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You don’t need strongly scented plug-ins and room sprays to have a nice-smelling home! With DIY products and simple hacks, here are 10+ ways to make your home smell amazing.
Everyone wants their house to smell pleasant and inviting, especially when guests are coming over!
With that in mind, I certainly get the temptation to use store-bought air fresheners and scented candles.
I personally avoid artificial fragrance at all costs in my home, but that doesn’t mean the house has to smell stuffy or gross.
There are many, many ways to naturally make your house smell fresh and nice. No store-bought products necessary!
With everything from DIY air fresheners to simple habits, you can have a wonderfully smelling house with these tips.
How to Make Your Home Smell Amazing Naturally
I’m a big believer that you don’t have to rely on the store — or artificial fragrance — to have a great-smelling home. Let’s dive into the many ways to naturally freshen your space!
DIY Room Sprays
If you’re looking for a quick burst of scent in the air, homemade room sprays are perfect for you! They can be made with just a few ingredients and allow you to freshen up a room in seconds.
Compared to store-bought room sprays, homemade alternatives have a more subtle, natural-smelling aroma. They’re perfect for anyone who is sensitive to powerful artificial scents but still wants a nice-smelling home!
And don’t forget to stock your bathrooms with a DIY bathroom air freshener spray! It’s so easy to make, and it’s an absolute must for the bathroom.
Homemade Scented Candles
Everyone loves a cozy and delicious-smelling candle, but the store-bought options can have an overwhelming scent and negatively affect indoor air quality. Fortunately, you can still make a homemade scented candle with natural scent, eco-friendly wax, and a 100% cotton wick!
Whether you want a DIY honey vanilla beeswax candle, a homemade rosemary mint soy candle, or a DIY coffee candle, you can enjoy the warm glow and wonderful aroma of a candle that you made yourself.
Prefer to skip the open flame? You can also make your own candle wax melts to pop in the wax warmer and fill your home with those same warm and cozy scents.
Essential Oil Diffusers
You can diffuse essential oils directly into the air for aromatherapy and to make your home smell great. Diffusers are an eco-friendly, all-natural alternative to plug-ins — rather than disposable scent refills and harsh synthetic fragrance, they use just water and a few drops of essential oils.
There are several options for diffusers, the most common being an electric diffuser. If homemade is more your speed, you can make a DIY reed diffuser (longer-lasting but not as powerful as an electric diffuser).
If you are new to diffusers, I have lots of information to get you started! Learn how to use a diffuser and how to clean a diffuser first. Then you can start having fun!
Essential Oil Diffuser Blends
- 6 Best Peaceful Diffuser Blends
- Tropical Diffuser Blends
- 5 Essential Oil Diffuser Blends for Mood Support
- Fall Diffuser Blends
- Summer Essential Oil Diffuser Blends
Fresh Air
Don’t underestimate the impact a little fresh air can have! Opening your windows daily can improve indoor air quality and keep your home smelling fresh and clean.
Even in the winter, opening windows for just 15 minutes a day (a popular German practice called “lüften”) helps rid your house of stale air. In the summer, you can leave them open all day and utilize screen doors for even more airflow!
Air Purifier
If opening windows isn’t feasible for you, or you’d simply like something a little more consistent, consider adding an air purifier to your living space.
They work by pulling the air in your home through a filter that captures particles and odors, so the air coming out is cleaner and fresher.
Look for a device that uses a combination of carbon filters and HEPA filters for the most effective purification and odor elimination.
DIY Linen Spray
If your pillows, blankets, curtains, and upholstery smell good, that will contribute to the entire house smelling good.
Of course, making sure they are actually clean is a great first step. Wash any washable linens periodically with a homemade laundry detergent (and some DIY scent boosters if you want more fragrance!).
For regular upkeep between washes, a DIY linen spray will make everything smell amazing.
I share three different scent options in the recipe, but the beauty of DIY is that you can customize it to your liking. Choose your favorite essential oil blend to mist over any cloth surface in your home for a burst of lovely aroma.
Add Essential Oils to DIY Cleaners
Essential oils are rarely critical for a DIY cleaning product to work effectively, but they certainly make the house smell clean!
Try adding a few drops of your favorite essential oil to products such as DIY wood floor cleaner, homemade dusting spray, and all-purpose cleaner. When you clean, you’ll also give your house a boost of fresh scent without any additional effort or products!
Lemon, rosemary, and peppermint essential oils are my favorites for cleaning products, but you can use anything you love.
You can also browse all of my homemade cleaning product recipes to choose which you’ll make first! Check out 29+ Natural Cleaning Products for the Whole House.
Stovetop Potpourri
In the colder months, stovetop potpourri is a wonderful way to reduce waste and make your home smell lovely.
Also called a simmer pot, stovetop potpourri consists of a pot of water and a variety of herbs, fruits, and spices. When simmered on the stove, the simmer pot releases a natural scent that can last for hours.
Stovetop potpourri can be a great way to use up food scraps, such as orange peels, used cinnamon sticks, or shriveled cranberries. It’s 100% natural, compostable, and nearly free!
Reducing Unpleasant Odors in Your Home
Deodorize Your Trash Cans
An important step to making your home smell amazing is to remove any bad odors in addition to adding the good aromas. Trash cans are a common culprit for unpleasant smells in a home, even if you replace your trash liner regularly.
Giving the trash can a deep clean and utilizing a homemade trash can deodorizer regularly will keep the can, and therefore your kitchen, smelling lemony fresh!
Clean Your Garbage Disposal
Similar to the trash can, garbage disposals can contribute to unpleasant odors in your home without you even realizing it. Food and grease build-up in the disposal, if not regularly cleaned, emits foul odors into the air and leaves your kitchen smelling gross.
After a good scrub with a brush and some homemade dish soap, using DIY garbage disposal tabs on a regular basis will keep your disposal clean and smelling great.
These tabs are simple to use, and much more affordable (with better ingredients!) than store-bought options.
Keep Your Carpets Fresh
Carpets are another sneaky culprit of a stinky house, so keeping them clean is important if you want your home to smell great. Carpets tend to collect dirt, dust, and odor particles deep in their fibers, so your regular vacuuming routine isn’t always sufficient.
In my DIY carpet cleaner post, I share a recipe for a spot treatment and a recipe for a full-carpet refresh. I recommend using the latter on your whole carpet to reduce odors and add a lovely lavender scent to the entire room! You can also learn how to clean cat pee out of a carpet if that is an issue you face.
Frequently Asked Questions
When it comes to scenting products, making room sprays, etc. I recommend trying lavender, wild orange, lemon, or peppermint! Each of these oils has a very enjoyable scent that can be suitable for a wide range of products.
As often as you’d like! Homemade room sprays aren’t as long-lasting as a store-bought alternative because they use only natural ingredients, but that also means you can use them without worry. Feel free to mist your homemade room spray into the air whenever you need a little bit of freshening up!
When it comes to diffusing essential oils around pets, it can be safe with a few guidelines. Remember that pets’ noses are much more sensitive than ours, so always ensure good airflow in a room with a diffuser and leave a door open so your furry friend can escape if the smell bothers them.
I hope you enjoyed this article and got inspired to make your home smell wonderful without running to the store for an air freshener!
It is so fun and rewarding to make your own room sprays, candles, and other DIY products. I love choosing scents that smell the best to me and customizing each product to my needs.
Let me know which of these methods you’re going to use first in the comments below, and don’t forget to bookmark or pin this post to come back later and try another recipe!
