How to Make Your House Smell Like Christmas
It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas round at ours. Here’s how to fill your home with festive scents to kick off the season
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How to Make Your House Smell Like Christmas
It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas round at ours. Here’s how to fill your home with festive scents to kick off the season
By: Charlotte Olby
With a whisper of Christmas in the air, and cosy season in full flux, it’s only right that we’re spending a little more time getting ready for darker nights and social plans moving indoors. Hunkering down, if you will. And we don’t know about you, but nothing sets the scene for the most wonderful time of year better than filling your space with the smell of Christmas. Plus, scientifically speaking, scent is linked to memory – just catch the subtlest hint of a fragrance and it’ll immediately bring back memories from Christmases past: mulled spice, clementines, gingerbread, pine, cinnamon… scent really can conjure the very best feelings. So, how do you make your house smell like Christmas? We've got lots of ideas for making your home smell unmistakably festive this season – from simple switches to add into your cleaning routine or
lighting a candle to illuminate the day from first light to nightfall – these tips are sure to make your home smell just as good as it looks, so grab a mug of cocoa and read on.
Read More: All the Gifts to Buy Yourself this Christmas
1. Deck the Halls with Foliage
Try your hand at foraging for some foliage like pine and fresh cut ever-green to bring organic décor, texture and a straight-from-the-forest-floor fragrance indoors. Layer a garland atop your mantel, embellish wrapped gifts with sprigs (don’t forget cinnamon sticks) or even add bundles of rosemary, sage or lavender to your bathroom to infuse with the steam and turn your self-care ritual into a scented event.
Read More: What's Your Scent Sign? Read Liberty's Zodiac Perfume Guide
2. Freshly Baked Goods
Who can resist the smell of fresh gingerbread at Christmas? Sticking in a batch of cookies just before house viewing is a tried-and-true tactic that estate agents have employed for years. Why? Because scent is nostalgic and the smell of baked goods helps to spread a feeling of warmth and childlike comfort and joy.
3. Flickering Candlelight
Of course the easiest and most obvious way is to simply light a Christmas candle. From evocative aromas of seasonal spices and warming wood to those that smell of orange and figs, whatever your preference there are so many lovely winter candles to choose from. Light one or try scent-scaping, aka the art of fragrance layering, with two or three scents and/or a diffuser to create a cosy atmosphere.
4. Mist a Room Fragrance
Make a room fragrance work harder by spraying your radiators down before you heat them up. The gradual warmth will diffuse the scent around the room and make it linger longer. Entertaining guests? Spritz down table linens and napkins with a festive spray scent to allow a subtle fragrance to settle between courses.
5. Light the Fire
If you’re lucky enough to have a fireplace or log burner at home, there is no better time than Christmas to get a roaring fire going each evening. Not only does it provide warmth and ambience, but will fill your house with a relaxing smoky fragrance.
Read More: Homemade Christmas Present Ideas Your Loved Ones will Cherish
6. Hang a Wreath
Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a wreath to hang on your door/mantel/above your bed. They welcome guests to your home, envelope your space in festive scents (think dried oranges and cinnamon sticks) and of course, spread Christmas cheer. And the good news is, we’ve recruited Wild at Heart to teach you how to make your own.
Follow the TutorialRead More: Step into Christmas with Liberty's Festive Fabrics for 2023
7. Spruce Up Your Cleaning
For any expectant overnight holiday guests, consider enlivening your spare bedroom with scent by adding lavender water to your iron and passing over the bed linens for a relaxing, hotel feel. In the bathroom, swap out everyday hand soap for festive variety (zesty orange scents will linger long after you’ve washed your hands) and make a lasting impact with your usual cleaning routine by adding some drops of perfume to warm water, and mop the hard floors of your home before guests arrive. The scent will have even more staying power than they do.
8. Brew Some Mulled Wine
Unleash your inner homebody and set about making a vat of mulled wine for a post-Boxing Day walk to warm up for the entire family (minus the little ones). Simmer it on the stove for a few hours to fill your home with those heady scents of cinnamon, spice and all things nice.
Read More: 'Tis the Season for Christmas Cocktail Recipes