(Daily Mail) -- A fragrance expert has shared her top tips and tricks for using scents around the house to transform ordinary rooms into 'interesting and extraordinary' spaces.
Laura Slatkin, founder and CEO of NEST Fragrances, a luxury home fragrance company, revealed a clever interiors hack that involves using different fragrances to give each room in a house a unique scent.
The New York-based businesswoman explained the benefits of scenting each room in a house differently, saying that doing so can transform an ordinary room into a much more 'interesting and extraordinary' space, as well as revealing the best scents to use in each area of the house.
The best scents to use in each room of the house
1. Entrance
In the hallway of a house, Laura recommends using fresh, floral scents, as she believes it is one of the nicer scents to be greeted with upon immediately entering into a home.
She added that the entrance to a house is the ideal place for such fragrances, because people don't tend to like being around them for too long.
2. Living room
Laura either uses citrus scents with notes of grapefruit and coriander, or fruity fragrances with hints of tangerine and passion-fruit in the living room.
Describing the scents, she said: 'They simply sparkle, brighten the room, and put everybody in a happy mood!
3. Kitchen
According to the fragrance specialist, spicy, gourmand fragrances work well in the kitchen. She explained that she likes to use fragrances with hints of pumpkin, vanilla and cinnamon.
She said: 'I always want my kitchen to smell like amazing, yummy things are baking even when they’re really not!
4. Bathroom
Laura says the bathroom calls for something 'surprising or unexpected' because we tend to spend such little time in the room.
'Pick a fragrance that will really stop your family and guests and make them think, “Wow. It really smells amazing in here",' she said.
'I very recently put our new Rose Noir & Oud home fragrance in my powder room. It’s a sultry, floral-woody scent that is bound to make an impression'.
5. Bedroom
In the bedroom, Laura uses one of her crafted scents, Cedar Leaf & Lavender, to create a 'serene, calm mood', which she describes as a herbal retreat 'where you can truly relax and unwind'.
While previously working as the senior vice president for an investment bank in Wall Street, Laura had always dreamed of starting her own business, and with the help of her husband Harry Slatkin, the dream became a reality.
The pair met while working in Wall Street, and married in 1992.
Shortly after they married, the pair, along with her brother-in-law, developed a home-fragrance company called Slatkin & Co., which launched in Saks Fifth Avenue, and was bought by Limited Brands in 2005.
The now mother-of-two used her experience with fragrances to launch NEST Fragrances in 2008.
She discussed some tips and tricks she practices in her own homes, two of which are located in New York's Manhattan and Palm Beach, including a favorite hack of hers that involves using different scents in each room.
She told FEMAIL: 'Using home fragrances to create specific moods in different rooms in your home is a lot of fun and quite impactful.'
'Whether it’s for your own personal enjoyment or for you and your family, or for your guests, have fun using fragrance to create different moods in your home. An exceptional fragrance can truly shape a mood and transform an ordinary room into a much more interesting and extraordinary room,' she said.
Laura said she enjoys and encourages using different scents in different rooms so you don't get sick of one particular fragrance.
She explained: 'Nose blindness is a real thing. Your olfactory receptors will become accustomed to that same fragrance and you will notice the scent strength will dissipate over time until it is barely detectable to you.
Laura added that another disadvantage of using the same scent in every room leaves guests who aren't fond of the smell with no where to go to escape it.
'A fragrance that may be totally offensive to one person may mean something very different and be very special to another,' she explained.
She added: 'My husband, Harry, gets a headache from a floral fragrance of mine that I personally love, Blue Garden.
Laura recommends 'playing it safe' when entertaining guests at home, and she advises using crowd-pleasing citrus-based fragrances, such as grapefruit.
NEST Fragrances specialize in diffusers, candles, Eau de Parfum, body lotions, hand lotions and soaps, as well as a variety of other home-fragrance products.
The best product for keeping a room filled with scent is a diffuser, according to Laura, who compared its purpose to that of a bouquet of flowers, saying 'it smells beautiful when you are near it, but the scent does not fill every corner of your home.'
'My philosophy is every room in your home should have 24/7 scent,' she said. 'Using a diffuser will achieve that goal. Keep the size of the room in mind, however.
She recommends placing the diffuser in 'high-traffic' areas, like the hallway, so that when you walk by it the scent will be carried into other rooms.
NEST Fragrances diffusers range between $48 and $120, while a liquid refill costs $26.
As the seasons change, so do Laura's fragrance choices.
'In the springtime, I love a fresh, clean scent in the master bedroom. One with notes of apple blossoms and white orchids to get me thinking about being outdoors,' she said.
'Then, in the summer, I turn to my Ocean Mist & Sea Salt fragrance - I think the name says it all, which I like to use in the living room at my home in East Hampton.
'It gets us all in the mood for the beach. Or, if it’s raining, it takes us to the beach while we relax at home,' she added.
When fall comes around, Laura substitutes her summer scents with warmer fragrances.
She explained: 'I enjoy a warm exotic scent like Moroccan Amber when I am reading in the library, or a rich fruity fragrance with notes of velvety Anjou pear, crisp apple, and white musk for the living room.
Laura describes one of the NEST fragrances, Pumpkin Chai, as the perfect scent for October and the lead up to Thanksgiving, saying: 'it is the most sophisticated, mouthwatering pumpkin fragrance you will ever experience.'
The holiday season, according to Laura, is all about nostalgia, tradition and celebration.
'During cold winter days, I wrap myself in a cozy, woody fragrance like Hearth, which has notes of rich oud wood, frankincense, and hints of smoky embers. It’s like a portable fireplace!'
One thing Laura doesn't advice to others who plan on scenting their homes with different scents is blending fragrances.
She explained: 'Perfumery is unique combination of science and art. So, to combine a fragrance with another fragrance after taking an arduous and beautiful journey to get the scent just right is a slap in the face to all those involved [in creating the scent].
'In the springtime, I love a fresh, clean scent in the master bedroom. One with notes of apple blossoms and white orchids to get me thinking about being outdoors. Then, in the summer, I turn to my Ocean Mist & Sea Salt fragrance, which I like to use in the living room at my home in East Hampton.'
The mother-of-two strongly believes in using scents to make a home feel more welcoming and inviting, and says there's nothing better than coming home after a long, stressful day and taking in a familiar, uplifting scent.
'Maybe every month one family member gets to choose which fragrance will welcome you home for that month. Have fun with home fragrance,' she said.
When guests are coming over, Laura says you can't go wrong with a 'cheerful citrus fragrance like Grapefruit or a fruity fragrance like Sicilian Tangerine' describing the scents as crowd-pleasers and instant 'mood-lifters'.
She said: 'I travel regularly for public appearances at retail stores all across the U.S. and I meet and speak with hundreds of customers. I have been doing it for years and I have never had one person turn their nose up at either of those fragrances.
'As soon as they smell that first fragrance note in Grapefruit or Sicilian Tangerine, their faces light up and grin from ear to ear,' she added.
