Im an absolute fan of essential oils and making things that smell nice. Having indoor cats and a litter tray often means that any nice smells dont last for long. Recently the basement flooded (thank you landlord who refuses to fix anything), which means there was a musty damp smell hanging around. Then I had a lightbulb moment, I remembered its super easy to make home scents, all you need is a few basic ingredients that you will likely have hanging around and a pot, pretty simple!
What you’ll need:
- 1 lemon sliced or a orange for a slightly more sweet scent
- 1 cinnamon bark (or go wild and use 2 or 3, everything is better with cinnamon)
- 3 Rosemary spigs (I went wild and used 5 and it did smell very woodsy)
1. Take all your ingredients and chuck them in a pan, fill the pan with water. Bring to the boil and then allow to simmer for hours. If you think the water is getting low, simply top it up. It honestly isn’t any more complicated than that. It isn’t aromatic immediately but when it goes going, it will scent your entire area and floor of your home.
I wanted to ensure smell wafted all around, so I got a small(ish) fan out put it close(ish) to the pan without it being on the hob or in a dangerous position and turned it on. This did make a difference with spreading the scent around. 
These ingredients last for roughly a day, I think I had my pot on for somewhere between 6 and 8 hours, at which point everything was quite pulpy and gross. I topped up the water up at least twice but simply top the water up as needed, never letter the pan go dry.
You can make it more sweet by taking out the rosemary and adding in a sliced apple, star anise, ginger or cardamon.
Sometimes you like your house to have a scent and this works really well, scents can be seasonal too, more woodsy in the winter and more floral and sweet in the spring. Have fun with this and try it to see how what suits you and your house.
Ive also been feeling ill, I see rain everyday and then feel blah. I went onto the Ebays and bought a small ‘Aroma Diffuser Humidifier Aromatherapy Air Purifier’ to use with essential oils. My tank is tiny on this and the instructions say add 3-5 drops of essential oil. So naturally I add 2 drops of whatever Im using. My current favourite blend is lemon, lavender, eucalyptus and peppermint.
I wont lie, my diffuser lets out lot a lot of water, Ive now put it on a plate and even then a small area around the plate is still damp to the touch.
Why using these essential oils work well for coughs, colds, congestion, aches and pains:
Lemon Essential Oil
It has energising, antimicrobial, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, lemon is colds, coughs and congestion relief.
Lavender Essential Oil
It has analgesic properties and antibacterial agents, lavender oil for cold and cough symptoms can help treat the flu and sinus congestion and can be used forfor phlegm relief.
Eucalyptus Essential Oil
Is used as a treatment to combat stress, depression, and pain.
Peppermint Essential Oil
Because of its high concentration of menthol, and potent antiviral characteristics, it works to fight against colds and coughs.
Notes: if you have pets you need to be very CAREFUL, as essential oils work differently for pets than they do humans and can harm them. Recent research has shown that they can be quite harmful if not outright dangerous to them (cats especially), it doesnt have to be applied directly to your pet, they can inhale them just like you or I do. There is a lot of information on the internet about essential oils and pets and honestly, it all seems to contradict itself. Some essential oils can cause liver and kidney toxicity in animals. Cats use a different system in their liver to detoxify and are particularly sensitive to essential oils that contain polyphenolic compounds. These are so-called “hot” oils like cinnamon, oregano, clove, wintergreen, thyme and birch, which are oils that should be avoided in cats.
Adventures of a Cat Lady 