What smells so good?

What does your house smell like?
Why do they all smell different?
Do you think that a great smelling interior makes you love the interior even more? Can it make you hate an interior or have a bad reaction? Why are smells so powerful? Why is that I think of my grandmother at her dressing table every time I smell Chanel No. 5? Roses and freshly cut grass make me think of my fathers garden.

If you don't like the smell something- does that have a direct relation to your visual experience? To me personally I think that it is all related...

The power of smell.

Some interesting facts:

People who cannot smell have a condition called Anosmia.

As you get older, your sense of smell gets worse.

Smell, like taste, is a chemical sense detected by sensory cells called chemoreceptors.

Dogs in general have a nose approximately a hundred thousand to a million times more sensitive than a human's.

Smell, more so than any other sense, is also intimately linked to the parts of the brain that process emotion and associative learning.

A smell can bring on a flood of memories, influence people's moods and even affect their work performance

House sellers set fresh pie or cookies on counter tops to make a house seem comfy and livable.


Here are a few of my favorite smells around my house:
I adore Santa Maria Novella and just picked up a ton more in Italy last month.
I also love Diptique candles- a few favorites include: Figuier and Baies
Last year in Paris I discovered the Hermes d'Orange Verte scent and I found it just intoxicating. The smell is made up of bergamot, lemon, mandarin, mint, jasmine, orange blossom, moss and cedar. (I even bought 10 bars of the soap on ebay when I got back home- I do anything to make my shower experience better- as I just hate mornings. It helps-it really does!) I also think that that Verbena is a great smell for the house as well. I don't really wear much fragrance myself- but I have been mad for Jill Sander for Men for at least 5 years (It is so sad that they don't make it anymore- but thanks to ebay again- I have a drawer full of it on reserve!)

These are just my personal tastes for my own place. They are a big earthy for some- but they make me happy.

So what does your place smell like?