I hate moving. I do it as seldom as possible and recently did so for financial reasons after living at my old place for 8 years. I’ve been in the new place for about 5 months, and just a few weeks ago felt “home” when I walked through the front door. I realized it was because the place was finally starting to smell familiar. More like me and my stuff than the paint and floor laminate and whatever else was left by the previous occupant and what was done to prep for a new one.
I realized that this has happened everywhere I’ve lived. It doesn’t seem fully mine until it starts to take on a smell that I associate with my living space. It must be a combination of all kinds of things; what I clean with, my laundry, my bedding, soaps and showering smells, my cats, my cooking.
Crazy? Part of nesting? All I know is I didn’t really like what I smelled upon entering until after I’d been here a few months. Anyone else notice the same?
No, it makes perfect sense. Humans rely on smell a lot more than we realize we do.
Back when I was a renter, I would always douse the carpets with the same brand of carpet refresher as soon as I moved in. It wasn’t exactly the “me” smell, but it wasn’t “somebody else” or “carpet cleaning fluid” and that was an improvement.
This isn’t exactly relevant to the “home smell,” but I find it so amusing that my children are constantly sniffing me, assuring themselves of the “Mom Smell.”
Mom was recently visiting; I added several new items to the List of Things I Find Irritating About Mom’s Visits.
One of them was The Bathroom Smells Strange; her, ahem, outflows smell different than mine, plus she went and bought a bunch of new toiletries instead of using mine (extra points on my toiletries being the brands she uses at home, except for things like hairspray which I just don’t use; so, she used a visit to my house to try new brands). The fact that she somehow manages to smear the toilet’s plastic ring doesn’t help…
Another one was The Kitchen Smells Strange, but I blame that on the garlic
Oh, and add another item of the list of “reasons I prefer places without carpet”: places with hardwood, parquet or tile floors smell “mine” a lot faster than carpeted ones do.
I actually do this to my kids. My son has his own unique salty little boy smell; my daughter has her sweet-breathed baby smell. I often wonder if, when they’re all grown up, I’ll still feel the same compulsion I do now to bury my nose in their cheeks or the side of their necks. As it is, every time I put my son to bed, I kiss the side of his neck specifically for that scent. And every time my daughter yawns, I try to smell her breath.
I’m extremely smell oriented, so home doesn’t smell like home until it has our scent - a mingling of outdoors from frequently leaving doors and windows open to air it out, various cooking smells (especially on weekends) and something else I can’t quite identify.
A few years ago, I was visiting my sister and her new house. When I went into the house, there was a familiar scent in the house.
When she gave the grand tour of the house, we went into one of the spare bedrooms. The smell got stronger. There were drapes that Mom had sewn for her living room, 20 years prior. I smelled those curtains as soon as I entered the house.
My older two are teenagers and I think I can answer this question with some authority. The daughter reeks of cheap teen-girl perfume; the boy, unless freshly laundered … I’m sure you can image that smell. :eek:
I hug and sniff 'em anyway, though I don’t think I’ll get used to having salty lips when I smooch 'em after an afternoon of band practice.
I used to come home after vacation and breathe in the “home smell” with relief. Nowadays we keep the boy’s room door shut to keep the rancid soccer cleat and funky shin guard odor from escaping. I do not know how he sleeps in that room some nights.
