13 Home Fragrances in 2023 for Scenting Every Room in Your Home

Jan 22, 2024

By Jennifer Hussein

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Spring has officially sprung, which means the official season of cleaning has finally kicked off. Sure, your space may look clean after your post-winter zhuzh, but is your space really complete without a signature home fragrance? If you have a fine-tuned sense of smell like us, aromatic home decor is essential for feeling relaxed in every nook and cranny of your household. Combining different scents in your space may sound intimidating — and like a one-way ticket to your house smelling like the fragrance counter of a department store — but with the right tips and tricks (which we'll get to), you can have the most aromatherapeutic home on the block.

Whether you're trying to mask unpleasant odors from your four-legged roommates or disguise intense cleaning product smells, finding the right room fragrances for your space will instantly heighten the vibe of your home and, possibly, your mind. Making your house smell good is a fine-tuned art, so we tapped two professional perfumers (who are the noses behind some home scent best sellers from brands like Boy Smells, Diptyque, and Otherland) to find out the best hacks for having a harmonically-scented home.

Want a bathroom that smells like a five-star spa? Or how about a living room that smells as lively as its vibrant decor? No matter what your fragrance vibe of the moment is, the following tips from our favorite perfumers will bring about a breath of fresh air.

Sure, you don't want a mish-mash of unflattering scents in your home, but Erwan Raguenes, a New Jersey-based perfumer for the fragrance development lab Firmenich, also says to be weary of using the same exact note throughout your household. "If you were to have the same fragrance all over your house, you're exposing yourself to the risk of nose habituation, also known as nose blindness, and therefore you're not [fully] smelling the fragrance," he says.

In order for each room to have its own distinct smell, Christine Hassan, a New York City-based perfumer for fragrance formulation company Givaudan, suggests assigning distinctive notes to each room, "that way each space is very clearly defined," she says.

We all love scented candles, but there's a whole world of fragrance-diffusing home goods for you to try. According to Reguenes, choosing the right fragrance medium for each room is dependent on the size of the room itself and how intense you want the fragrance to be, which is why he recommends candles for larger spaces like the living room and reed diffusers for bedrooms and bathrooms. "In terms of strength, a reed diffuser will be slightly lower than a candle or a plugin because it doesn't use heat or flame to diffuse the perfume in the room," he says. "A good thing about reed diffuser is if you remove or add more sticks to the diffuser, you can increase or lower the impact of your fragrance in the room."

If you're lighting up your go-to candle, Reguenes suggests burning it until the wax is liquid at approximately an inch deep to avoid over-perfuming the air. "Burning a candle for six or seven hours isn't the best choice because you will tend to saturate your room, which can then spread to other rooms and create a mismatch," he says.

Think about it: after a long day at work, you'll probably want to enjoy some soothing aromatherapy a la lavender or chamomile, not an energizing waft of citrus or coffee. Reguenes says to make intentional fragrance choices when scenting your space to match the energy of the room itself. For example, if you want to set your bedroom up for relaxation, Reguenes says to use "softer" scents like lavender, cotton, or linen, whereas Hassan suggests reserving experimentation for communal areas like the living room or den. "It has to reflect your personality because this is your space that you're welcoming people into," she says.

Need some scentscaping inspo? We thought so. Below, take a look at all of the expert-approved home fragrances to turn your home into an aromatic getaway:

As Hassan said before, the living room is the best place to test out new, unique fragrances in your home. "It's not as intimate as the bedroom but it's still defining who you are and what kind of impression you want to give to people," she says. Bright, fruity notes like bergamot-powered citrus scents are ideal in this space, but Hassan also recommends experimenting with woods and any other fragrance profiles that set a vibe of "relaxing and enjoying each other's company."

If you're kicking the day off with a slow breakfast or running to your makeshift work-from-home office, Reguenes says lighting a coffee-scented pick like Anecdote Candles' Coffee Break will surely get you in the mood for a productive morning. Along with rich, invigorating coffee, this candle also features decadent notes of creamy coconut and sweet vanilla.

Reguenes says the living room is also the ideal space for playing with seasonal fragrances. Since we're in the midst of spring, he suggests lighting the Otherland Georgette Candle, a fragrant bouquet of magnolia, lily of the valley, and amber — talk about groundbreaking florals for spring, right?

Feel bright-eyed and energized even if you skimped on sleep the night before by lighting up Nest New York's Lime Zest & Matcha Votive Candle. As its name suggests, this ultra-citrusy and fresh scent starts with a burst of juicy lime that's harmonized with herbaceous sage and sweet, creamy matcha.

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If you'd rather ditch flames and go high-tech with your home fragrance options, the Pura x The Met Egyptian Set is pretty impressive. The device itself is an app-controlled air freshener that simply plugs into your wall and disperses a customizable stream of essential oil-based aromatic vapors. We love that this set comes with two living room-worthy scents you're bound to adore: the true-floral Blue Water Lotus and woody Egyptian Sandalwood.

