When people come over to our place, the first thing that they’ll say is,
” Your place is so cosy and it smells great.”
guests
The reason why they love to hang out in our home is cos it gives them that relaxed feeling of belonging and though it sometimes feels warm due to the equatorial heat, even with a fan on full blast or windows open wide, the home still feels “homey” and inviting.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to get your home to smell at least neutral not only for hygiene purposes but you won’t want a place that is stale-aired or one that stinks of pets and ” human daily life”.
We have entered many a homes that reek of wet towels ( in their living rooms) , pet dander and stale humidity. All because they just don’t want to air out their home. Which brings us to the first most simple hack on our list.
1.Airing out your home
Simple, yet so little people do this. And their reason is cos of kids and pets. Well, A ) why not put grills right? and B) Just watch out for them for like 30 mins or so. I think once a week for an active busy family is pretty alright for an hour of fresh air. Air it out when you’re doing the laundry or folding clothes or maybe when you’re cleaning your ceiling fan for the month.
Opening your windows will let fresh air in ( unless you live beside a construction site then don’t) and it also allows a good flow of energy circulating into your home.
The ideal time for this is early in the morning. The best sort of air and energy. Early like just before the sun is rising. Where the sky is still dim but lit at the same time. Perfect timing cos everyone might still be asleep and maybe they’ve all gone out for school or work. The temperature’s just right and there’s not much traffic as well. If you do worry about your pets, install a magnetic netting. You can always take it out when you have your windows closed.
2.Vanilla in the Villa
It’ll be nice to get vanilla pods though but I know it’s easier and more economical for the pocket to just get keep a vanilla extract bottle handy on site.
In an ovenproof dish, put in some vanilla extract and let it preheat in an oven for an hour. Your home will be smelling like the sweet smells of the pod and what a treat for the senses for guests who are coming. Baking cookies is also a nice way to make the whole house smelling like it’s a festive season.
3.Repurpose old perfumes
Here’s a good way to repurpose your old and unwanted perfumes or even the ones that doesn’t sit well with your skin or style and put them to work.
There must be tons of perfumes like these that are just laying around the house and not being used till they’re all dried up. Better to use the ones that are cheaper. You can even use up perfume gifts that people gave you and you don’t actually fancy the smell.
Spritz some onto a cotton ball and you can slip them into secret hiding places like on top of a curtain rail or even in your wardrobe drawers.
For me personally, I spritz them into my humidifier and let the machine do its thing. Simple and affective. I also reuse my old potpourri bags that have lost their scents and spray some perfume on it and voila!
4.Insanely sanitised
Ok so, I’m talking about those big spray bottles that’s been selling out at every corner and I know you most probably have one in the house ( since this Toyota Corona panoramic came about ). So if you are going to buy them, might as well get a sweet smelling one. Don’t get something too sterile smelling cos you don’t want to live in a place that smells like the hospital unless that’s your thing of course.
What I do is, I spray it on my sink and taps and wipe them down. I even use it as a quick refresher for the door area. On a dry cloth, spray some on it and wipe the door frame or you can directly spray it on the door frame and wipe it down. Instantly, the entrance will smell a little bit more bearable from all the smell of shoes and what not. If you have a gate ( Singapore homes) , then go ahead and sanitise your gate as well. Killing two birds with one stone by keeping your gate clean and smelling great when folks enter your home.
5. Essentially Oiled
I have a collection of essential oils from Young Living. I use essential oils almost everyday, so I love adding drops of lavender into my humidifiers. I also love the scent of frankincense and how it instantly makes me feel calm. The oil scents you use also makes a difference to how you want the space to feel. Lavenders are usually for evening time or sleep. I use the Melrose oil from Young Living for my lung ailments and it also smells so good at the same time. Peppermint to get up refreshed in the morning. Turn it on after you wake up and let it run while you take a shower.
If you don’t have one ( essential oil or humidifier), you can easily get these at any retail shops or online. Daiso, IUGA and Muji are the places to go get these.
Another way you can use essential oils is by dripping some oil onto cooled lightbulbs. When you switch it on, the heat from the bulb will help the oils to dissipate into the air.
6.Car Fresheners to the Rescue
So there’s this trick that my husband uses which I never thought about it myself. He brought me to the aisle with all the car products and I was like “Err…we don’t have a car. What are we doing here?”. He said that we could use the car freshener vent sticks and stick in our air-conditioning so that the scent can diffuse as it blows out the cold air for the room.
It was a good idea. So we used that as a cheap way to create a scent that flows throughout the house. He put it in all our ACs.
You can basically use any type of car freshener and hide it behind furniture, lamps or picture frames.
So if you have a car freshener laying around and collecting dust in its packet, take’em out and at least let it live its purpose. It’s just one of those things that you can use. Oh yeah, a great tip on this is, try not to get a typical car smell scent. You also don’t the house to smell like an actual insides of a car. HAHA.
7. Laundry softener refill packs a good punch
I love love love this hack cos let me tell you how awesome this smells. I put it in my shoe bag, in drawers and even in stinky cupboards that don’t get much air.
The magic comes from the pouch. It lets out this really strong scent of the laundry softener inside and it smells so awfully good. Do find the one enclosed and sealed like this pouch here. If you’re trying out other types of packaged refills, make sure that you can actually smell the scent of the softener as it is. We’re using this as a “potpourri bag” so it’s supposed to already have the scent without needing to pour it out.
Because you stayed till the end, I have a bonus one for you.
8. Stove pot potpourri
Let’s throw some slices of lemon, thyme , cardamom, star anise, a stick of cinnamon and cherries into a pot and see how that turns out. Slow cook it at medium heat and keep adding water as it boils down. Stove top potpourri recipes can be gotten anywhere online. But to make it easy for you, here’s a short list from Tastemade. You’re welcome.
If you have any other sweet smelling hacks that you personally use to make your house smell great, do share it in the comments below. We’d love to hear you out. There’s always many different ways to get things done and the beauty is in sharing it with the community.
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More love for you,
LM
Simplelifedaily 