How to commission your own home fragrance

We crave the uniquely crafted for our home environment – from hand-painted wallpaper to one-off textiles – so it makes sense to commission custom scents, too. “Over the past few years, we have seen a huge increase in requests from clients looking for a signature scent for their space, to convey their style and personality,” say Paul Firmin and Niko Dafkos, founders of the London lifestyle store Earl of East.

Bespoke scents for the home are not entirely new – London candle chandler Rachel Vosper has been creating them for 30 years. But she senses a post-pandemic shift, with a sharper focus on the quality and ergonomics of our interior environment. The popularity of open-plan spaces has created a need for scents to temper the smells of cooking, wet dogs, cigar smoke – even the renovation fug of fresh paint and materials. “I don’t ever look to mask smells – I create fragrances that blend with them,” Vosper says. Like perfume on skin, interior fragrance reacts to its environment.

Earl of East began life as an artisan candle-maker in London Fields. While it has expanded into niche design pieces for the home, it has stayed true to its origins, creating highly successful fragranced products. Firmin and Dafkos have developed scents for other brands, cultural spaces, recording studios and restaurants, as well as individual homes: clients include the lauded Sessions Arts Club in London, the visual artist Studio Lenca and the indie band Bon Iver.

“We are creating scents that shape an atmosphere,” says Firmin – whether that’s rich, dark fragrances for a members’ club feel or light, bright scents for a summer kitchen. “People have moved away from a single signature perfume towards a fragrance wardrobe, and we’re seeing the same approach in interiors.”

Scent can give a whole new feel to a space. “People might have seen a particular type of decor before, but if there’s a signature scent that they haven’t experienced, it gives that wow factor,” Azzi Glasser, founder of The Perfumer’s Story, has said. She is the nose behind the signature scents at hotels such as Broadwick Soho, where The Dame of Soho, a “provocative, sensual and fun fragrance”, is based on the owner’s mother.

Scent has become part of the storytelling armoury of many an interior architect – so much so that, in Italy, the prestigious Politecnico di Milano offers a year-long executive course in olfactive design. “There are qualities of scents that have the power to evoke emotions, create an additional sense of beauty and make spaces both memorable and therapeutic,” explains the course leader, Professor Anna Barbara. “Olfaction is a primary and fundamental sense that plays a crucial role in behaviour, emotions, physiological reactions and human relationships.”

Students – predominantly professional designers and architects – explore disciplines such as chemistry, mechanics, indoor air quality, art, neuroscience and the science of perfumery. “The mission is to train a generation of space designers to develop a new sensitivity,” Professor Barbara says.

With the potential to be both poetic and functional, scent can amplify natural elements of the home, highlighting the owner’s passions with the inclusion of a favourite note or bringing a deeper dimension to a piece of art. It might even define an area for creativity, meditation, fun or focus. “People are using scent to create boundaries between work and home within the same space,” says Firmin. “They are switching between fragrances to set the mood, whether it’s for relaxation, hosting or working.”

Scent can also be a useful tool when selling a home. “If a buyer walks into a property and it doesn’t smell right, it can make or break a sale,” Vosper explains. One family asked her to synthesise into a candle the joyful memories of the house they were selling, so they could inject those feelings more strongly into the space. Looking at their garden flowers, the dishes they liked to cook and the stories that had unfolded in their home, Vosper created a memory-infused candle. “It made a huge difference,” she recalls. “It felt like a welcoming space – it felt loved and smelt happy.”

“A few years ago, a similar shift happened in the world of lighting design,” says Professor Barbara, explaining our evolving understanding of olfactory landscaping. “It became clear that light itself needed to be designed, not just fixtures. The impact of olfactive design on space planning is going to be transformative.”