Avoid These 6 Scents When Your House is for Sale
When your house is on the market, you’re looking to maximize every benefit possible – even the smells have to sell. How do you know if the scents wafting through your home are pleasant or not? Don’t we just do as the song says? Follow your nose – it always knows? Not always.
You need to start thinking of scents as a strategic part of the packaging of your home. Packaging is meant to appeal to the greatest number of buyers so depersonalizing your space, including scents in your home, is essential.
Some scents are designed to combat or enhance odours, while still others happen by accident. Here are the top six to avoid:
1. Potpourri
We have all seen it, smelled it or used it. Some people swear by these aromas and beautiful arrangements of petals and plant fragments. Although the placing of potpourri in your home seems like a pretty straightforward way to add some scent to a room, the smell can be somewhat overbearing.
Potpourri is made up of a combination of active natural and simulated scents; it can be an aroma that is just too complex for some. Also, anyone who has a keen sense of smell or allergic reactions to the synthetic fragrances can be bothered by the effect potpourri. Avoid using these common blends and stick with some natural and clean scents such as orange or vanilla that is sure not to cause a headache.
2. Chocolate chip cookies
You’re probably thinking, “What’s wrong with chocolate chip cookies”? The smell of fresh baked cookies can conjure up sweet memories and make you feel at home.
The only problem is the combination of scents makes the brain work a little too hard. We try to figure out which scents are present and it becomes quite distracting. Allow this fragrance once in a while but try to stay away from using it as a staple and find a softer scent like lavender or chamomile that brings on those homey feels.
3. Gourmet foods
The foodie in me wants to reject this advice, but similar to the smell of baking, our brains just work too hard to decipher all the smells, no matter how delicious they are. Our sense of smell is unique to each individual. Not everyone loves the aroma of certain foods cooking, and in some cases, it can be a turn-off. In my house, the smell of garlic and onion or certain spices is met with great pleasure because it means a fantastic meal is about to happen. When you’re selling your house, you’re not feeding anyone, you’re showcasing your home so think neutral and clean.
Try using a lemon scent or fresh herbs to add a pleasant, refreshing food smell in the kitchen.
4. Complex fragrances
Most complex fragrances we use today are used to mask an odour. These aromas are strong, even many essential oil blends, and can either overwhelm or make someone feel like you’re covering up one smell with another. To make matters worse, we often use these fragrances in bathrooms, the smallest rooms in the house.
Instead of covering up an odour, seek the source and eliminate it. Be careful with your choice of cleaning solutions which can have strong, complex chemically or harsh lemony scents. Try using scent-free solutions or soft, fresh scents such as clean linen, which conjures up the smell of clean laundry.
5. Flowers & floral perfumes
While fresh-cut flowers are a beautiful and fragrant addition to any room, some floral scents are quite strong, particularly to those with allergies, and sprays can be downright overwhelming. Although fresh flowers are lovely, when you bulk the most fragrant with ones another, the pleasantness quickly fades, and the smell becomes overpowering. Flowery scents from a can or bottle are often even more difficult for people to handle.
Stick with fresh flowers without scent and instead opt for one or two fragrances that are soft, and will bring a natural and bright feel. Stick with the basics: orange, lemon, pine, basil, cedar, vanilla, clean linen, or cinnamon.
6. “Noseblind” scents
Noseblindness is actually a thing. According to Dr. Richard Doty, the director of the Smell and Taste Center at the University of Pennsylvania, “You adapt to the smells around you.” It’s why you return from holidays and suddenly realize you need to open the windows – because when you’ve been away from your home, your nasal senses “reset” and you are smelling your home anew, just like a potential buyer might when entering your home for the first time.
Whether it’s pet odours, shoes, sports equipment, “Eau de Teenager,” or fridge and pantry items that have expired, we can all become noseblind. A good, old-fashioned deep clean is a must, including laundering bedding and pillows, cleaning the inside of refrigerators, pantries and ovens, steam-cleaning carpeting, and deep-cleaning pet bedding and litter areas is a must. No product or perfume in the world can compensate for the freshly-scrubbed smell of clean.
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