How to scent-scape your Christmas table

How to scent-scape your Christmas table

12/05/2021

What is scent-scaping?

A fun way to create ambience, atmosphere and sensory delight.

It involves combining different scents in a home space to enhance or manipulate the ‘feel’ of the room.

You can do it to make somewhere feel more summer-like (if you want to deceive the mind during the gloomy season), or you can bring out all the best of winter and Christmas by designing the perfect festival scent-scape.

Michelle Feeney, founder of sustainable fragrance brand Floral Street, tells Metro.co.uk: ‘Scent-scaping is where you can define spaces and time with fragrance as a form of creative expression and an effective way to breathe new life into your home.

‘Scent can help you “zone”, dividing your day and reflecting how you want to feel.

‘It can create clear distinctions between activities, times and moods. The scents you choose to compliment your spaces can impact your wellbeing helping to balance your mind, improve focus, reduce stress and introduce moments of self-care.’

Over Christmas, scent-scaping can function as much as a gentle wellbeing boost as it can add style and flare to a room.

When you’re hosting guests for food or drinks, this is never a bad thing.

How do you scent-scape?

It’s not simply lighting a candle and hoping for the best – scent-scaping is strategic.

Michelle says it’s easy – you just need to consider what scents will create the mood you’re after.

Place scented products around your home to create different moods,’ she says.

This could take the form of combining candles, a diffuser, a room mist, and even real flowers.

I’ll be lighting our Floral Street Lady Emma Candle in my hallway so when my family and friends arrive it feels like they have been given a huge bunch of flowers,’ Michelle adds, demonstrating that scent-scaping can take place all over the home.

She continues: ‘By putting a vanilla diffuser in the dining room creates a homecoming, comforting atmosphere.

Then I love a bright and light feel in my kitchen so will burn grapefruit candles which bring a burst upbeat optimism while I prepare the Christmas meal.

Cinnamon and vanilla is a classic Christmas scent combination, which could be a good place to start if you want to traditionally pair scents, but Michelle says it can be anything you want it to be.

But be careful not to overdo it – especially if you’re eating.

The smell and taste of meals like a Christmas roast are enough on their own so you need to place your candles where the beautiful scent compliments the space and doesn’t compete with it,’ says Michelle.

You can place them on the side to gently fragrance the room or light them earlier in the day for a subtle aroma for when your guests arrive. 

Home fragrance shouldn’t be overpowering and should enhance your space and how you want to feel. 

I often place two candles together, or a diffuser and a candle.’

If toasty vibes are what you like about Christmas, perhaps a woody scent like Floral Street Santal Diffuser would suit your tastes.

Smell isn’t a sense to overlook at a time when our taste is overloaded by Christmas food galore.

In fact, smells can affect how we experience food, with cinnamon being the classic example – you can ‘taste’ it because you’re smelling the aroma.

Michelle says: ‘Smell is the strongest trigger for memories and when you want to create new ones and set a certain mood, scent is a beautiful way to enhance and remember that moment.  

‘Offering a memento in the way of scent at each place setting can create a lasting memory of a special occasion with family and friends.’

Next time you come across the scent you choose for your festive scent-scaping, you’ll likely be taken back to the happy memory, which is something we can all enjoy more of.

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