I'll Say It, Strong-Smelling Candles Are a Bad Idea in the Kitchen — Why 'Passive Scenting' Is the Home Fragrance Rule I Always Stick to Now

A kitchen with wooden cabinets, a wood island with a stone top, a row of island stools, a vase of leafy stems, gold hardware, and three overhead pendant lamps.

I often light beautiful candles featuring strong olfactory notes that make themselves evident within my interior atmosphere. But there's an exception to this rule, and that's the kitchen.

Unlike the ways in which you make the rest of your home smell good, the kitchen needs to be perfumed with a more delicate hand. Since other culinary fragrances weave themselves into the air in this room, you don't want a space that feels overwhelmingly and confusedly scented.