Good smells are a great way to make your first apartment a nicer place to live, and luckily, there are many ways you can add them. From scented cleaning sprays to fragrant food, you have plenty of options when trying to make your apartment smell great. Read on below for four great ideas!
Cleaning sprays
When it comes to keeping your apartment smelling nice, simple DIY cleaning sprays can be helpful. One great trick is to simply mix lemon juice or rinds with a one-to-one mixture of vinegar and water. This makes a great all-purpose cleaner that can be used to take care of stains and grime on countertops, floors, and virtually anywhere else, and it smells great too!
This doesn’t only work with lemon juice – there are plenty of other things you can mix with vinegar or water for great fragrant cleaning sprays. Try mixing lavender, peppermint, or cinnamon essential oils into the cleaning solution to switch things up.
Stovetop potpourri
Another great way to make your apartment smell nice is to cook up a stovetop potpourri. This is most often done in the wintertime with seasonal smells like apple slices, cloves, cranberries, orange peels, and cinnamon sticks. However, there are some great options for spring or summer potpourris as well!
For a simple spring or summer recipe, mix two sliced lemons with a bunch of rosemary and a tablespoon of vanilla extract. Alternatively, you can try a combination of three sliced limes, a bunch of mint, a bunch of thyme, and some sliced ginger. Put the mixture in a pot with some water and simmer until your apartment smells fragrant.
Make food
Cooking good food or desserts is always a surefire way of making your apartment smell nice, so try baking cookies or cooking chicken next time you want to add a pleasant aroma. There’s nothing quite as nostalgic as the smell of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies to make your new apartment feel comfortable and homey.
Coffee beans are another great smell you can easily add to your apartment. Whether you make instant coffee or even grind your own coffee beans, it’ll leave your apartment with a great smell. Don’t like coffee? If you want the smell of coffee without drinking any, simply cook some coffee beans on a tray in the oven at 400 degrees for seven to 10 minutes.
Keep things clean
Whichever way you choose to add pleasant smells to your apartment, if there’s a funky smell you’re trying to mask, it’ll often mix with the pleasant smell and become even worse. The most important step to a fragrant apartment is keeping things clean, so make sure to take care of routine cleaning tasks often enough.
To rid your apartment of any nasty smells before you try adding pleasant ones, try using an odor neutralizer. Activated charcoal filters are a fantastic option that you can hang or place near smelly spaces in the kitchen or bathroom.
