Scented Accents For Every Room of Your Home
As you create an exciting holiday environment, make it extra
special by complementing your festive cor with an aura of
fragrance to enhance the holiday spirit of your home.
Some scent-sational ideas for this season are:
Incense
Burning sticks and incense have been in continuous use throughout
history and are still an important part of ritual services
in the church as well as at home, in restaurants, shops
and offices. Incense was a symbol of the nature-oriented
youth of the 60 is. Now, once again, it is a part of the
sophisticated society of the 90 is. Unlike the simple versions
of the past, however, modern incense combines the most glorious
flowers, roots and herbs and presents each precious mix
in an infinite variety of beautiful containers.
Scented Candles
Scented candles have always created an instant fragrance
environment. Not until modern times, however, has there
been such a variety of fragrances to choose from: a favorite
perfume, the sparkling scents of verdant gardens, winter
is woods and festive bayberry.
Contemporary candles and their containers are works of art,
conceived in imaginative forms, glorious colors. As the
candles burn, some clear the air and absorb odors, dispersing
their own scent throughout the room.
Perfume Oils
Fragrant oils from cedar to jasmine can still be rubbed
into wood: chests of drawers, tables, closet doors, as an
exotic way to scent a room and add sheen to wood at the
same time.
Perfume oil is an indispensable part of contemporary environmental
scenting. A few drops rejuvenate potpourri and can be smoothed
on lightbulbs.
Fragrant Wreaths
Many creative interpretations of wreaths are available in
sizes that range from delicate miniatures to great over-sized
rounds to be enjoyed year-round. They definitely are not
just for Christmas anymore. There are glorious versions
of entwined roots, flowers, herbs and leaves; earthy potpourri
wreaths adorned with sprigs and blossoms and fabric wreaths
filled with potpourri to bring brilliant sensory pleasures
into any space: on walls, doors, tables; at home, in the
office, in public places.
The Warmth of Fragrance
Light rings are a modern way to diffuse scent throughout
a room. Fragrant oil is poured into a hollow ring, which
fits snugly around a lightbulb. Another method is to smooth
oil on the bulb itself. When the light is turned on, the
heat diffuses the scent enveloping the room with a soft
aura of fragrance.
At the turn of the century, a more sophisticated fragrance
burner evolved. Contemporary versions include lamps of glass
or porcelain filled with liquid fragrance. Each has a wick,
which when lit diffuses the fragrance. It burns for only
a few minutes and then is snuffed out, leaving the cap incandescent
to disperse the scent as long as the liquid fragrance remains
in the lamp.
Potpourri
A single ingredient, such as rose petals, or an aromatic
melange of dry or moist flower petals, roots, leaves, spices,
scented pine cones and essential oils, make up the potpourri
of the 90 is. Potpourri may evoke the heady scent of a garden,
forest or an opulent Oriental bouquet, or be mixed to create
various mood-altering effects.
Potpourri continues to inspire its containers: delicately
woven baskets and sleighs, porcelain dishes, decorative
tins, wreaths, pomander balls and stuffed animals, etc.
Loose potpourri is available and can be sprinkled on the
carpet before vacuuming to diffuse the scent throughout
the room.
Decorative bowls and jars can be filled and placed at strategic
points in a room. Potpourri can be mingled with shells in
a basket or sprinkled into a fireplace for an unforgettable
winter night¡ªor to recall one.
Sachet
The tradition of the sachet lives on but in a myriad of
aromatic sensations in shapes from square to heart to traditional
ribbon-tied sacs. Sophisticated fabrics complement any environment:
choose from brocades, velvets, lace and country ginghams.
They can be tucked anywhere to express a scent message:
drawers, closets, shoe boxes, under sofa and chair cushions.
Many are designed to be hung as decorations (at the end
of light pulls, on baskets, on Christmas trees).
Pomanders
Natural fruit pomanders are still popular but many modern
fragrance devotees also like fragrant pomanders contained
in bone china and porcelain with hand painted motifs, to
add beauty and scent to every enclosure. The latest technology
has produced spun pomanders made of fragrance-impregnated
paraffin. They are molded into an endless variety of fascinating
shapes from shells to trees and add decorative touches everywhere.
An herbal pomander might adorn a kitchen and a floral might
dangle in the parlor. Pomanders may be filled with potpourri
mixtures and sprayed with your own perfumes to hang in closets
to emphasize individual fragrance personalities.
Fragrance Fountains
Fragrance fountains are enjoying a rebirth. Designs range
from the classic pedestal to fanciful shapes including Japanese
rock gardens. Miniature designs are being created to decorate
tabletops. All feature circulating water to which fragrance
is added. In some, changing colored lights add to the sensory
excitement.
Fragrance Sprays
A far cry from the awkward bellows ladies had to employ
when they wanted to create a fragrant environment, sprays
of every type, from the elegant bulb to aerosols and pump
designs make it wonderfully easy to create as many fragrant
atmospheres around you as you like. They delightfully transform
the mood of every room at the press of a finger.
Perfumed Pillows
Pillows of every size, color and description, fluffed with
modern aromatic blends, are amongst today is favorite ways
to enjoy fragrance and add decorative touches. Traditional
pillow shapes, as well as flower, shell and animal designs,
hold a variety of perfumed mixtures. Creatively arranged,
sensory pillows define each room is personality, stimulate
or relax you and your guests, soothe and even induce sleep.
Aromatherapy Oils
Aromatherapy combines the soothing, healing touch of massage
with the therapeutic properties of essential oils. These
oils are obtained from plants and have been renowned for
centuries for their remedial powers. Aromatherapy is an
holistic treatment which can have a profound effect on the
mind, body and emotions. Aromatherapists work in hospitals,
nursing homes, natural health centres or run their own practices.