Preparing a home for Christmas doesn't have to stop once the final bauble has been hung on the tree. Making sure your home has a lovely festive scent is the perfect finishing touch that is guaranteed to impress guests.
There are, of course, some obvious home fragrance options, whether that is with a festive candle or indulging in some homemade mulled wine, but other methods such as simmer pots may not be as well known despite offering some of the best results.
Here are ten expert-approved ways to make your home smell nice for the festive period.
10 ways to make your home smell good for Christmas
Incorporating tailored scents into your home is a great way to make a space feel complete – especially at Christmas. Understanding fragrance layering and knowing how to set a mood with scent is a great skill to have if you want to take your home decor to another level.
1. Use real festive foliage
Fresh, real foliage is one of the best ways to scent a home – especially if you want to take a natural route. Using a real tree is an obvious approach, however, a similar effect can be achieved by investing in or making Christmas wreaths with the best-scented foliage for Christmas decorations, such as real pine, fir, or even eucalyptus.
Luxury florist Ronny Colbie suggests, 'Forage or source foliage that will last throughout the season as the base to all your floral arrangements. English pine, holly, twigs, winter eucalyptus – anything that will dry nicely and add a festive scent. Once you have the base of foliage you can simply add flowers to suit and change as they wilt. For long-lasting flowers, you’re best off with Amaryllis, Hydrangea, or winter berries.
‘If fragrance is of the utmost importance to you, select a combination of aromatic evergreens for your wreaths. A mix of pine, cedar, eucalyptus, balsam, and juniper will result in a wintry scent,' Ronny advises.
If you have faux foliage, consider adding some Fir Scented Ornament Sticks like these on Amazon, a favorite of mine, that emulates a fresh pine scent without the need for a real tree.
You can also delve into what luxury spa directions use to help welcome guests.
2. Pick festive essential oils
Essential Oils are another common way of scenting a space, but sometimes making a reed diffuser doesn't quite cut it if you are looking for a more powerful festive aura. 'Burning' your oils or adding them to the best essential oil diffuser instead can be a better alternative.
Ottalie Stride, creative director of Albion Nord says 'Scent sets the mood. When using essential oils, the obvious, overwhelming whack of clove can be softened and blended with bay, orange, and ylang-ylang to create a more personal, festive aroma,' she adds. 'The oil blend can be burned as you wish over a candle in a ceramic burner.'
Christmas-themed essential oils such as nutmeg and cinnamon can make a home feel comforting so are an ideal choice for welcoming close friends and family. Brighter scents like peppermint and spearmint, on the other hand, maybe a little more stimulating and are good for providing energy.
Burning minty oils on a diffuser, such as the Pura Plus, is also thought to be helpful for easing the symptoms of coughs and colds making them practical for the winter months too.
Jennifer Kellison, director of innovation at Aura Cacia adds, 'Diffusing essential oils is an easy and convenient way to scent your house because essential oil diffusers often allow you to set timers for how long you want to run them. Essential oil diffusers require less supervision compared to a candle, so they’re a good “set and forget” option when you’re busy hosting, or if there are children around.'
'Burn' candles , wax melts, and essential oils safely with this heating device, so you can enjoy festive scents with the risk of a real flame
With scents from frankincense and peppermint to tangerine and Ylang-Ylang, there is something in this essentials oil kit for every home and every season
3. Make festive potpourri
Potpourri is no longer just for the center of your grandmother's coffee table, and it can be a fun Christmas activity to make your own at home – especially if you know how to dehydrate fruit in an air fryer already.
Noelle Isbell, principal designer at Noelle Interiors says, 'Holidays are special to our showroom and we love to add festive scents such as rosemary, cinnamon, Christmas tree remains, etc to set the mood.' Adding dried citrus slices and berries, pine cones with added essential oils, and cinnamon sticks can take your centerpiece to another level too.
Don't fancy making your own potpourri, Walmart has premixed apple cinnamon potpourri bags ready for the festive season
4. Mix up a simmer pot
Simmer pots are really easy to make and can be a great way of creating a lingering scent in your house, especially if you need to scent a large space quickly. Plus, there are several simmer pot recipes for fall and winter to choose from, allowing you to fully customize your home's fragrance.
