31 Days to Settle in After a Move: Do You Smell That?

Have you ever noticed how everyone's house has it's own distinct smell? Some smell like candles, food, or cleaners,  and others more like cats or dirty socks?

Some smells are good, some are bad, and some, well - they're just not your own.

This is always a complaint of my husbands when we move.
It smells like paint.
It smells funny.
It doesn't smell like home.

Smell, more than any other sense, is associated with memories. Trigger memories of home for you and your family by getting your smell back.

Throw open the windows and let the place air out - especially if it's been empty for a while or you've recently painted. You may even want to open closet and cabinet doors while your at it.

A good carpet cleaning and general scrubing of the house helps you remove any previous owner funk while adding your own "clean" smell. (I use Method cleaners, and the almond scent from the wood cleaners has become one of our "regular" smells.)

If  you normally use air fresheners or candles then plug them in and light them up.

Other things that will help you recover your own smell are baking and cooking - even things like laundry and your perfume eventually permeate the house and make it smell like you.

Some smells are stubborn. They take more work.

In our last house I couldn't get a "stink" out of the kitchen. It kept coming from the fridge, but it was clean. I cleaned it. What the hell is that smell? Finally, when doing my thorough kitchen cleaning I was able to tackle it. I had to clean scrub behind and under the fridge. It was gross. I expected a dead mouse or something, but it was mostly moldy cookies and spilled who knows what... But it smelled much better when I was done!
 Worse than that, every time it rained or got seriously humid the house smelled like wet dog. Lovely!  This smell was emanating from the wood floors, and I honestly think the only way to eliminate that would have been to strip and refinish them. Not an option as renters. So needless to say, I went through a LOT of almond floor cleaner there.

Go on - get your own smell back.
It may not happen over night, but it will happen.