What Does Your Home Really Smell Like?

I've never liked artificial air fresheners.

Even as a child, I preferred the smell after it had rained or when someone opened the back door and a breeze drifted through the house. It always felt fresher than anything that came out of a spray can.

These days, one of the first things I do each morning is open the windows. Even if it's only for ten minutes, it wakes the house up. The rooms feel lighter, the air feels fresher, and somehow everything just feels a little brighter.

Last year, I spotted a few lily bulbs on the reduced shelf in B&Q. They weren't expensive, and I almost walked straight past them, but something told me to give them a go.

I planted them, forgot about them over winter, and this summer they've come back bigger and more beautiful than I remembered.

Now I've started cutting a few stems to bring indoors.

The scent is incredible. It isn't loud or overpowering, it simply drifts gently through the house. Every now and then I'll catch the fragrance as I walk from one room to another, and it makes me stop for a second. It's one of those little things that quietly makes a house feel like home.

It made me think about how often we forget that some of the nicest things are right outside our own back door. If you're lucky enough to have a garden, even a small one, you've probably got something growing that could brighten a room and fill it with a natural scent. Lavender, roses, sweet peas, herbs or lilies all bring something different, and they change with the seasons.

Even if all you have is a few pots by the front door, it's enough. You don't need a perfectly designed garden or an endless budget. Sometimes it starts with a single plant that catches your eye.

Standing in the kitchen with a cup of tea, catching the smell of those lilies drifting through the house, I can't help but smile. It reminds me that we don't always need another product to make our homes feel fresh and welcoming.

Sometimes all it takes is opening a window.

Sometimes it's bringing a few flowers indoors.

And sometimes it's a handful of discounted bulbs that surprise you by becoming your favourite part of summer.

If you've got a little patch of garden that's looking for a purpose, perhaps this is the year to plant something that will come back to greet you every summer. You never know what small joy it might bring.

For me, it was lilies.