what 'smells' make a cozy home???

what actually makes a home cozy? Welcome to part two of my series, the science of cozy. In part one, we talked about how cozy is not an aesthetic. It's way more than the furniture and decor items we choose to put into our homes and I'm realizing that it's all about the five senses. Today we're specifically going over smell because it's been my niche special interest lately and it's just been fascinating to learn about how smell is the invisible layer of interior design. You can't see it, but it completely changes how a room feels. Smell is the only sense that has a direct line to our emotions and our memory part of our brain. That's why smell can trigger an emotional response instantly. The biggest difference between a staged home and a cozy home is the evidence of life. Coffee brewing, fresh laundry, wood burning, dinner cooking, fresh flowers. Those scents tell your brain this house is a home. Smells create an emotional experience and it actually influences our behavior. Retail stores know this, hotels know this, spas know this. Each room of our home performs a different emotional job. In bedrooms, you can have smells of lavender, cashmere, and amber and that's triggering a feeling of rest and relaxation. Kitchens, citrus, herbs, fresh coffee. In living rooms, you can have warm wood, soft vanilla and that's getting us to feel close and warm. Everyone wants to talk about making their home feel warm. Scents create emotional warmth, without having any visual clutter. If you're looking at your room and it already feels beautiful, but something's missing, what you might be missing is actually a sensory layer. And when you're adding the sensory layer of smell, the goal isn't to make your house smell like Bath and Body Works exploding. It's to make your home smell naturally warm. Sometimes it's as simple as fresh laundry, old books, incense, fresh flowers, a simmer pot, brewing coffee, baked bread, opening your windows. The list can go on. I could talk about this for days because like I said, I've been hyper addicted to perfecting my own signature house scent. It's a different mindset than just finding a good smelling candle. It's about discovering which scent communicates who you are, your personality, your identity, how you want that space to feel. I'll probably make a follow-up video to this with just my practical house scent tips, what products are my personal favorites, and discovering what you want your home to smell like should tie back to who you are. Much love, I'll see you in the next episode of the science of cozy series where we will specifically be going over sound and how to bring that into your home. Love you!