How to scent your bachelor pad

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we thought we’d remind our gentlemen readers that girls like boys whose apartments smell good. Period.

When I first moved into the house I’m currently living in, it smelled like the inside of a Grade 3 kid’s lunchbox–for the first six months. I couldn’t get rid of the musty food smell no matter how many times I bleached the floor. (At least the bleach smell lasted for a few hours.) My friend was convinced it was a smelly ghost and went so far as to buy me a bundle of white sage to smudge out the spirit. Needless to say, I entertained few guests.

Long gone are the days when student-dorm patchouli was all you had to refresh your rooms. Scented candles, air misters and diffusers (including humidifier/diffuser combos) are amping up the smelling-of-comfort factor with increasing sophistication. It’s time to get your bachelor pad date ready with scent. Are you ready for Valentine’s Day?

The natural method

As mentioned above, the burning of herbs and resins has been part of many cultures for centuries, from frankincense to incense. White sage from the farmer’s market or health-food store is said to purify and “centre” a room, leaving it “open” and refreshed once the actual burning-brush smell dies down.

The spray way

Lotus Aroma has a health spray line that purifies and soothes the nostrils, employing citrus, floral and woodsy essential oils to enhance the air naturally, with mists that range from cypress and cinnamon to lavender and grapefruit.
Lotus Aroma Ambiance Mist Pine & Balsam Fir, $16 (100 ml), www.yeswellness.com

The diffuser difference

Jo Malone offers a collection of room diffusers that sit elegantly in a corner adding an air of refinement, without knocking people over the head. This brand harnesses together interesting combos such as pear and freesia, and lime and basil.
Jo Malone London Lime Basil & Mandarin Diffuser, $85 (165 ml), www.jomalone.com

The candle route

Candles are old-school, but they work. Diptyque has this man-market cornered, offering an absolute ton of distinct scents for the home in fruity, herbal, spicy and woody category pillars, whether you favour mint, myrrh or mimosa.
Diptyque Oud Candle, $60 (200 ml), www.diptqueparis.com

How many other men’s apartments have you been in that smelled like weed, dirty bathroom towel, toast, steak, mud, dog, all of the above? Don’t be that guy.