Sahina Ibrahim, founder at Nurh, shares, 'Grab a pot and water, and toss in your favorite Christmassy spices. My go-to is a mix of cinnamon sticks [available at Walmart] orange slices, cloves, and a splash of vanilla extract [also from Walmart]. If you’re feeling fancy, add star anise or fresh cranberries for extra flair. Bonus: It’ll smell like you’ve been baking up a storm, even if your oven’s been collecting dust since last year.'
To make a simmer pot, fill a medium to large cooking pot around halfway full with cider or plain water before adding your ingredients. Allow the mixture to come to a temperature and simmer for a few hours on low, making sure to keep your internal doors open and windows closed to allow the scent to travel throughout your space.
Keep an eye on the liquid level as it simmers to make sure it does not boil dry Never leave your simmer pot unattended for long periods of time.
5. Indulge in festive baking
Is there anything more Christmassy than putting on some Christmas music and baking cookies and gingerbread, or trying out a new Christmas recipe? Sahina Ibrahim, a fragrance expert, certainly doesn't think so.
She says, 'Scent and Snacks, what's not to like? Want your home to smell incredible? Bake gingerbread cookies or spiced apple pie. Worst case, you’ll have a tray of treats. In the best case, you’ll have treats, and your house will smell like a Hallmark movie.'
6. Use scented fire starters, or even make your own
If your home has a log-burning stove, consider using scented fire starters. Not only do they help you start a fire quickly but they also smell amazing as they burn.
Wax fire starters with ingredients such as pinecones, bay leaves, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves, and herbs such as rosemary are great options for the festive period. These all-natural pine wood and coffee fire starters from Amazon are a great way to make a house smell cozy quickly.
When picking or making fire starters, consider the different candle wax types. Opt for fire starters made with natural wax such as soy or beeswax as these do not release toxins or chemicals when burned (unlike paraffin) and do not hinder the smell of the spices inside.
7. Hang spice cushions
While spice cushions can be bought pre-made, they are just as easy to make at home. These simple pouches make for wonderfully rustic Christmas decor and contain a wonderful combination of warm spices such as cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon (and sometimes a little fir too) to help make your home smell festive.
These handy hangers, such as these balsam fir scented sachets, available at Etsy, can be used throughout the home but would work best to make an entryway smell nice and on the backs of doors where it might be more difficult to place a candle or oil diffuser to make an entryway inviting.
You can make your own scent pouches by filling cheesecloth straining bags, from Amazon, with fresh spices and cloves. Simply replace and refresh as needed.
DIY not your thing? premade sachets work just as well to scent your home for the season
8. Light a Christmas candle
Although a more obvious choice, burning the best candles around your home will offer some temporary fragrance to set the mood when you are cozying up with a movie or having guests around for dinner and drinks.
Kerry Kip, founder of MINOT Candle says, 'If you're trying to make your home smell nice before Christmas company arrives, make sure to think about timing: Candles can take one to two hours for the scent to really permeate the space, so you want to make sure you light candles early before your guests arrive.
'The best indicator that a candle has been given enough time to properly scent a room is if the entire top is melted across the width of the candle. This is also the best way to care for a candle and make it last longer without tunneling, too.'
Learn more in our dedicated candle care guide.
A grounding blend to activate deep relaxation, with notes of rich earth, petitgrain, sandalwood, and rosemary.
9. Swap hand soap to Christmas scents
The hand soap you keep in your bathroom may not be your first thought when you are trying to make your home smell nice for Christmas, but it is an easy swap that won't go unnoticed.
Artisan hand soaps with a strong fragrance not only make you and your guest's hands smell nice but release fragrance into the air, scenting your bathroom with every use. The result is a simple touch of luxury that will have guests asking you where they can find some themselves.
It's something people with nice-smelling bathrooms always do.
With gingerbread and pine scents, these festive hand soaps are perfect for sprucing up your kitchen and bathroom fragrance this season
10. Use Christmas cleaning products
Although not the most fun or relaxing suggestion on this list, adding some festive-scented cleaning products to your pre-Christmas cleaning routine can help spread a festive scent around your home while also keeping your space clean tidy ready for guests.
With dish soap, hand soap, and multipurpose cleaner, this Christmas cleaning set is sure to make your tedious tasks feel a little more special this season
Consider taking your Christmas fragrance tricks further this holiday season by learning how to make bed sheets and upholstery smell like Christmas, too, for an all-encompassing scent that instantly makes your home feel cozy.
