Many of us have spent time making our house feel more like home — agonizing over the perfect paint colors, re-arranging furniture, and adding little decorative touches. But aside from lighting a seasonally-scented candle every once in a while, many people neglect to address the design element that can’t be seen.
Scent has a powerful ability to shape mood, trigger memories, and influence how a space feels. That’s the idea behind scentscaping — a growing home-design trend that uses carefully selected fragrances to create distinct atmospheres throughout the house.
The Inspiration
Scentscaping goes beyond lighting an occasional candle or using plug-ins to cover up unpleasant smells (although if anyone has the secret to making a house smell less like “dog,” I’m open to suggestions).
If we were to take our cues from fashion magazines and upscale hospitality, scentscaping is an intricate, fussy process, requiring the layering of scents throughout the home to establish definitive vibes for each room while creating a pleasant, comprehensive overall aroma.
For example, in a recent Vogue article, Franky Rousell, the founder of the international interiors firm Jolie, explained how they create bespoke scents for different spaces. “We think about it like sheet music,” Rousell said. “You have your base notes that carry you like a rhythm through your entire property. Then what you can really play with is the top note, that little flute. I love the fact it’s like this orchestral ensemble.”
Similarly, Brigette Romanek, founder of LA-based Romanek Design Studio (whose clients include Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyoncé) told Vogue she likes to “layer scents” to transform a room, integrating bright notes from fresh herbs with earthy candles.
The Science
First of all, we know that even mentioning Gwyneth Paltrow (what with her unabashed adherence to sometimes bizarre practices in the name of wellness) might make you dismiss the idea entirely, but scentscaping isn’t just a woo-woo fad for the wealthy.
Aromatherapy — the basis upon which scentscaping is built — has been used for mental, spiritual, and physical healing since the beginning of recorded history. Modern research, like that of the Harvard Brain Science Initiative, supports the fact that scent, emotions, and memory are inextricably intertwined.
For example, one scientific review of aromatherapy in Korea gathered numerous studies that showed how stimulating the olfactory senses (taste and smell) impact our brain functions. One study used electroencephalography (EEG) to map the different areas of the brain that lit up depending on different scents, showing they impacted the parts of our brain that control memory, thoughts, and emotions. Further studies elaborated on these findings, measuring aspects like how the chemical components of fragrances alter our natural brain frequencies — meaning different scents can cause us to feel tired, slow, or dreamy, while others can make us more wired and alert.
Furthermore, the comprehensive review found that “many studies have suggested that the olfactory stimulation of fragrances produces immediate changes in physiological parameters such as blood pressure, muscle tension, pupil dilation, skin temperature, pulse rate, and brain activity.”
How to Scentscape Your Home
Space-specific scentscaping can help you transition between different parts of your day. For example, if “you work from home, the line between work and rest time can easily blur,” Rousell explained in the Vogue article. “We need clear neurological cues to help our brains separate the two. Scent can help to signal the shift from focus to rest, from productivity to presence.”
It won’t be easy to scentscape on your own with the same precision of some snooty scent sommelier, but here are the basics to know before you begin:
The Fragrance Wheel
Scents are typically grouped into four primary families on the Fragrance Wsheel — floral, amber, woody, and fresh — which help to classify the dominant notes in fragrances. [You’ll note, if you click on the link, that some wheels still use the term “oriental” instead of amber, but that word has strong associations with “othering language,” per Merriam-Webster dictionary, so it’s best to avoid it.]
Over the course of your lifetime, you’ve likely noticed that you prefer certain scents over others; the wheel can be a helpful tool for describing and organizing those fragrances you’re naturally drawn to. (Perfumery websites often have the best descriptions of each category and sub-category, if you’re curious. And, if you’re unsure where to start, there are tons of scent personality quizzes you can find as well.)
Aromatherapy Basics
Next, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with some of the most common fragrances available in the form of candles and essential oils that can be used in diffusers, and what therapeutic effects they might have. Just as colors have psychological associations, certain smells will invoke different responses.
For example, lavender is well-known for its calming and soothing properties, with research showing that its scent can reduce stress, anxiety, and promote relaxation. On the other hand, citrus scents like lemon, orange, and grapefruit, are known for their uplifting and energizing effects. (You can find a decent aromatherapy/essential oil guide from Healthline, here.)
Establish Desired Vibes
Next, ask yourself how you’d like for each room of your house to make you feel. Typically, people tend to want areas like the living room and bedroom to have calming effects, and more vibrant vibes for places like kitchens and entryways.
Put It All Together
Once you’ve completed this exercise, you should have a decent understanding of what scents achieve which outcomes, and which ones you personally prefer. This should make it easier to create a scentscape for your home that will incorporate a variety of smells that won’t unpleasantly clash.
In general, if scents are adjacent (kindred), exactly opposite (complementary) or form a triangle on the Fragrance Wheel, they will naturally lend themselves to pleasing combinations. For example, even though lavender and citrus scents promote opposite reactions, they’re right next to each other (aromatic and citrus) under the Fresh Notes family, so you could safely have each smell in adjacent rooms without making too much of a stink.
Above all else, have fun with the concept. Play with different scents and experiment with how they make you feel in different rooms and at different times of day. Or, if you’d rather someone else do the legwork for you, you could opt for something like what the upscale candle company Earl of East offers, with their room-by-room guide for scentscaping (along with which of their candles would fit the bill.)
*Featured image courtesy of: VeraPetruk via Canva