Your bedroom is your sanctuary, so scent it as such. Since it's the place you sleep, Hassan and Reguenes both suggest calming notes like lavender and linen for your room. "Very few things should happen in the bedroom, and all of them are very intimate and very personal," says Hassan. "Having a constant smell in your bedroom can also form a sleeping habit that signals, 'It's time to go to bed now,'" says Hassan.

What makes the Boy Smells Dropout Pillar Candle so special is its sleep-inducing blend of earthy chamomile, calming lavender, and fresh sage. Hassan, who helped develop this scent, says this single-wick pillar candle was made specifically for winding down and chilling out, so it's the perfect fragrance to spark after a long day.

Vanilla and lavender are a match made in fragrance heaven, so fill your room with the dreamy pair by grabbing Voluspa's French Cade & Lavender Home Reed Diffuser. This diffuser will subtly fill the air with a fragrance oil blend of warm vanilla and herbal lavender for up to six months.

Staying in bed all day? Indulge your most tranquil moments by sprucing your space aromatically with Maison Margiela's Replica Lazy Sunday Morning Reed Diffuser. Just like the fan-favorite perfume, this luxe reed diffuser features a trio of floral lily, iris, and musk to evoke the calm sense of a still, quiet weekend morning.

If the living room's for partying, the bathroom is for cooling down and enjoying a spa day. Since this is usually the smallest room in your home, Regeunes recommends using a trusty reed diffuser to subtly integrate scented oil into the air while concealing the less-than-pleasant odors that may come from your toilet. Though Hassan notes that "clean" scents like eucalyptus usually dominate the bathroom, Regeunes suggests incorporating woodsy notes like patchouli, sandalwood, amber, and even tobacco for a delightful twist. "The bathroom is actually where I try to be unexpected because we don't really spend much time in there," he says. "I'll have woods to mix things up a little bit and usually the door to the bathroom is closed so the scent stays in there."

Deck your entire bathroom in Homecourt's Allure Best of Beauty-winning floral scent with the Steeped Rose Aircare Duo. This two-piece set comes with a candle and a spray bottle of the brand's floweriest scent, which features notes of rose, geranium, and a hint of vanilla.

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You can't bring your shower outside, but you can bring the outdoors to your shower — well, kind of — by opening the P.F. Candle Co. Amber & Moss Reed Diffuser. Its main notes of earthy moss and creamy, sweet amber will transport you through lavish green woods in the comfort of your bathtub for up to four months.

Quickly refresh the smell of your bathroom with the Bath & Body Works Eucalyptus Spearmint Concentrated Room Spray. This budget-friendly spray fills the air with energizing spearmint and herbaceous eucalyptus through each and every spritz.

Here's the thing about scenting your kitchen: in terms of fragrance, there's a lot already going on in your cupboards. "Kitchens are so interesting because you're sometimes trying to impersonate food with aromatics, but sometimes you're also trying to cover up some scents that you've cooked and that might not be as pleasant," says Hassan. She and Reguenes suggest playing with the gourmand and herbaceous scents already lingering in this area by grabbing home fragrances with notes that you can find in your pantry.

One especially important thing Reguenes points out is that the kitchen is a high-activity area, so you may want to opt for a plug-in fragrance. "I find plug-ins are the safest in the kitchen because you can knock over candles and reed diffusers," he says.

Give your kitchen the luxe treatment with Diptyque's Un Air de Diptyque Electric Home Diffuser. Not only does it look like it belongs in the wing of a museum, but this luxe diffuser also disperses your favorite Diptyque scent of your choosing for up to 40 hours continuously.

Our fragrance insert recommendations: Diptyque Un Air de Diptyque Electric Home Diffuser Gingembre Insert and Diptyque Un Air de Diptyque Electric Home Diffuser Mimosa Insert ($60 each)

If you have a kitchenette or smaller cooking area, the Aera Mini Diffuser is your best bet. This mini plug-in is app-controlled to disperse a fine mist of scented air throughout your room. The brand also has over 40 different scents to choose from, so finding your signature scent has never been easier.

Our fragrance insert recommendations: Aera Vanilla Mini Diffuser Insert ($30) and Aera Revive Mini Diffuser Insert ($32)

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Larger areas require a more powerful diffuser, like the Hotel Collection Studio Scent Diffuser. This stand-alone diffuser utilizes oil-based fragrance blends and turns them into a dry nano-mist that fills your space without overwhelming it. This waterless and heatless diffuser disperses fragrance at up to 400 square feet, which is more than enough to refresh the scent of your kitchen.

Our fragrance insert recommendations: Hotel Collection Warm Cinnamon Apple Diffuser Oil and Hotel Collection Farmhouse Spice Diffuser Oil ($45 each)

Read more about our favorite home fragrances:

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