Freshen up your home with these spring fragrances
4 Minute Read
The sky overhead may be as grey as the slush underfoot, but spring is on the way. While there’s no way to speed up the seasons, you can bring the scents of spring inside while you wait.
“Spring is the time of year when we’re driven to refresh our interiors. We have this pent-up energy,” says Toronto-based interior designer and author Kimberley Seldon.
When refreshing your décor, it’s essential to start with your sense of smell, according to Seldon. “For an interior to be supremely successful, you want to introduce all five senses,” she explains. She suggests selecting a lively, vibrant scent in a stylish room diffuser or essential oil that not only adds colour but also evokes an emotional response. “You want to create a whole, cohesive approach. Diffusers have a strong initial scent, but they have a way of unobtrusively blending into a room. When dealing with a perfume product, you want a whisper, not a shout.”
After choosing a scent, Seldon advises envisioning the colours and patterns it inspires. This could involve adding new design elements like boldly patterned curtains or cushions or simply incorporating splashes of colour with vases, flowers, or bed linen. “People are asking for vibrant colour—by the time we’re in March and April, we’re really craving it,” she notes.
Wondering how to bring spring inside with scents and colours? Here’s how.
The scent: Lavender and juniper
What it evokes: A sense of calm. Lavender changes how we feel by increasing the alpha waves in the back of the head, which is associated with being in a more relaxed state.
How to use it: Blending lavender with the piquancy of juniper reminds Seldon of soft French blue, white and natural, woody tones in a kitchen. “Considering that 85 per cent of Canadians have neutral kitchens,” she notes, “an effortless way to add colour is by getting a new set of dishes, such as a lovely French blue. The greenery and the touch of purple lavender stand out.” Splashes of colour can also be added with crisp grey-blue or lavender tea towels, table linens, or decorative table-toppers.
The scent: Cotton and Italian mandarin
What it evokes: Energy. Citrus is a wonderfully fresh scent, but it also triggers a response in the face’s trigeminal nerve, which makes you feel more alert.
How to use it: Linen and orange should go in a bedroom, says Seldon, because it’s our place of calm, quiet and peace. “You want touches of luxury, like beautiful sheets, a beautiful vase with a sprig of orange blossoms and even something small, like a piece of artwork. You don’t have to have a lot of colour to make a big impression.”
The scent: Fuji apple and cardamom
What it evokes: Relief from pain and anxiety. In some studies, the smell of green apples reportedly reduced the duration of migraines and anxiety and made space seem larger. Plus, scents like green apple, banana, and peppermint can control appetite because they trigger the mechanics of sensory-specific satiety.
How to use it: Apple and cardamom are a perfect fusion of masculine and feminine, says Seldon. In an interior, that means marrying feminine shapes (globes, curves and softer lines) with strong angles. In particular, strong lines and colours feel stable and reassuring. Add pops of green apple with burnt orange and brown in small architectural items.
The scent: Pineapple and mangosteen
What it evokes: Positive body perception. The tang of tropical fruits like pineapple and mangosteen is reported to have an interesting effect on how men perceive women. One study found it made women seem slimmer as if they were wearing vertical lines. Does it have the same effect on women viewing men? Not at all. Women tend to have more accurate assessments of weight.
How to use it: Adding lively citrus colours breathe life into any room, especially in the gloom of late winter. For Seldon, “it’s exciting when a client asks me to introduce yellow” in drapery, accents and even furniture.
Five tips to re-energize your home
Inject a room with colour and patterns using pillows, accent vases and small, inexpensive architectural pieces or artwork.
Edit your space. If you want to increase the perception of space you have, trim the visual clutter. If you no longer even notice your items, it might be time to store them away or let them go.
Add an accent wall. You may not want to buy up litres of paint at Dulux (although CAA Members save up to 25%!), so pick a gorgeous shade that makes you happy and covers an accent wall. Alternatively, lean into the wallpaper trend taking the decor world by storm and paper a powder room.
Paying special attention to how clean your windows are. Let the sun shine through clean and sparkling windows.
Engage the senses. Whether you light incense, a diffuser, or a candle, go easy. Incense can come on strong, so for a lighter hint of spring, try plugging in essential oil diffusers.
Save on home fragrances
