Joanna Gaines Shares Her Old-Fashioned Way To Keep A Home Smelling Fresh

When it comes to home design and decor experts, Joanna Gaines is one of the most recognized household names; this highly successful interior decorator has everything from a television show to her own line of home decor products, all aimed at inspiring and equipping you with ways to make your home beautiful. Part of having a gorgeous house is ensuring that it appeals to all the senses — not just being visually attractive but also smelling wonderful. If you desire to fill your home with scents that are bright and fresh, Joanna Gaines has an old-fashioned tip to share that will do just that: a simmer pot.

"A simmer pot is essentially a stovetop potpourri. I love the ease of throwing these ingredients into a pot of water and letting it fill our house with clean scents all day long," Gaines writes on her Magnolia Home blog. The benefit of a simmer pot is that it is entirely customizable to both your preferences and the contents of your fridge or pantry. Not sure where to begin with a simmer pot? Joanna Gaines' favorite scent to keep your home smelling fresh incorporates citrus scents, such as fresh lemon slices, as well as other aromatics like lavender and rose essential oils, in addition to dried lavender. Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan on the stove with several cups of water, set the pot to simmer, and periodically check if it needs additional water. You'll soon have your home filled with a noticeable but subtle scent of citrus and herbs — perfect for any time of the year.

While you can absolutely use Gaines' recipe and experience success with it, the beauty of a simmer pot comes from just how easy it is to make it fit your personality. If you're feeling a little creative, you can experiment with ingredients like spices in your pantry. In the fall or winter, opt for scents that are associated with warmth and the holidays. These include vanilla bean, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, which can be added to a simmer pot alongside cranberries and orange slices. In the spring, you may want something a bit brighter and more optimistic; Gaines' recipe offers a good template, but feel free to try these 10 simmer pot recipes to give your home a refresh. In summertime, you can even go heavier on the citrus side of things, combining lemon and orange peels, as well as wild orange essential oil, and a few drops of rose essential oil to balance things out.

Simmer pots are meant to slowly cook for hours, so remember to place them on a back burner if you have little ones in the house. If you want to extend the simmer time of your stovetop potpourri concoction, you can place a lid halfway over the pot. This will keep the liquid from cooking off too quickly, but bear in mind that this will limit the amount of scent filling your home.

There's never really a bad time for a simmer pot, but there are absolutely times when popping one on the stove can feel like a superpower. When you're hosting a gathering in your home, a simmer pot can deliver a robust and complex scent to your home that is more interesting (and more customizable) than a traditional candle. Another ideal time to use a simmer pot is on spring cleaning day: while you're busy washing linens and scrubbing the baseboards, why not also add a delicious-smelling pot of water to the stove? You'll benefit from the lovely scent, and your home will feel all the fresher for it. A simmer pot can also be a fabulous idea if you've had a particularly messy day or week (such as after the whole family has been sick) and you need to quickly freshen up the house. In such cases, using stronger scents — peppermint or eucalyptus — can pack a powerful punch to combat any stale odors.

Lastly, if you lack a traditional stove, a hot plate with a saucepan of water is an easy alternative. Another option is to hack your candle warmer to make a simmer pot without a stove; you can also use a crock pot, placing it on the lowest setting. Finally, remember to always check the water level to prevent scalding your pot, and of course, to never leave the house while your simmer pot is going. Simply turn off the heating element when you leave; you can always turn it back on when you return.