Aromatic Spices To Make Your House Smell Good Naturally
Many of us agree that nothing feels better than walking into a home that smells of seasonal spices, especially on a cozy winter day. Whether it is a stovetop potpourri or freshly baked cookies with fresh aromatic ingredients added, you can use spices to make your house smell good in various ways. If you are curious about what the best-smelling ones are and how to use them to naturally freshen the air in your home, keep reading!
Cardamom Pods
Cardamom is one of the best smelling spices out there. It comes from dried cardamom fruits and is a member of the ginger family. Now, if you want an exotic aroma that creates a wonderful ambience, add cardamon pods to your crockpot potpourri.
It will give your home and the house a complex scent that uplifts your spirits. The fragrance from cardamom pods is known to linger for a while, even after the potpourri is off, so you can enjoy its wonderful aroma in your house for a long time.
Cinnamon
Are you wondering what to cook to make the house smell good? You can never go wrong with recipes that include cinnamon among the ingredients! Coming from the bark of the Cinnamomum tree and originally sold as rolled quill, it is one of the cheapest and most accessible spices that smell good.
Bake cinnamon rolls (or add a few sticks to your potpourri) and you will get a classic smell wafting through your home. You can be sure that the fantastic cinnamon smell will create a cozy atmosphere!
Cloves
More than any spice, cloves are known to have the highest concentration of aromatic flavor. They are the traditional house scenting spice options and for a good reason. With intense notes, it is a must-have ingredient if you are planning to create a Christmas-like aroma in your home.
To use cloves to make your house smell nice, all you need is to get the water simmering, then toss a few whole cloves in it and enjoy the warm, woody aroma they release.
Cumin
Cumin is a spice that comes from the small and ridged fruits of Cuminum Cyminum and is native to Asia. It is used in the form of ground powder or dried seeds to flavor meals, but you can use it to create a nice, spicy smell in your house by adding cumin seeds to your simmering potpourri.
Cumin has a distinctive, warm, slightly nutty scent due to its essential oil content. The aroma is very noticeable when crushed and let’s be honest; it is one of those fragrances which are either liked or despised. Some people associate it with body odor, while others think it is earthy and mysterious. It definitely has a very exotic scent, so why not try it yourself?!
Mace
Mace, the sister of nutmeg is a red seed produced by the plum-like fruits of an Indonesian tree. This good-smelling spice is used to spice up baked goods and meat thanks to its distinct, coriander and black pepper-like flavor. Also, mace is an excellent ingredient to add to a natural air freshener to create a unique fragrance in your house.
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One of my favorite simmering potpourri recipes that include mace is the Chai Tea Potpourri; add black tea bags, a little vanilla, and chai spices such as nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, star anise, bay leaf, fennel, and of course mace to a pot of water and slowly bring it to boil. A warm, spicy aroma will fill up your house quickly!
Ginger
Strong smelling spices, such as ginger effectively help to freshen the air in the house. Whenever I want to get rid of some unpleasant food odor that is left in my kitchen, I cook or bake something good smelling, such as gingerbread cookies. Like this, I will not only satisfy my family’s craving for something sweet but the pungent, warming aroma will linger in the air for some time.
If you don’t feel like turning on the oven, combine a few slices of lemon and ginger in a container or pan on the stove top, cover with water, heat, and voilà; your house will instantly get a delicious scent! For extra freshness, add some mint leaves to the mixture!
Star Anise
Adding whole star anise to a bowl of potpourri produces a great licorice home fragrance. These star-shaped pods, the dry fruits of the Illicium verum tree are used in cooking, to flavor liquors but also in the perfume industry thanks to its Intense warm, spicy-sweet pungent aroma.
Keep your kitchen smelling great by adding a few star anise pods into a small saucepan. Cover them with 2 cups of water and simmer. You will get an even more exotic scent if you pair it with cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Turmeric
If you love mild, earthy fragrances, you should try freshening the air in your house with turmeric. Being a rhizome, it is a relative of ginger and often used to flavor and color food; turmeric is the spice that provides the yellow color of curry and has a warm, yet bitter, orange-like aroma.
You can drop a few grams into the simmering water and wait for the smell to waft around to enjoy an energizing scent. But keep in mind that as turmeric ages, it loses aroma, so make sure that it is as fresh as possible!
Saffron
Saffron is a spice that comes from the crocus flower. It is often referred as ‘red gold’ and happens to be very expensive. Saffron has a very unique, musky leathery aroma; it is one of the most ancient perfume ingredients and was used to scent baths and temples.
Adding saffron to potpourri will produce a hay-like home fragrance that will penetrate your home. This smell is known to last for some time, even after the simmering has stopped.
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