Sensory Beauty Secrets To Enhance Your Home
Sep 11th, 2008 | By Rachel Ray | Category: HomeFinding ways to scent a car, office, or home can be a powerfully relaxing way to bring sensory beauty to your environment. We’ll be exploring methods that can be done.
Carpet Freshener - Very easy to make yourself. Get a pound of baking soda and mix with it a few drops of essential or fragrance oil and mix in a food processor. Pour this mixture out on a cookie sheet and allow to dry a few hours, stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container.
You can then either sprinkle this freshener on your carpets directly, allow to sit a few minutes and then vacuum. The other way is to simply put some in your vacuum cleaner bag directly and it’ll add scent as your vacuum your carpets.
Try adding to a small saucepan at home some apple cider, cloves, cinnamon sticks and orange peel and simmer on low heat. This release a wonderful, homey scent often bringing memories of comfort and food. Add small amounts of water as the mixture runs low.
Try scenting a centerpiece. Here’s an idea, bake a fresh bundt cake then take a small jar and fill it with fragrant flowers and then set this small jar of flowers in the center of the bundt cake. Experiment with different scent combinations. Lemon is beautiful with honeysuckle for example.
Fragrance your pillows. You can either take a small amount of potpourri in a small sachet bag and pin to the sides of the pillow, or tuck inside the pillow case. Another method is spritz lightly with your favorite perfume, or linen spray. Be sure to check for color fastness first on an unseen area of your pillow to be sure it won’t ruin the fabric first.
Scent your linen drawer or closet by tucking dried sprigs of lavender in between the layers of towels and sheets. You can also tuck them near the sides of the linens directly in the closet. Lavender not only provides a soothing, calming scent to those linens, but also works as a moth and insect repellent as well.
Scented seashells for your bathroom. For small shells, soak the shells for a few minutes in olive oil and a few drops of essential oils. For larger shells, add a couple drops of essential oil right into the middle of the shells. Set these shells on a decorative tray or basket in your bathroom or bedside for both a pleasing scent and visual treat.
Scented powder puff. Invest in a luxurious powder puff and your favorite scented powder. Take a nice long bubble bath and after towel drying, treat yourself to your scented powder. It stays with you a long time and you’ll feel de-stressed and pampered.
Finding ways to incorporate scents, textures, sights and sound can help us relax and combat the stress in our rushed, tension and pressure filled lives. Sometimes simply touches help us to remember to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life.