Five Senses in Design | Scent
Understanding Scent in Design
Design is frequently interpreted through visual media like print or video, yet true design mastery extends beyond the visible. Engaging the five senses transforms a space, offering a holistic and immersive experience. This post explores the neglected sense of scent and its potential to capture design essence, evoke emotions, and enhance diverse environments.
The sense of scent possesses the remarkable ability to evoke intense emotions. Utilising natural scents contributes to creating welcoming, relaxing, healing, refreshing, seductive, and nurturing environments.
Displaying fresh flowers not only showcases nature's beauty but also adds brightness to surroundings. Scented candles or reed diffusers with essential oils can effectively uplift spirits.
Introducing scented plants within living spaces or window boxes aligns with therapeutic essential oils; spanning citrus, floral, herbal, camphoraceous, spicy, and woody fragrances. These diverse scents have the power to create or enhance different moods.
Experimenting with essential oils allows for harmonious blends within the same group and unique combinations across groups, like floral and citrus or woody spice and citrus. For stress relief, the yin-yang balance of chamomile and lavender is particularly effective. To rejuvenate after a tiring day, consider the invigorating scents of rosemary, orange, or eucalyptus.
When strategising aromatherapy incorporation, adopt a method akin to deciding on a colour scheme. Contemplate the room's purpose, occupants, and the desired atmosphere. To make appropriate choices, consider:
Substituting artificial scents with natural alternatives
Individual or group preferences for floral, spicy, herbal, woody, earthy, sweet, or musky scents
Favourable scented flowers and specific essential oils
Whether certain scents evoke happiness and well-being
Incorporating Scent into Your Design
Living Areas: Consider burning scents with notes of tobacco, herbs, or scented wood to infuse the space with a cozy aroma, like the Tobacco and Fir Scent from Alchemy Produx. Lumen + Luxe's concrete candles make a statement piece while smelling delightful.
Bedrooms: Enhance sleep quality with herb pillows filled with lavender, chamomile, or marjoram. Store linens with sachets of lavender or rose in aromatic cedar or sandalwood chests. Line drawers with paper scented with citrus or geranium oils for a pleasant fragrance. Check out Lazy Bones for scented sachets.
Bathrooms: Elevate the bathing experience by adding oils to the bath or infusing muslin sacks with herbs and flowers. Enhance ambiance with the gentle glow and fragrance of candles. Consider a reed diffuser, such as the ones from The Raconteur. (And seen in the image above.)
Kitchens: Immerse your kitchen in comforting aromas with fresh herbs, coffee, baked bread, or homemade soups. Opt for natural cleaning products, like vanilla and bicarbonate of soda, or infuse water with oils such as tea tree, pine, thyme, and lavender. Explore natural Australian scents from Bondi Wash.