CREATING a sanctuary isn’t difficult. But there is a simple “rule.”   Incorporate your senses; Touch, Sight, Sound, Smell, and Taste. Bring things into your home that bring you pleasure in some way, whether it be the sound of music, the touch of smooth sheets, the taste of your favorite food, or a smell that brings back memories. Use things that you feel are beautiful. Surround yourself with things you love, things you treasure. All your senses are important. Today I’ll focus on the sense of smell.

There are many ways to use your sense of smell in your home. You can incorporate scented candles, use one of the many oil diffusers, or the scented wax cubes that are melted in decorative electric “burners.” I particularly like the Scentsy brand. The selection of scents is amazing and the scent lasts longer in my home than other brands I’ve used. There are burners styled to play nice with any design style, with table top burners and mini plug-ins that go directly into an electric socket. (Those take up little room and fade into the background if you don’t want to put one on a table or counter).  I change out the scents I use for the seasons, or just on a whim. The wax cubes are reusable and last for a very long time. This isn’t a sponsored post. Just my experience.

You can also use Essential Oils, like Lavender or Eucalyptus, Peppermint, or any scent that strikes a chord within you. I use a few drops of my preferred oil mixed with water in a spray bottle to mist my sheets. Getting into bed at night on smooth sheets that smell good seems like a luxury.

Old fashioned scented sachets tucked into drawers create a feeling of being pampered. Opening a drawer to a delightful scent is a wonderful way to help create the sense you are home, safe and sound, in your own sanctuary.  Make sure the scents you choose for your home play nice together. There’s nothing sanctuary like about competing odors, no matter how good they smell individually.

Use fresh flowers. Fresh roses, lilacs, gardenias and some lilies give off a delightful aroma. Pamper yourself and your home, place some vases of cut flowers around now and then.

Bringing in potted plants to help clean the air in your home is something else you can do. Especially during those months when our homes are closed up tight, winter, if you live “up north” and during the hottest months in the deep south. Peace Lily does well indoors, along with varieties of Philodendron and Pothos. Plants also add a touch of nature and provide texture in a room.

Smells bring back memories quickly. I can still visualize my elementary school classroom whenever I open a fresh box of crayons. The smell of cinnamon brings back mornings with my Grandmother baking cinnamon rolls. I still remember walking into my aunt’s home and how good it always smelled. It smelled like “her.”  Lemon still reminds me of My Grams’ after one of her marathon, clean-everything-that-isn’t-moving days. um, I moved…. a lot. And quickly. I was afraid I’d go to school smelling like lemon if I didn’t move fast enough.

I never thought about my home having an odor (other than worrying if it smelled like dog), but apparently it does. My daughter-in-law told me that when she was testing new Scentsy smells last spring, my Granddaughter (youngest at the time), said; “Oh, this one smells like Grams’ house.” Um, did it smell bad?  Weird? Have that “old person’s house odor? What??? I don’t smell anything when I walk in my home! YIKES. What do other people smell????  I guess it smells pretty good, at least according to my Granddaughter. She sat inhaling that scent for a good long time. I bought it. Turns out she thinks my house smells like “Satin Sheets.” Who knew???

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