fragrances for your home

I may not be the neatest person in my family but my home is certainly the best-smelling.  That is because I am a fragrance fanatic.  Not only do I indulge in purchasing plenty of personal fragrances for my body (I always have a wardrobe of inumerable different scents), but I am mad for all things fragrant for the home:  candles, diffusers, room sprays, soaps, incense - you name it I've got it.  People, and for some reason men especially, always comment on how great my place smells.  Some of it is strategic but some is admittedly accidental.

Yes, in my living room, I had a feeling that the lush lawn smell of Votivo's Deep Clover Aromatic Reed Diffuser would blend dreamily with the earthy sandalwood incense and the tangy notes of Anthropologie's Mango Jasmine Candle.  But I had no idea that my favorite sweet Voluspa Santiago Huckleberry Room Spray would go so well with the elegant Pacifica French Lilac soy candle in my bathroom.  This may all seem over-powering to you but I assure you if the room is big enough the smells assimilate nicely.

Of course what I really want to talk about are the home fragrance brands that are my true indulgences.  Scent is such a personal choice, but you can never go wrong with the quality and selection that these brands offer.

My A #1 home fragrances are Jo Malone.  Of course everyone has heard of Jo Malone, but do you realize how impeccable her blends are?  There is never anything cloying or artificial about her products- they are the very essence of refined British botanicals.  Of course it is all wildly expensive so I buy one precious candle at a time and just carry it around with me from room to room.  There are so many incredible smells to choose from but if you pick the grapefruit, I promise you will feel like you are living in a spa.

Lafco NY has the coolest candle collections.  I love the House and Homes Candle collection where each hefty-sized candle is named for a specific room in the home: Master Bath, Game Room, Breakfast Room etc.  Or maybe I prefer the Dream Homes collection where each also-hefty candle is cleverly named after a different type of home: ski house, penthouse, country house etc. But the coolest thing about every candle in every collection is that the fragrance blends are chosen to appropriately represent the candle's name sake.  Such as Pool House's summery blend of lilac, sweet pea and climbing rose. Too cool!

To depart from candles and such, you need to know about Williams-Sonoma cleaning products.  Your house will smell heavenly after giving it a good going over with their Essential Oils All Purpose Cleanser or their Essential Oils Counter Top Spray.  You can choose from three fresh scents:  Meyer Lemon, Pink Grapefruit, or Lemongrass Ginger.  They are all earth-friendly, bio-degradable, ammonia and chlorine free, and NEVER EVER tested on animals.  Wouldn't it be nice to have your home smell clean in a pleasant way?

Agraria is a luxury home and bath company from San Francisco.  They sell internationally but here in the US they are usually found at higher end stores like Saks and Neiman's.  They have an enormous selection of ways to make your home and bath smell sumptuous. I always get one of their mini diffusers for my walk in closet, but the most individual item they offer is their TasselAire.  TasselAire are opulent, antiquey-looking silk tassels filled with perfume to subtly scent the room.  Hang them on knobs, window sashes,  or wherever you feel needs a touch of class.  There are eight fragrances to choose from and even though the Bitter Orange is far and away their best seller, I always opt for the very unique Golden Pomegranate.