News and Events

August 14, 2007

Does Your Home Have Scent Appeal?

Does your home
have scent appeal?

(ARA) - Think Vanilla Breeze, Clean Linen, Refreshing Spa. Do you feel relaxed, refreshed, maybe miles away at a beachside resort? Think Hazelnut Cappuccino or Apple Cinnamon and you're in a whole different place. Now, go ahead and try Watermelon Rush! Wow, right?

Scent is the ultimate mood enhancer. It stirs memories and influences emotion more than any other sense. That's why using scent to enhance home style is so hot right now. It's an easy, affordable way to create ambience and bring a style to life. Glade, a leader in home air care for the past 50 years, calls it Scenterior Design and has helped inspire the trend by developing scents that can transform a room and bring a decor style to life.

Style expert Susie Coelho, HGTV personality and best selling author who just released a new book called "Secrets of a Style Diva: a Get Inspired Guide to Your Creative Side," considers scent to be one of her top style secrets. "Scent creates an instant ambience, and using fragrance can actually help you enhance your decor and make even more of a style statement," says Coelho.

Decorating and fragrance preferences go hand-in-hand because both reflect cultural attitudes and contemporary lifestyles. Today's top scent and style trends are inspired by the need for relaxation and reducing stress. For example, warm, homey decor is popular and can be enhanced by vanilla, rich coffee or apple pie scents. Asian influenced style enhanced with fragrances that contain green tea and ginger creates a peaceful, relaxing space. Light, airy colors, textures and fragrances like lavender and linen are also very "in" because they can make a room feel like a spa get-away.

"I encourage everyone to play with scents just as you play with any element of decorating. Experiment with different scents in different forms like candles, oils, sprays and see how the fragrance helps a style evolve," suggests Coelho.

To jump start your "scents of style," Coelho and the Scenterior Design experts at SC Johnson, a family company, offer the following ideas for using scent to set a mood and bring home style to life.

A Style Diva's Scenterior Design Guide

-No matter what look you're trying to achieve, go beyond color and texture and add the element of Scenterior Design. Glade offers many scents that can transform a room and bring a decor style to life.

-If you're looking to set a modern, chic mood, go for earth tones, browns, creams, taupes, linen, natural organic color tones with geometric shapes. Scents like Hazelnut Cappuccino, Espresso Bean and French Vanilla work here.

-For an inviting country feel, take cues from the garden and go for pinks, reds and greens accented with denim. Vanilla & Cream and Strawberries & Cream scents are right at home in this setting.

-Set an exotic tone with fabrics like organza, silks and gauze and choose exotic elements in terms of candles and lighting. Oranges, mango, fuchsia and rich greens are your color scheme and Spiced Rose & Vanilla and Hawaiian Breeze are your scents.

-If you're striving for a romantic room, use lace, vintage items and flea market finds in a room with soft rose, vintage white and faded green as your colors. Scents like Delicate Petals and Orchid Oasis echo the decorating theme.

-For casual contemporary, neutrals, creams, honey, and whites provide the color scheme, with tone-on-tone patterns adding interest. Vanilla Breeze and Rainshower scents are perfect here.

-Who wouldn't want a home spa? Achieve that feeling by adding water features and soft music to your surroundings. Relaxing colors like white and moss green pair with scents like Refreshing Spa, Clean Linen and Ferns and Blossoms.

-If you're looking for a whimsical, childlike feeling, don't mix palettes. Either go bold or soft, choosing either bright primary colors or soft pastels. Watermelon Rush and Berry Burst fit right in.

-European style is calming and relaxing. Use subdued, tonal colors and a relaxing scent like Lavender Meadow.

-Finally, for a special holiday feeling, pick a festive holiday pallet of reds, jewel tones and greens and run with it - but don't overdo the mix. To evoke the smells of the season, chose Apple Cinnamon or Glistening Snow.

Article courtesy of ARA Content

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