Composing the scent of a room

The best-scented rooms do not smell of perfume. They smell like a place: a garden terrace after rain, a library, a riad courtyard at dusk. You notice it when you come in, then forget it until you remember the room later.

Think in layers

Perfumers often describe a fragrance in three stages:

• Top notes are what you smell first and lose first, such as citrus, green leaves and aromatic herbs.
• Heart notes form the character of the fragrance, such as florals, spices and tea.
• Base notes give depth and staying power, such as woods, resins, musks and amber.

In a room, the base carries most of the weight, because it is what stays in the fabric of the space. A fresh citrus scent can be lovely, but without a quieter base it disappears within minutes.

Choose materials that belong

The simplest way to choose is to ask what grows, or what is burned or built with, in the place you love. Cypress and fig leaf for an Italian lake. Rose, orange blossom and cedar for Marrakech. Hinoki, the pale cypress of Japanese baths, for Kyoto. Iris, or orris, is powdery, rooty and expensive, and it suits a quiet Parisian room.

The Prestagio Planner pairs every escape with a composition like this: not a product, but a set of notes to look for.

Choose the right diffuser

• Reed diffusers give a steady, low presence. They suit hallways and bathrooms.
• Candles add warmth and light. Never leave them unattended, and trim the wick.
• Electric diffusers can be timed and controlled. Keep the setting low.
• Linen sprays are the lightest touch of all, a mist over cushions before guests arrive.

Restraint

The most common mistake is too much fragrance. Start with less than you think, keep bedrooms lighter than living rooms, and let one space stay unscented. Scent works best as punctuation, not as the whole sentence.