus it is a great way to show off your personality. Shop around for fragrances that speak to you.
For bedroom scents, we recommend deeper aromas with notes of papyrus, cardamom, and musk. AromaTech’s Santal is an excellent example of the ideal bedroom scent. We recommend going with lighter, fresher scents for living rooms and common areas, with notes of citrus, berries, and mango.
Ultimately, there is no one answer for scents, so play around with different perfumes until you find your favorite.
Get Smelly for a Relaxing Home Experience
We hope this article helps you keep your house smelling fresh in the future!
Our olfactory sense affects so much of our wellness and day-to-day experience that it is a no-brainer that we should design our homes to smell good. A house that smells clean and relaxing has the potential to transform your life and happiness.
What are you waiting for? Now that you know how to keep your house smelling fresh be sure to implement some of our advice.
Explore our site for more informative tips and tricks on a range of topics.
