To make your house smell good for company, clear the air before you add any fragrance: air the house, wash what has been sitting, and take out whatever smells. Then add one quiet scent at the entry and one in the guest room, and leave the rest alone. The checklist below runs from the day before to the end of the evening.
You are the worst judge of your own house. People get used to the odors they live with quickly, as a 2017 review in Physiology & Behavior describes (Pellegrino et al.), so this list leans on things you can do rather than things you can smell. For a fuller tour of every room, see How to Make Your House Smell Good: A Room-by-Room Guide.
The day before
- Air the guest room. The EPA advises opening windows and doors when the weather allows (EPA). A room that has been closed for weeks needs more than a few minutes.
- Wash the bedding and the towels you'll put out, and dry them completely. The American Cleaning Institute, via an NBC4 Washington consumer segment, advises making sure towels are fully dry before they're put away, since even a little moisture can make them smell sour (NBC4 Washington). Cleveland Clinic suggests using the washer's towel setting, or warm or hot water, and going easy on fabric softener and scent beads, whose residue builds up on towels (Cleveland Clinic).
- Run water in the guest bathroom. Let the sink and shower run. A drain that hasn't been used can dry out its trap and let a sewer smell in, and the South Davis Sewer District lists guest bathrooms among the most common places (South Davis Sewer District).
- Clean the bathroom, toilet included, and empty every bin.
- Wash anything your pets sleep on, and vacuum.
- Set out your unlit scent, so it's in place before anyone arrives.
Two hours before
- Open the windows for ten or fifteen minutes, then close them.
- If you're cooking, run the hood from the first pan and keep it on for about 15 minutes after you finish (NC State Extension).
- Take out the trash and recycling, wipe the sink and empty the dishwasher.
- Light any candle now, not at the doorbell. CandleScience, a candle-making supplier, says a burning candle's scent is typically judged after at least two hours but no more than four (CandleScience). Keep it away from drafts and never leave it unattended, as the National Candle Association advises (NCA).
- Test the house the way a guest will. Step outside for a few minutes, then walk back in and notice what meets you at the door.
The entry
The entry is the first thing a guest's nose meets, and a visitor arrives with a fresh one. Clear the shoes, damp coats and umbrellas, then give the console one scent source, set out of direct sunlight and away from a radiator. An unlit candle made for display, such as Le Bonne Pomme, does the job without a flame to watch.
Keep it quiet. A study of 326 guests in the lobby of a luxury hotel in Hong Kong found that 91.7 percent noticed the hotel's signature scent, and its authors cautioned that scent piped through central air conditioning can overwhelm guests (Denizci Guillet et al.). A hotel lobby isn't your hall, but the lesson carries: a guest should notice the scent on the way in and then forget it. How Many Candles Does It Take to Scent a Room? explains why one source is the place to start.
The bathroom
Guests use the bathroom, and shut the door, so it should be right. Run the fan while you tidy and again during the evening; the EPA advises running the bathroom fan or opening a window when showering (EPA). Hang a fresh hand towel spread out on a bar, put out a new bar of soap, empty the bin, and choose one scent for the room rather than several.
If you plan to light a candle in there, the NFPA advises keeping it at least 1 foot from anything that can burn (NFPA), which is hard to find beside towels, a shower curtain and toilet paper. An unlit scented object on a shelf avoids the problem. How to Make Your Bathroom Smell Good, Always covers the small, steamy room in full.
The guest room
Where guests sleep, leave the flame out. The NFPA's tip sheet says to blow out all candles when you leave the room or go to bed, and to avoid candles in the bedroom and other areas where people may fall asleep. It suggests flameless candles instead.
Use a flameless scent: a sachet in the dresser drawer, a linen spray whose label allows it, or an unlit piece on the dresser. Le Bonne Pomme is an apple of hand-poured soy and beeswax, hand-painted one by one and presented under a handblown glass cloche. Displayed under its cloche, it scents a room without being lit, for about 60 days, depending on room size. It can be lit, but isn't meant to be: the painted finish will melt and the wax may drip, which is not a defect. Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources.
A guest who has just walked in will notice a scent more than you do, because they haven't had time to get used to it. Can You Sleep With a Candle Burning? Safer Ways to Scent a Bedroom has more on flameless options for a bedroom.
During the evening
- Cook with the hood on, and keep the kitchen window open a crack.
- Keep the fan running in the guest bathroom.
- Watch any lit candle. Keep it at least 1 foot from anything that can burn, and blow it out when you leave the room, as the NFPA advises.
- Resist adding more scent. Your nose has adjusted; theirs hasn't.
FAQ
How far ahead should I start?
The day before for the air, the laundry, the drains and the guest room. Two hours before for the final pass: windows, trash, the hood and any candle you want to be at full strength.
Should I light a candle for guests?
You can, in a room where you'll be, kept at least 1 foot from anything that can burn and blown out when you leave. In the guest room, use something flameless. Lighting it two hours ahead gives a candle time to fill the room.
What if I can't tell whether my house smells?
You probably can't, because your nose has adjusted. Step outside for a few minutes and walk back in, or ask a friend to tell you honestly what they notice at the door.
