These scents will remind you of your favourite places outside, while you work from home

Lighting a scented candle or setting up a diffuser is an easy way to make your room, or your home, a more enjoyable place to spend time in quarantine. Whether you're doing this the makeshift way (like doubling up the incense sticks from the prayer room to set up a mood), or have candles to choose from, here's how to make your space smell like activities and places you likely miss while you're at home.

If you're missing your local coffee shop

Grabbing a coffee on the way to work is the most perfunctory of activities, but when you can't make it there anymore, you really miss it. While you can make a coffee at home (here's how you can make one that is barista-approved), the sights and smells of a real coffee shop are hard to replicate at home. To try, burn a coffee-scented candle like the Acqua Di Parma Caffe in Piazza, which has notes of cappuccino foam, roasted coffee, and vanilla. If it's the smell of baked goods you're really after, soak cotton balls with vanilla extract (the one you use in the kitchen), and take a whiff when you really need it. 

If you're missing about sweating it out at the gym

If that scent of sweat and fresh laundry is what you're missing, instantly freshen your home with two quick bursts of fragrance and fill every room with Bath and Body Works' Sun Drenched Linen concentrated room spray. The notes include cotton, crisp apple and musk, so you've got the freshness angle down pat. As for the sweat? You'll have to actually work out for that one.

If you'd rather be on a tropical holiday

If your ideal travel plans include being by the beach, try to mirror it by lighting a scent that has notes of coconut or sea salt. Sunday Forever's Tanlines boasts notes of amber, coconut, milky sunscreen and sea salt, which will take your mind to sandier climes. If you're looking for a more floral or fruity scent, Jo Malone's Lime Basil & Mandarin Diffuser has peppery basil and aromatic white thyme that bring an unexpected twist to the scent of citrus fruits. Don't have any on hand right out? The smell of fresh basil and cut lemons in the kitchen will cheer you right up. 

If you're reminiscing about studying at the library

Studying or working at home involves spending a lot of time in front of the computer, so you wouldn't be remiss to miss the scent of old books. Light a candle like Byredo's Bibliotheque— It's meant to smell like a library and "the velvety quality of the paper," so look for notes of notes of peach, plum and peony as well as leather. The scent of sandalwood, vanilla and wood usually smell like old books too, so setting up potpourri where you work is a good call. 

If you're missing hanging out with friends at a bar

Pick out a candle that smells like your friend group's favourite drink—like Jonathan Adler's Champagne, or Malin and Goetz' Dark Rum. Then log onto zoom, and have happy hour so you all feel like a part of the group. Don't have candles that smell like a cocktail? Agarbatti sticks that smell like oud and wood will help you feel like you're at a nightclub.

If you're thinking about being at the office

The scent of your office likely smells like the coworkers who sit around you. Does your neighbour love a floral scent? Light a candle like Nitara Ayurveda's ROCI Hind Rosa, which smells like freshly cut Indian rose. Does your other coworker love a strong fruity perfume? Light a wax tablet like the Forest Essentials Mandarin & Bay Leaf, letting all the smells meld together in the air. 

Also read:

How to scent your home: 3 fragrance experts reveal their top tips and tricks

The scented candles you need to get to match your summer vibe