Before your guests even enter your home the smells and fragrances of your household leave an unassailable impression on them. Your home is your haven, your abode and keeping it smelling fresh does not need to be a difficult task.
Here are 8 quick and easy ways to ensure your apartment smells good:
1. The timeless ‘agarbatti’ – The age-old tradition of lighting incense during prayers and holy rituals has one great advantage – the perfect way to get your apartment to smell good. The greatest advantage of this is that you can choose from a host of fragrances, including strong or mild, floral or musky. To have a clean home, though you may choose to buy a trendy lattice-work ‘agarbatti’ stand that ensures you do not have ash all over the living room upholstery.
2. Deodorise naturally – Natural herbs and citrus fruits leave your home smelling sweet and fragrant without the need for the smoke that ‘agarbatti’ and other burnt incense leave behind. Make small pouches of dried flowers or herbs from your kitchen garden and hang them behind your curtains, leave them in your cupboards, or hide them under the cushions. This is a wonderful way to let you and your family to get a whiff of a very pleasant fragrance whenever you choose to air the rooms.
3. Paint additives – If you plan to invest in one of the new projects in Goregaon East or some other Mumbai neighbourhood, you may want to talk to your developer about adding fragrance additives to the paint that is used for the interiors. Not only does this neutralise the strong
“paint smell” or chemical odour, but also leaves your home smelling sweet and fresh for at least 6 months. This is also a great way to refresh your rooms if you decide to repaint your home before a festive occasion.
4. Natural oils – Natural oils are again an age-old way of keeping ourselves and our homes smelling sweet. These, however, are more often than not used in bath water or for massages. One great way to use them as home fragrances is to add a few drops in the water used to mop our homes. While many of us use phenyl or chemical cleaners, these do not leave a natural fragrance and do not do much by way of disinfectants as well.
5. Deodorising the kitchen – Cooking often gives off the strongest smells in the household and it is quite likely that your home will smell of the neighbour’s lunch as well. One of the best way to deodorise you kitchen in your 2BHK on Godhbunder Road, Thane, quickly is to leave a saucepan full of water on simmer for a long time. Add slices of citrus fruits, fresh aromatic herbs (like lavender, mint and basil), and small flowers like jasmine and rose petals in the water. The vapours will quickly remove any leftover garlicky or spicy smells in the kitchen.
6. DIY room freshener sprays – The one common concern that home owners have when using commercial room freshener sprays is the damaging effect of aerosol sprays on the ozone layer. The best way out is to work on a DIY recipe of a natural room freshener dispensed from a fine mist bottle. Combine 1/2 cup of distilled water with 1 tbsp of isopropyl alcohol or witch hazel and about 30 drops of your favourite essential oil and you have a natural room freshener ready.
7. Indoor plants are particularly good and all-natural air purifiers. There has been quite a bit written in magazines and websites these days about the fact that these plants release a lot of oxygen and clean up the pollen and other particulate matters that keep indoor air impure. These plants can also be great sources of fresh fragrance. Mint, basil, thyme, rosemary, and lavender can make great additions to your kitchen garden, keep your home smelling sweet, and provide you herbs when necessary. Plants like lilac, oleander, and jasmine are also great for balconies and sunny spaces.
8. Masking with baking – If you have guests coming over for a dinner party and you do not have much time to work on natural air fresheners, the best way to prepare for company and have your room smelling inviting at the same time is by baking. The smell of freshly baked cookies, cakes, and bread is a divine and irresistible one.
