Updated on 09/11/21

Indulge your sense of smell and use fragrances to express who you are and what mood you’re in. These five interior design tips will personalise your home and make it truly unique.

Fragrance can be a powerful way to reflect our personality and express our emotions – not just when we wear it ourselves, but when used throughout our home, too. A room can be transformed with scent, changing the mood from vibrant and energising to soothing and restful.

“Every room starts as a white box,” says interior designer Simone Suss. “One of the first questions we ask people is, ‘How do you want to feel in this room?’ Then we look at it from a five-sense perspective – and smell is really important to that. Some things in a room are very conscious, like colour and fabric, while others are unconscious, but they’re all layers that create a mood.”

Here are five ways to use scent and other interior tricks to create the perfect mood in your home.

1. Transform a space with scent

If you have an open-plan home, scent can be a really clever way to draw back the walls, says Emma South, fragrance and lifestyle expert for Jo Malone London. Think about how you want to feel in a space and use fragrance to create that mood.

2. The psychology of colour

Colour is a major factor in determining a room’s mood, with different hues triggering different emotional reactions. “Colour is really important,” says Ms Suss. “We use a lot of blues and greys in bedrooms because they are very calming, associated with the sky and sea and relaxing settings. Yellow is very energising – great in a playroom but not necessarily in a child’s bedroom when you want them to sleep.” Red has been shown to get our blood pumping and raise energy levels; use it in spaces you want to be social, like living and dining rooms. Green is the most restful colour. It’s easier on eye because it sits in the middle of the colour spectrum, and is believed to relieve stress, so use it in spaces where you want to unwind.”

3. Layer up

Think of using fragrance in your home as you would colour, says Mrs South. Diffusers which continuously add an enveloping scent to a space can act as a base or backdrop, like the shade you choose to paint the walls. But then you might want to add in some boldness, so in the same way you would use cushions or throws to bring in colour and life, you can use candles and room sprays to change the atmosphere.

4. Play with texture

Don’t just think about how your home furnishings look, but how they feel, too. Texture plays an important part in determining mood and is an easy way to change the feel of a room. “If you’re going to have something made from velvet it will feel very different from something with linen,” says Ms Suss. “Certain fabrics have certain associations with seasons and moods. Big throws are always really cosy to have in the winter, but might not feel right in the summer.” Switching up cushions and throws are an inexpensive way to temporarily change the mood of a space.

5. Shine a light

“Changing the lighting is a simple and inexpensive way to change how a room feels,” says Ms Suss. “You should think about it in three different parts: functional, ambient and decorative.” She suggests angling lights towards objects in your home that you love and want to show off, rather than pointing them at blank walls or the ground. And to create a more relaxing atmosphere, bring lighting to a lower level. “It’s less harsh on the eye,” she says. Candles can work twofold – creating a relaxing atmosphere by adding softer light and also changing the mood with their scent.

Source : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/summer-scents/how-to-create-an-ambient-mood/

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