Autumn is one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. It’s so pleasing to see nature dressed in a palette of luminous colors… not to mention the fresh, woodsy scents that herald the cold season. That’s why, if you need to sell your home this autumn, you can use fragrance to your advantage. When you think about it, home staging is as much about seducing your buyers’ eyes as it is about seducing their sense of smell. If you can create a welcoming atmosphere with a fragrance that brings back happy memories, it could help you sell your home. Wondering how to use fragrance to enhance your home this fall? We’ve got some tips and tricks for you. See below which fragrances are the most popular, and how to use them.
How can you use fragrance to enhance your property?
If you want to use fragrance to enhance your property, there are a few dos and don’ts. First of all, the sense of smell is one of the keenest senses we have. Our sense of smell can help us get out of a jam or make decisions. For example, if you visit a property where the smell is unpleasant, you certainly won’t want to go back. Secondly, if you don’t have a keen sense of smell, it’s important not to combine several fragrances: overload is never a good idea. Thirdly, you should never use perfumes to mask bad smells. If you have pets, for example, never try to camouflage their smell with perfume. Instead, give your home a thorough cleaning or move your pet to another location until the sale is completed. Even if you’ve become so accustomed to your pet that you can’t smell it, it may still bother a potential buyer.
What fragrances should you use this autumn to enhance your look?
As mentioned above, autumn is synonymous with nature. So choose natural fragrances that aren’t too penetrating. If you overdo it, you’ll have the opposite effect to the one you’re looking for. Here’s a list of the fragrances most appreciated by home staging professionals to help you choose the right scents to enhance your home:
- Plant fragrances: lavender, basil, rosemary, sage
- Spicy: vanilla, cinnamon, anise, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin spice
- Woody: pine, cedar, sandalwood
- Fruity: apple, lemon, orange
Where to use fragrances to enhance your home?
When preparing a house for sale, the exterior is just as important as the interior. It makes sense: the outside of your home is the first thing people see when they arrive. A clean, well-maintained entrance hall is therefore more welcoming than a room that looks worn and smells faded. You could even place flowers in a vase at the entrance to add a pleasant scent. The yard or garden is also important: keeping it well-maintained is a must, even in autumn. You should also remove anything that’s lying around in the yard and garden, to avoid unpleasant odours; take the opportunity to mow the lawn too. There’s nothing better than the smell of freshly cut grass! Plant a few colorful flowers for a pleasant fragrance near the entrance: roses, lilies and magnolias are good choices.
Scented candles
Scented candles are a very simple way of spreading a pleasant fragrance throughout the home. Available in a wide range of shapes and sizes, they come in an infinite variety of fragrances. They’ll help you create a beautiful setting, with an exquisite fragrance to boot. You could, for example, use seasonal flowers, dried fruit and colorful leaves to add to your candles to decorate a table or piece of furniture. Remember to light them before a visit and extinguish them when you’re not around. Place your candles in a safe place, too, and choose ones that burn longer. If they burn completely during the same visit, the scent of the burning wick may be unpleasant for some people.
Aromatic oils
Aromatic oils are another great way to use fragrances to enhance a property in autumn. Easy to use, these oils come in a variety of fragrances. You can use them in diffusers or essential oil burners, or apply a few drops to a piece of cloth or absorbent cotton balls and place them around the house, even in closets. Visitors are likely to open the cupboards – so if the smell is pleasant, that’s an added bonus. You can also make your own air fresheners by adding aromatic oil to a spray bottle filled with water. Spray a few jets of fragrant mist in each room, and you’re done!
Scented sachets
Making or buying scented sachets is another winning way to use fragrance to enhance your property this autumn. Use clean cotton squares to sew sachets filled with herbs chosen for their calming and relaxing properties. You can hang them around the house or place them in strategic locations.
A fire in the fireplace
Autumn is a season for coziness and warmth. To that end, if you have a fireplace, light a fire. Its pleasant, warm aroma helps you relax, and the crackling sound of a good fire will add to the ambience. You’ll welcome smiling, happy visitors who’ll want to stay even longer. You can also offer potential visitors hot chocolate to persuade them to negotiate the price of your home.
Use nature to perfume your home
To reproduce the scents of nature indoors, use freshly cut flowers or branches. You can also create arrangements with slices of fresh fruit arranged on small plates. Dried fruit is also a good idea: slices of apple or orange threaded through pieces of string, then hung in strategic places around the house, will make lovely, sweet-smelling decorations.
Bake sweet treats
Smells have a way of awakening pleasant memories of our childhood or good times later in life. By using these smells to enhance your home, you’ll have a definite advantage. Bake treats before visitors arrive: bread, cinnamon buns or spiced pumpkin pie. If you don’t feel like making a complicated recipe, baking apples can also work. Just make sure you don’t overcook them or burn them.
In conclusion
You now know how to put scent to good use in staging your property this autumn, so you can now prepare the house for your prospective buyers. They’ll appreciate the effort you’ve put into making the house smell good, and may even offer you a higher asking price.