Setting a Mood in Your Apartment with Scent
Have you ever walked into someone’s apartment and felt instantly nauseated because of a smell? Whether the odor comes from left over cooking smells, bad perfume or mold; a bad smell can immediately put you in a bad mood. Conversely, every time you smell cookies baking, you probably reflect back on a beautiful time in your past and, in that instant, you feel happy, peaceful and friendly. Smell is our strongest and most immediate sense, yet one that is often ignored. We tend to think about how our home looks and feels more than how it smells. By using scents, you can create a mood that welcomes guests, relaxes, energizes or comforts.
Before we examine the properties of the scents, how do you diffuse them in the air? The possibilities are endless. Some choices are air fresheners (sprays, oils, wall socket adapters that you can pick up at your local discount store), perfume, candles or potpourri. Beware of synthetic air fresheners, as they can affect individuals with allergies. There are a myriad of diffusers for essential oils available for purchase as well. Tea light diffusers work with a candle as a heat source to steam oils into the air. Similarly, electric models are available that serve the same purpose but without the flame. Light bulb rings fit over the bulb, the oil is dripped onto the ring and the heat from the bulb diffuses the scent through the room. For the die-hard, small electric fans and nebulizers diffuse scented steam into the air.
How you choose to scent your apartment will depend on the level of fragrance you want. For smaller apartments, avoid a strong scent that may be overpowering. Spray air fresheners tend to have a strong smell out of the can, but do not last long.
As we all know, we must never leave a lit candle burning when there is no one in the room. Apartment fires are more common that we wish to imagine and in some cases, landlords may not allow candle burning in the apartment at all. Light bulb rings are great for the smaller apartment. They release a subtle amount of scent but are steady as long as you have your light on. Nebulizers work well in dry environments as not only do they scent your home, but they also act as a humidifier.
Once you choose how you’ll scent your apartment then you’ll need to choose your scent. Remember, each person may experience a fragrance in a different way. Although the smell of egg nog may be reminiscent of glorious holidays from your past, your new significant other might attribute that scent to the time he/she drank a little too much at the company holiday party. You won’t be able to know everything about the personal remembrances of your guests but there are some safe bets for scenting your home.
Fragrances fall into several categories. Here, we’ll touch on some of the most popular categories, giving you examples of the types of aromas within each as well as some of the known effects of the scents.
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