By Larry Bilotti
Right up there with other factors like style and cleanliness, your home’s scent makes a huge first impression to guests. While the smell of freshly baked bread or fresh laundry is heavenly, sometimes we just want the place to smell nice without going through all of that effort. Before you resort to spraying store-bought air fresheners or lighting a scented candle, try these just-as-easy DIY tricks to freshen your home.
Let It Simmer
Dried potpourri injects a sweet and sometimes spicy scent to the room, but it also collects a fair amount of dust when left sitting in an open dish. Instead, recreate the magic over the stove top. Fill a small saucepan with water, add sliced lemons, oranges, and herbs, and simmer the recipe on low heat. Vary your favorite herbs, spices, and other fresh ingredients depending on your mood—or what you have on hand—and you can concoct a variety of aromas.
Blow Off Steam
For a little aromatherapy and an instantly spa-like shower, simply tie up a few sprigs of fresh fragrant herbs like rosemary, lemon balm, and thyme in the far corner where they won’t get wet. Whenever someone takes a hot shower, the steam and humidity will activate the essential oils in the herbs. Swap in eucalyptus sprigs, which can be found at most florists, if you’re feeling even more exotic.
Do Double Duty
Next time you’re changing your disposable furnace filter, take the opportunity to freshen the whole home with a light scent as well. A few drops of your favorite essential oil on the new filter will disperse throughout the entire house as air circulates, meaning both improved air quality and a pleasant lingering scent.
Vent A Little
The smell of clean laundry is one of the most pleasant household smells. By placing a few dryer sheets behind vents throughout the house, you can have that fresh-laundry aroma in every room—without the hassle of the chore. As the air flows through the vents, it will dry out the dryer sheets, so you’ll need to replace them every few weeks.
Just a Spritz
A wide variety of essential oils are available, from rosemary to vanilla, and from citrus to eucalypts. You can purchase a reed diffuser kit to spread your favorite scent, but a simple DIY room spray can achieve the same aromatherapy. Fill a small spray bottle with 4 ounces of water and 10 drops of oil, then spritz to freshen any space.
On a Roll
Next, bring that set of essential oils into the bathroom and add just a few drops to the cardboard tube inside your toilet paper roll (as well in those of the replacements, waiting in line for duty). When you or a guest unrolls in future, the fresh scent will come out and help cover up any less-than-pleasant odors.
Have Some Good Scents
Essential oil reed diffusers are easy to buy, but they’re just as easy to craft. Start with a small, short glass jar with a narrow opening at the top like a spice jar. (Alternatively, a small and narrow vase can also do the trick.) Fill the glass with ¼ cup safflower oil and a few drops of any essential oil, then arrange a handful of reeds through the narrow opening in the top. The wooden reeds will soak up the liquid at one end and disperse sweet smells from the other.
Shorten the work one step more and skip the jar: You can just dab a few drops of oil onto a lamp’s light bulb (one that’s cool and completely off) so that when you turn the light on, it heats the oil and doubles as a diffuser.
Down the Disposal
A well-used garbage disposal can cause a serious stench in your kitchen, but some citrus peel and baking soda or vinegar can freshen it up fast. Take a few minutes to make DIY refresher pods to toss into your disposal whenever it needs a fragrance boost
Vacuum Smells Away
Carpets can create an unpleasant odor, especially if you have pets. Vacuum up the sickly smells with a DIY deodorizer made with just two ingredients: baking soda and essential oils. Simply combine the ingredients, sprinkle the mixture on your carpet, and vacuum it up after a few hours. Your house will immediately smell sweet again without the chemicals and cost of store-bought carpet cleaners.
