Candles, diffusers, room sprays or essential oils – they don’t all do the same thing. Discover how to create a variety of effects to make a fragrance landscape.

Setting the scene isn’t just about the look of a room. How it smells can be just as important for making a space you want to spend time in – whether you’re working, relaxing or entertaining. Scenting products create atmosphere in different ways, from providing a consistent background fragrance to changing the whole mood.

Electronic diffusers emit essential-oil fragrances into a room at timed intervals. Ideal for when you want to add a controlled background fragrance, especially in high-traffic areas, like hallways, or rooms people spend a lot of time really living in, such as the lounge. With timer options, they’re so easy to manage: adjust the settings to scent the room for the times you are usually in or passing through it. Plus, there are no flames so, of course, you can leave them unattended. Electronic diffusers also work well in home-office spaces – you can choose invigorating and uplifting notes to encourage creativity and boost concentration, such as Amber, which has warm ginger and cedar notes.

Classic and beautiful, candles are one of our favourite ways to create not just a scent, but a whole atmosphere. Flickering flames cast a warm glow for a cosy evening on the sofa or a relaxing bath. If you are entertaining and setting candles on the mantelpiece or the hearth, it’s best to light them 20 minutes before guests arrive so the aroma has time to infuse the room. As nights draw in and winter approaches, it’s the ideal time to create a seasonal focus with candles, inspired by our favourite things about chilly nights: crackling fires, pine trees and walks in frosty woods.

The ultimate set-up-and-forget delivery system – diffusers consist of a bottle or pot of liquid infused with rich essential oils. Adding rattan reeds to the vessel allows the fragrance to seep up the reeds and disperse into the room over a period of time. For more scent, add more reeds; fewer will create a subtler fragrance. Ideal in the bedroom, especially guest bedrooms which can sometimes become a bit musty from lack of use. Choose a scent that promotes calm, sleep and restoration, with essential oils of lavender or clary sage. Or try our car scent diffuser to add a favourite fragrance while you travel. It works on a similar principle: simply clip it onto the car air vents to help the scent disperse.

Perfect for an instant refresh, a room spritz creates a concentrated aroma quickly, so we often use them in the kitchen after cooking, or in the hallway to mist a welcoming scent. We like to choose a clean, fresh and outdoorsy scent, such as Flowers or Seychelles. But because they work so quickly, room sprays are also useful for changing how you feel. Need to pep yourself up after a day of work? Try something enlivening, like Amalfi Lemon. Or for peaceful slumbers, lightly spritz your pillow with the lavender notes of our Sleep Soothing Pillow Mist.