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Scenting Your Home / Laura Slatkin Event

On Monday afternoon, I was invited by Laura Slatkin to attend the launch party for her new home fragrances collection, Project Art, in Laura’s absolutely jaw-dropping Upper East Side home. Laura is the woman behind popular home fragrance line Nest, and developed Project Art with an eye towards making luxe home fragrances more accessible to the average consumer (the 22 oz. candles are $24.99; the line will be available in select Bed Bath & Beyonds and Hallmark stores starting in September). I’m always shocked at the prices of candles nowadays – if I’m paying $50 for a candle (which I’m not), I’m not going to want to burn the thing, which sort of negates the whole point…so it’s refreshing to find a line that’s both elegant and affordable.

During the event, I stole a few minutes with Laura to chat about the best scents to use in different parts of the home.

Entryway: Go for florals, which provide a smoother transition from outside to inside. Also, not everyone loves florals, and your guests can move through the area quickly if the scent isn’t to their liking.

Living Room: Spicy scents and citruses heighten energy and spark conversation; try lime or orange. This is also a great place to play with seasonal scents (such as pumpkin, pine, and cinnamon) to create a festive atmosphere.

Kitchen: Again, citruses work well, but anything sharp and clean (like lemon verbena) will help eliminate cooking odors. I also love incorporating herbal scents such as basil.

Bathroom: Because this is such a small area (and presumably one your guests won’t spend much time in), it’s a great place to try out something dramatic. Choose an unusual, notice-me scent (Laura recommends Nest’s Wasabi Pear).

Bedroom: This is where you can get all romantic with lavender and rose, or create a cozy atmosphere with calming mossy scents. I also like using sheet sprays that compliment the scent I’ve chosen: for example, a sage candle blends nicely with lavender water spritzed onto pillows before bedtime.

What are your favorite scents for different parts of the home?

Product samples were provided for take-home exploration; I haven’t gotten the chance to try any of them yet, but I put Wasabi Pear directly into my bathroom.



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July 13th, 2010 | Posted by Jordan | Home | 5 Comments »

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  • onederkatie

    Jordan, I just seriously don't understand who your target market is. If you had to pay for a $25 candle, would you? For real?

    People who have thrown the word “shill” around are not accusing you of illegal activity, as you said in a comment on a recent post. They are questioning your sincerity, and for good reason. It's fine if you want to live your life and make your living this way, but you can't expect all of your readers to swallow everything you try to sell. Especially because it has ranged from tacky K-Mart ornaments to $400 watches. Of course you can give this stuff good reviews– you don't pay for them!

    I think your website would be much improved if you were more discerning about the products you endorse here, and more mindful of what kind of audience you are trying to attract. High/Low is one thing, but someone like me, who can totally get behind your Salvation Army love (yay, pouring money back into your community! anti-waste! anti-consumerism!) has a hard time believing that it's a good idea to pay $25 for a horseradish/fruit scented candle.

    Also, no offense because I know it was a first try, but I think the cabinet remodel you link to so proudly is embarrassingly hideous. You have to acknowledge that people do not need tips on getting basil flecks out of drinks. By the same token, touting animal rights is indeed problematic if you refuse to examine your eating habits more carefully, and you post pictures of STARFISH ON HOOKS.

    The home improvement blog younghouselove that you linked to months ago is a great example of product disclosure done right. John and Sherri also provide great tutorials– I've learned so much from them, it's made me want to remodel my rented apartment! I think if you spent some time reading really good blogs, and focused on giving readers information that would benefit them rather than just yourself, your site would be better.

    Two more reccs: make the number of comments visible so people don't have to click through. So many of your posts have no comments (which may be related to your penchant for deleting harsher criticism) that it's irritating to have to click through all the time. And you really need to fix the header for your main site, it still displays as the URL rather than a blog title. It looks unprofessional.

    I hope you won't delete this. It's intended as constructive criticism.

  • jordanreid

    Hi there Katie,

    I sent you an email responding to this comment, because I'm not sure a post on home fragrances is the right venue for an analysis of my site as a whole. Hope to hear back from you.

    Yours,
    Jordan

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