A fresh, sweetly scented home is something that many of us women crave, often to the annoyance of the men in the household! Plug in air fresheners, scented candles and reed diffusers are flying off the shelves in stores, but how healthy are those chemicals for us? Not very, is the answer, and we should probably look to finding more natural methods of ensuring that our homes smell inviting all year round.
Keeping your dressers and drawers smelling sweet:
It worked for us centuries ago, so why shouldn’t it work now? Putting bundles of fresh smelling flowers and herbs such as lavender, rose petals or even cedar wood, into your drawers will do wonders for keeping whatever’s inside them, sweet and fresh. Take your favourite smelling flowers or herbs, wrap them in a piece of muslin cloth and tie the little bundle with string. Simply pop it into the recesses of your drawers, and leave it there until it’s no longer effective.
Freshly scented rooms:
It might seem like an old-fashioned approach, but potpourri will quickly, safely and cheaply help to make any room of your home smell fresh and clean. Don’t waste your money with shop bought potpourri, instead make your own from your favourite smelling flowers and herbs. Formulas for making this are available online, but provided you choose flowers and herbs that you like the scent of, you can’t go too far wrong. Put the mixture into a large vessel in the centre of the room for maximum effect.
If making potpourri is a little too much like hard work for you, you could of course purchase some scented candles or reed diffusers that are made from all natural, organic products.
Lifting stubborn odours from your kitchen:
Some dishes that we cook in our kitchens can leave a lingering aroma for many days, especially if you don’t aerate the room regularly, and there’s nothing worse than the smell of stale cooking to make a room feel dirty and uninviting. One natural and cheap way of eliminating such nasty whiffs is to drop a fresh stick of cinnamon into a saucepan filled with water, bring it to a simmer and leave it on the stove for half an hour or so. This cheap and easy tip will make your kitchen smell festive all year round!
Ensuring your bathroom smells fragrant:
Our bathrooms can quickly become smelly and since many don’t have windows in them where natural air can permeate, the nasty odours can linger and be embarrassing for you if your guests need to use it! We should go back to more traditional methods of freshening up our rooms by hanging a large, tied bundle of herbs such as lavender or mint on the back of the door, and allowing the natural sweet-smelling goodness to permeate the smells! Simply replace it when the herbs dry out and are no longer effective.
It doesn’t have to cost the Earth to keep your home smelling sweet, and it doesn’t have to damage the Earth either.