Sure, it’s the time that we all look forward to. However, for me at least, summer doesn’t always bring complete joy. Or, it didn’t use to.
Simply put, this was the season that prompted umpteen odors to enter my home. I used to call it the sweaty season – for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, it was these sweaty odors (and others) that made their way into their home. Like it or not, each and every smell tends to be exaggerated in the heat and this means that I’m on something of a mission to prevent unpleasant odors as soon as the temperature starts to increase.
There are a few ways that I’ve managed to do this over the years, with flowers being my favorite. This is one of those methods that doesn’t look “unnatural”; we can all have flowers in our home, and they don’t have to be there to mask any bad odors that creep in! They look great – and this tends to be my “public” excuse for showcasing them everywhere. Through experience, the following indoor plants have made the biggest impact for me around the home:
- Arabian Jasmine
- Eucalyptus
- Stephanotis
- Passionflower
There’s a more extensive list here that another site has recommended. Being honest, I go quite OTT with this approach – and if you were to enter my home during the peak of summer you would probably find fresh flowers in at least three different rooms! I’ve been using Avas Flowers to help me along here and fortunately, there are a lot of Avas Flowers discounts doing the rounds at the moment. There is also an Avas Flowers Instagram and Avas Flowers Twitter page which provide some cool inspiration.
Another trick I have found revolves around candles. Now, with it being the middle of summer, I don’t light them. Instead, it’s just placing them around the home strategically. Of course, candles are infused with incredible scents and just placing several candles around the house can make a huge difference. Personally, I store candles in the linen closet. By doing this, whenever I take the linen out, it smells fantastic and emits a beautiful scent in every room.
Perhaps the simplest trick I’ve learned over the years is to just open my windows. Now that most homes are equipped with air conditioning, this is something that many people are reluctant to do. However, opening the windows not only brings fresh air into the house, but it removes unpleasant odors too!
There are some other “quick wins” that I can tap into if I’m feeling particularly inventive as well. Sometimes I will boil cinnamon in a saucepan of water (the effect is beyond belief!). Or, I might place cinnamon in the oven. This is a really powerful ingredient that is able to overcome even the strongest of odors so if you do have a problem during summer, I would recommend being as creative as you can with cinnamon.
