The shift of late summer to autumn is one of the most subtle seasonal changes we experience, but it has an emotional heft, nonetheless. The golden light makes things seem softer around the edges, and we sense – from a glitter of frost glimpsed on an early morning walk, to the first drift of woodsmoke on the evening breeze – that the landscape is relaxing around us. There’s delight to be had in the honeyed sunshine (often warmer than it was in those middling months, anyway) and in the readying of our homes – and ourselves – for this most tender seasonal transition.
   
One of my favourite ways to celebrate this time of year is by changing up my home scents; it’s a natural urge that compels us to echo the seasons in the perfumes – and textures – we have around us. Just as crisp cotton and cool linen make way for cosy cashmere and soft faux fur, so we begin to crave a little more depth in our scents. Now, the clever layering of citrus with a rather more “mellow fruitfulness” (as Keats so beautifully phrased in his ode, To Autumn) feels like a hug of comfort. Seek out notes such as ripe pear rippled with the delicately spiced glow of amber, placed centrally in a hallway to welcome you home in fragrant form. Hallways are so often overlooked for scenting – being in-between spaces, themselves – but every time someone walks through, they’ll waft the fragrance around your entire home. I love using large candles (which have a greater ‘throw’, or scent projection, even unlit) and electronic diffusers here.
   
Is there any greater pleasure, when you’ve come home after a long day, than snuggling up in a cosy chair by the fireside and reading a book? Even if the weather’s not yet cold enough to light an actual fire, I find myself gravitating to the hearth, and cheat the feeling by lighting a candle. There’s a magic in the way a candle can instantly change the atmosphere, signalling it’s time to relax. Gloriously grounding notes, like earthy patchouli simmering beneath smoked woods, preferably with a creamy swirl of vanilla prevent it feeling too heavy. Later, I’ll place a diffuser or candle with these types of scents beside the honeyed fruitiness currently in the main hallway. But right now, I’m happy saving the woodiness for a zone of cosiness. It invites me to step in and settle, a fragrance to switch off the cares of the day.
   
Do you find your bed calls you a little earlier this time of year, too? Suddenly, the bliss of longer evenings beckons me forth to new pyjamas and guiltless advanced slumbering. For this setting, I suggest a scent that’s comfortably cocooning, but doesn’t feel over-swaddled, so look out for cedarwood’s sedative effect, softly balanced with something brighter, such as neroli or bergamot. I favour diffusers in the bedroom, for effortless constant scenting, but I also love the ritual of spritzing bedlinen with a matching (or even woodier) scent. Aroma molecules last even longer on fabric, not being directly heated by the skin, and deliciously linger until dawn.
   
Yes, I mu   st admit to being happiest in autumn, from misty morning walks on a seashore – air filled with salt-sprayed, grassy freshness, the hopefulness of a new day – to fireside snuggling and earlier nights. This in-between time, when the world seems more reliable than the weather-dependent hope of a picnic summer, and while winter still feels far away, is a period for contemplation, and a gentle gathering-in. It’s an invitation to slow down a little, to be kinder to ourselves, and soothingly scent our homes, accordingly.
   
Suzy Nightingale is a Fragrance Foundation award-winning fragrance writer and co-host of “On The Scent” podcast.