Project Description
As we continue to spend more time at home, we can turn to experts for everything from decluttering to choosing houseplants or even custom-made scents for each room.
Aromatherapy for a Home
For years hotels and spas have commissioned signature scents. Now homeowners can do the same.
These fragrances go beyond simply smelling good, said Yael Alkalay, founder and chief executive of Red Flower, a company based in New York that makes personal care and home products from potent botanical extracts and other ingredients derived from plants. The company believes the natural scents of its products can boost your mood and help you work and sleep better.
Rather than an overall fragrance that blankets the whole house or apartment, however, Ms. Alkalay recommends localized scents, geared to and supporting what takes place in various rooms, used in conjunction with Red Flower’s ready-made products. For a home office, she might develop an oil that could be rubbed into the wood desk a client works at. “We could create a combination of cedarwood, lemon balm, frankincense and maybe even a little citrus, like grapefruit essential oil — it’s so awakening,” she said.
Switching scents, just like dimming or brightening lights, can also help change the mood when rooms must do double-duty, as is often the case these days. For a client who uses the same space for doing work and practicing yoga, Ms. Alkalay helped develop a ritual that involves misting the space after the workday is done and dabbing yoga towels with an oil that incorporates orange and quince.