How to make your House Smell Good All the Time

I think it’s pretty much safe to say we all want our homes to smell nice.  Do you want to know how to make your house smell good all the time and the types of things you can use that absorbs bad smells?  It’s a constant battle here and maybe you feel the same way in your home too.

I can’t be the only one who thinks this isn’t always easy. I mean, three kids, a dog, a carpenter husband – a homestead and a muddy country life equals mess. And mess equals smell.  Basically, I often feel like my house never smells fresh unless I make an conscientious effort to do something about it.

Sigh.

I’m not a fan of those plug-in air fresheners. I find they can be so strong at the beginning. I also worry a bit about what’s in those things, you know, since we are breathing them in all day long when we use them.

So, we’ve gotten away from using them over the years.

When you are living the country life you want it to look and feel rustic. You don’t want it to “smell” rustic, if you know what I mean.  You want to get rid of bad smells in the house.

I’m all for the smell of cedar and pine and the great outdoors. That’s the kind of country life I want to smell. I definitely don’t want the rustic smell of my house to be….well….”stink”.

I’m noticing this battle is getting a little tougher as my kids grow. We’ve got two tweens in the house. We’ve got three little soccer players here. It’s just the nature of this season of life I’m learning.

When I find soccer socks in the living room after a long, sweaty game that the kids played I am not a happy camper.

Anyways, I’m sure you get the idea. We are in a constant battle to fight against the smell of “life.”

But, it’s all worth it, isn’t it? Because a house we constantly have to clean and deal with strange smells is a house that is full of life. Full of activity and hopefully full of joy.

Nonetheless, we still want our homes to smell nice!  If you want to know how to keep your house smelling good with pets, with children, with hard-working husbands, keep reading!

WHAT ABSORBS BAD SMELLS

Before I get into some easy and cheap ways to make your house smell good, let’s talk about products that actually ABSORB bad smells.  Because, when things get bad you’ll want to pull out all the stops.  You don’t want to just cover the smells up, you also want to get rid of them completely.

Here are some items you can use to absorb smells:

1. Baking soda  – I often have a box of open baking soda in my fridge to absorb any offending odors, which, I’m not going to lie, happens more often than I’d like to admit because science experiments are always happening at the back of the fridge.

2. kitty litter –  It makes sense that kitty litter would do an excellent job of absorbing odors, seeing as that’s what it was created to do.  It’s usefulness goes beyond the litter box though.  You can sprinkle some in the bottom of your garbage bin, or put a pan of it out in a room that smells a bit musty.

3. Vinegar – You can simmer vinegar on your stove for a while to eliminate some household odors.  Don’t worry, while you will smell the vinegar a little bit, it doesn’t stick around and it takes the bad odors with it.  Vinegar is also great to pour down the drain when your sink is starting to smell.

4. Unused Coffee Grounds –  You can sprinkle coffee grounds in the bottom of your trash can.  I think it’s a total win-win situation because not only will it absorb odors, but let’s be honest – ground coffee smells heavenly!

 

So, today I want to share with you a few different ways you can give your home that nice, welcoming smell that makes you feel happy to be at home.

Not only does these kinds of tips work for everyday life, but they also work for certain times in your life that you need your house to smell good before guests arrive, maybe just to visit, or if you are trying to sell your home.

Having your home smell good for potential buyers is super, super important. They actually say (okay, I’m not sure who “they” are, but “they” sound smart) that you have a better chance of selling your home if it smells inviting.

I believe it. When we were looking at buying a house, there were a few homes I stepped into that did NOT smell good, and I wondered if I’d be able to get the smell out of the walls, or if the house would smell like that permanently. Needless to say, we didn’t buy any of those homes.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR HOUSE SMELL GOOD 

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Open up the windows.

The first one is probably one we all kind of know, but I’ll mention it anyways. When the weather is nice there is nothing that smells as fresh as the great outdoors. It’s especially nice when there is a cool breeze coming in. Opening your windows will go a long way in the getting rid of those stale smells in your home.

I always get excited at the end of winter when I get to open my windows. It feels like the house has just been closed up for too long and needs to be aired out.

Use Candles.

When it comes to candles, I think quality matters. I find that the dollar store candles don’t really throw off enough scent to fill a room. When we sold our home, this is exactly what we used to make our home smell nice. Our realtor told me it smelled like we had just baked cookies every time she had a showing! What I found is that these three wick candles (pumpkin smell is a favorite of mine!) threw the scent off more than the one wick candles.

You can also use candles, unlit, in places like your linen closet or your drawers. This keeps them smelling really good.

Diffuse essential oils.

Of course, if you want to know how to make your house smell good naturally (because candles DO have chemicals in them) you can use essential oils to make your house smell good. I have a diffuser I love to use essential oils to get rid of bad smells, and I don’t have to worry about health issues when diffusing them.  Right now I am a serious fan of this Cheer Blend (it smells like heaven to me )but I also like to use Lavender or Citrus Bliss as well.  Or if you don’t have a diffuser, check out this one that comes with a couple oils. I use these essential oils here and I love them.

Make a stove top simmer.

A stove top simmer is where you add things like fruit peels, herbs, things like cloves and cinnamon to water in a pot and simmer it on the stove for a homemade air freshener. Kind of like potpourri that you cook. 🙂 I especially like to use this method in the winter with some orange peels and cinnamon or cloves. You can find some really nice recipe here for more homemade air freshener ideas.

If you end up simmering it for a while, make sure you check on it periodically. If all the water boils out of it you’ll be left with burnt fruit and most likely the bottom of your pot will burn.

Fill your home with fresh cut flowers. 

I love to find wildflowers and place them in the living room or my bedroom to give a nice floral scent. Lilac season is my favorite because they seem to throw off the most scent. You can buy flowers of course, but wild flowers are great because they are free!

Do some baking.

This is one of my favorite ways to make my house smell glorious in the cooler months. Cookies, pies, homemade bread. I mean, is there a better smell for your home than fresh, homemade bread? I don’t think so.

Clean some offending areas.

Garbage need to go out? Fridge need to be cleaned? Garbage disposal need to be cleaned? Those are a couple of main areas I always think to look when something smells “off.” Other things that might give your house a strange scent is carpets or furniture. Sprinkle some baking soda on them, leave it for a few hours, then vacuum it up. I also like to put baking soda at the bottom of our garbage cans.

Sigh. That last point reminded me that my fridge is due for a cleaning. My least favorite job I think.

Store shoes in a lidded basket or container.

Shoes smell. There’s no way around it. To keep the smell contained, consider storing your shoes in a container or basket that has a lid.

My house doesn’t feel clean until it smells clean. The number one thing I like to do when I have company coming over is to make sure there is something giving off a nice scent in my home. While I usually reach for the essential oils because it’s the easiest and quickest for me, I’ve pretty much done a variety of the other options.

I like to choose options that aren’t too overpowering as well because I know that there are some people who are sensitive to too much scent. That is something to keep in mind when you are having visitors.

So there you have it.  Tips on how to make your room smell good.  Any room in your house that you want.

Did I leave anything out? Is there a way you make your house smell good that isn’t on the list? Leave it in the comments below!

Summary
How to make your House Smell Good
Article Name
How to make your House Smell Good
Description
Learn how to make your house smell good with a variety of ideas.
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Publisher Name
Simple Life of a Frugal Wife

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