Discover how you can introduce scent scaping to your home with this guide from Mawgans’ founder Sarah. At Mawgans we handcraft luxury vegan candles and reed diffusers in our signature scents, so we know the importance of making your home smell wonderful.
If you want your home to smell (and feel) fantastic, try scent scaping. It’s a simple technique that involves purposefully choosing a fragrance you love for each area of your home. Whether you want to create a welcoming and vibrant atmosphere in your hallway, an uplifting and invigorating vibe in your study, or a relaxing and calming mood in your bedroom, scent scaping is the way to do it.
It’s also known as fragrance zoning and fragrance layering. As well as making your environment smell amazing, it enables you to change the mood in different areas of your home, simply by swapping the fragrance you use.
We expect our homes to be the ultimate multi-taskers, especially now so many of us work from home. They’re our personal domains to work, relax, sleep and entertain, and each space has to flex to ensure it’s meeting all of our needs.
Remember, fragrance is a powerful way to change your mood. A recent survey found that two thirds of all emotions generated each day are due to smell. Scent can trigger memories, including cherished ones we thought we’d forgotten, so a home that smells amazing can really boost your mood.
Just as you carefully style your interiors, scent scaping will allow you to create a unique atmosphere in each room. In this blog I’ll walk you through exactly how you can start scent scaping and make your home smell gorgeous. Don’t worry, it’s easy, and the rewards are incredible!
How can I start scent scaping?
To try scent scaping, start with one room. Consider what emotions, mood and energy you want in the space. It’s fine if you want to convey more than one atmosphere. For example, in your living room you may want a fresh, inviting and lively feel during the day, changing to a relaxing and calming atmosphere in the evening. By swapping the scent you use at different times of the day, you can create both.
Next, it’s time to think about how you’d like to fragrance the room. At Mawgans we create luxury vegan scented candles and beautiful reed diffusers, and together they give you a huge amount of scope.
A candle is ideal when you want to fill the room with a burst of fragrance, and lighting a candle can be a wonderful ritual. Diffusers create a soft and subtle flame-free scent that lasts throughout the day.
Next, it’s time to choose the fragrance that will help convey the atmosphere you want. Below, I’ve given some top tips to help you choose your ideal luxury candle or diffuser.
Fragrance zoning in a hallway
Your hallway creates the first impression guests will have of your home, and it’s also the space that welcomes you home each day, where you can escape the chaos of the outside world. You want to create an expectation of pleasure, and the feeling that you’ve stepped into your private sanctuary.
Some of the best candles and diffusers to use in your hallway include:
If you want to evoke positive memories and make everyone smile, look for a fragrant and delicate floral scent. Our My Julie soy candle is the perfect choice, filled with soft, sweet English roses that create a warm welcome.
Are you keen to make your large hallway feel more intimate? A spicy fragrance with cinnamon or clove and warm citrus notes, such as sweet orange blossom, would be ideal. Consider our hand poured Lottie’s Breath luxury single wick candle, which purifies and cleans the air with its complex mix of spicy florals.
If your entry area is more compact, you can easily make it feel spacious with a sunny citrus scent. Look to lemon, grapefruit, pear, apple or even freesia. For an uplifting and fresh scent that lasts all day, our Francesca’s Garden luxury reed diffuser is the perfect option. It will make you feel like you’ve entered a luscious English garden, bursting with blooms.
Make your living room smell fabulous
As one of the hardest working spaces in your home, you want your living room to welcome your guests during the day, and envelop you in a relaxing hug as you unwind each evening. How can one space do both? With some clever scent scaping!
Perfect scents to use in your living room
Guests due any minute? Banish any pet odours with our beautiful Lottie’s Breath luxury triple wick scented candle. With bergamot, orange blossom, rose, jasmine and lily, it has been carefully crafted to eliminate unwanted odours and capture the fragrance of a sun-dappled summer evening.
One of my favourite living room scents for the evening is our sensual Kerensa reed diffuser. It’s a divine blend of luscious and refreshing juicy pomegranate fruits with the heady floral scent of the spicy Casablanca lily, resting on a subtle base of smoky wood.
At Mawgans it's important that our products look as good as they smell, so we’ve created gorgeous handmade Ceramic Candle Pots which look wonderful in every living room. They’re refillable, so you can choose one of our fragranced candles to pop inside, and easily swap it when you’ve enjoyed every last flicker.
Using scent scaping in the bedroom
Candles can be used at any time of day to help set a certain mood, and the bedroom is one of my favourite places to use a candle. I like to use mine for particular moments, such as bathtime, bedtime and meditation. Lighting a candle means it’s time for me to relax and unwind. I ensure my phone is on silent, the kids are safely tucked away in their rooms, I light my candle… and relax.
Scents to use in your bedroom
If you want to have a good night’s sleep, reduce any stress and soothe anxiety, consider using lavender. It takes centre stage in our gorgeous Counting Sheep scented soy candle, which also features the comforting properties of geranium oil and rosemary, to help you relax and unwind. Like all our signature scents, it’s also available in a reed diffuser, which is perfect to make your bedroom smell fantastic all day.
Get your day off to the perfect start by lighting our Wake Me Up candle as you get ready in the morning. It’s inspired by the enticing scent of fresh coffee, with silky notes of cream and vanilla, alongside rich, indulgent cacao to add delicious depth.
For an intimate and romantic vibe, look no further than our Kerensa diffuser. Kerensa is a wonderful Cornish name that means ‘love’, and the fruity and floral mix is a divine way to treat your loved one.
Energise your office space using fragrance
Get into the right frame of mind each morning using a particular scent for office hours. I find lighting a candle at the start of each day is a ritual that starts my day positively and helps me focus.
If you have a home office, fragrance zoning allows you to reserve one scent for working hours. One sniff, and you will quickly get into work-mode.
Scent scaping is also suitable for shared offices. A study from a Japanese fragrance company found that typing mistakes were reduced by more than 50% when a lemon scent was diffused into the air.
Try these fragrances in your shared or home office:
Start your day off on the right foot by lighting our invigorating Octopussy candle. It captures the crisp scent of sea air and gentle, earthy sage. Why not treat yourself to a luxurious triple wicked candle?
Choose the cleansing and aromatic blend of our After Eight luxury reed diffuser for the perfect way to clear your head, calm your heart and rid yourself of any fatigue and frustration. It combines deliciously cooling wild mint and white tea, and the diffuser will happily sit in the background as you work, filling your office with scent.
If you’re looking for that perfect touch to pop on a shelf behind you for your next video call, try one of our tactile and elegant handmade ceramic candle pots. Simply choose your favourite scent as a refill candle, place it inside, and fill your office with delight.
Scent scaping is an easy way to transform your home and channel the energy you want in each room. Remember, it’s your home, so choose the fragrances that you love.
At Mawgans, all of our signature scents are available as handmade single wick candles, triple wick candles, luxury reed diffusers and also as refills for our ceramic pots. If you’re struggling to pick a scent, why not try one of our tealight sample boxes, which include all of our signature scents?
Every order is handmade in Surrey in small batches, using natural ingredients, and each item is presented in beautiful, sustainable packaging. You can find out more about Mawgans here.