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.
