14 Ways To Make Your Home Smell Better Naturally

Every home has a unique smell, but some are more pleasant than others. A home that smells clean, fragrant, and natural creates a welcoming environment. Good smells can even help you relax, reduce headaches, and create a more pleasant mood. If your home has a funky smell but you hate using chemical air fresheners, then you’ll need to find a natural solution to your smelly home.

To help your home smell better using natural ingredients, consider buying a fragrant flower arrangement, a house plant, or making a bouquet with herbs from your garden. You can use vinegar, baking soda, or activated charcoal to remove bad smells from your home. Use organic oils in a diffuser, potpourri, or create a natural room spray. You can simmer spices in a pot or bake something in your oven to make your kitchen and entire home smell delicious.

No one wants to live in a home that smells bad. Luckily, there are all sorts of ways you can get rid of bad smells and replace them with more pleasant ones. While some methods involve chemical solutions, there are also tons of organic methods to help improve your home’s smell. Below is a list of some of the best and easiest ways to help naturally improve the way your home smells.

14 Ways To Help Your House Smell Better Naturally

1. Incorporate More Houseplants

Houseplants have many benefits. They add oxygen, remove toxins from the air, help with allergies, and breathe life into any space they occupy. Many houseplants can also improve the way your home smells. 

If you are a fan of flowering plants, consider adding scented orchids or geraniums instead of plants with no fragrance. Several herbs, including lavender, mint, and rosemary, also make great houseplants and have lovely scents.

2. Buy Fragrant Fresh Flowers

If you struggle to keep plants alive, but love fresh flowers, then consider buying fresh flowers more regularly. When buying a flower bouquet, opt for flowers and filler plants that have nice smells.

Roses, carnations, eucalyptus, and lilies are just a few common plants found in bouquets that smell great. There are many ways to help your flower arrangements last longer, to help minimize this added expense.

3. Make Or Buy Potpourri

Potpourri has been used to make homes smell better for hundreds of years. This fragrant mix of natural plants can be both decorative and practical. You can buy potpourri at just about any home goods store, or you can also make it yourself.

Add a small bowl of this potent natural air freshener to a bathroom or any room that could use an improved smell. 

4. Create Bouquets With Your Garden Herbs

If you don’t want to spend money to make your home smell better, then utilize some of the plants you are already growing in your herb garden. Herb bouquets are a great way to create a rustic look in the home, and they also add amazing smells to any room.

Basil, mint, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender, and other herbs can be bundled together to make a dynamic and long-lasting arrangement. These bouquets look great in the kitchen, at the dining table, and even in the bathroom.

5. Add Organic Essential Oils To A Diffuser

If you hate the unnatural and chemical smells of an air freshener, then an essential oil diffuser is a great idea. You can purchase natural and organic essential oils to help make your home smell better with natural fragrances instead of artificial ones.

Many essential oils have soothing properties that relax your mind and body while adding pleasant smells to the home. Mix and match your favorite scents to create the perfect one for your home.

6. Empty And Clean Your Trash Cans Regularly

Sometimes the best way to make your home smell better is to get rid of anything that smells bad. In many cases, bad smells originate from trash cans. Empty your trash and clean the trash can regularly to ensure it isn’t making your home smell bad.

Cleaning your trash can not only help improve the way your home smells, but it’s also a great way to keep insects out of your home.

7. Place Activated Charcoal In Smelly Areas

Activated charcoal is known for its ability to remove stains and smells. It absorbs and trap odors naturally. You can purchase activated charcoal online and in most stores.

Put this black substance in a bowl or in sachets, and then place them in rooms with bad odors. Continue to replace the sachets or bowls regularly until you notice an improvement.

8. Light Scented Candles

Scented candles are a quick and easy way to change the way your home smells. Just one good scented candle can add a lovely fragrance to your home, making it a great option when you invite company over.

When purchasing scented candles, opt for brands that use natural ingredients, as some cheaper scented candles use artificial ingredients that can make your home smell unnatural.

9. Simmer Spices In A Pot

If you want to make your home smell like you made something delicious, but don’t feel like cooking anything elaborate, then simmer a pot of spices. You can add cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, clove, and citrus peels to a large pot of water and simply let it simmer on the stove.

This will provide lovely smells that will linger for the entire day. This is also a great way to add humidity to your dry home, making it an effective solution for dry winter months.

10. Eliminate Odors With Baking Soda

Baking soda is an ingredient most people keep in the kitchen pantry. It is essential for baking, but it’s also fantastic at neutralizing odors, which is why many people keep a box of it open in the refrigerator. 

You can use baking soda outside your fridge as well to help eliminate bad odors throughout the home. Even expired baking soda is effective at reducing bad smells in the home.

11. Coffee Beans

Coffee has a strong and distinct flavor. It’s a wonderful thing to smell in the morning to help you wake up. Coffee beans also contain nitrogen, which is proven to help eliminate odors.

The strong smell of coffee beans combined with the nitrogen makes it a great natural option to eliminate and mask odors in your home. Simply place small bowls of fresh coffee beans anywhere you notice bad smells.

12. Open Windows To Improve Air Circulation

Sometimes the best way to make your home smell better is to improve the air flow. On nice days, you should open the windows and turn on fans to bring fresh air into the home. This is a simple way to get stale odors out of the home and bring in fresh ones. This is a particularly effective method when you live somewhere with fresh natural air, as opposed to city smells.

13. Use Vinegar To Remove Bad Odors

You can use vinegar for everything from cooking to cleaning. It can even be used as a tool to help neutralize bad odors. Vinegar doesn’t smell good, but you can spray it on fabrics that have a musty or mildewy smell, and once this potent liquid evaporates, the bad smells often vanish as well.

You can add equal parts white vinegar and water to a spray bottle and spray any areas with bad odors. Alternatively, you can place bowls of pure vinegar in rooms where you want to neutralize odors.

14. DIY Room Sprays

If you like the idea of air fresheners and room sprays, but hate the way they smell, then consider making your own. The easiest way to make a natural room spray is to dilute your favorite essential oils with water and place the aromatic liquid in a spray bottle. 

Use this natural spray the same way you would use a store-bought aerosol spray, and enjoy the lovely natural result.

Concluding Thoughts On Making A Home Smell Better Naturally

No one wants a home that smells stale or downright funky. If you want to improve the way your home smells without using chemicals, consider adding fragrant houseplants or using flower or herb bouquets to add great aromas to the home. 

You can use vinegar, activated charcoal, or baking soda to eliminate and neutralize bad odors. Open up windows and circulate air to remove stale air, and consider using organic essential oils or scented candles to quickly make your home smell lovely.

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• Why Do My Throw Pillows Always Smell Bad (And How To Fix)