At Studio 29 Architects and Interior Designers, we think of smell as an element of the home interior, as important as colour, texture or light.

We believe that scents have a role in creating a welcoming and inviting atmosphere in a home. 

Well-chosen fragrances elevate the daily routine for the inhabitants of the house, while creating lasting memories for them and their guests. 

But we must proceed in steps, as no fragrance can substitute good habits and housekeeping.

Regardless of the way one chooses to add fragrance to one's home, rooms need to be ventilated every morning, bins emptied every night, bath and bed linen changed weekly and curtains refreshed every Spring, to provide a pleasant blank canvas on which to layer the perfume.

A word of advice on the correct use of the kitchen extractor: to be effective it must be activated a few minutes before the food is placed in the pan, as it’s no use switching it on mid-cooking. Cooking smells are the killer of the fragranced home.

Once we are sure that no unpleasant smell is present in the house, we can proceed with adding fragrances.

In this field, we are old school here at Studio 29 Architects.

VERY old school. 

In a world flooded with plug-in diffusers, sprays and artificial fragrances, we are loyal to frankincense, Japanese incense and "Eritrean Paper".

Frankincense, an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, has been traded from the Arabic Peninsula and the Horn of Africa for more than 5000 years.

The use of incense in Japan was codified in Japan in the 14th century in a discipline called Kodo, the "way of the incense".

The baby of the group, aromatic paper, admittedly a niche product with a very Italian influence, was developed in the 30s by a pharmacist from Piacenza.

All 3 products are to be burned. Frankincense is not combustible, so it needs to be placed on a charcoal disk, while Japanese incense and "Carta d'Eritrea" can be waved around or placed on a burner after having been lit and blown gently.

While there are very different types and grades of frankincense and Japanese incense sticks come in a variety of blends, we like that they have in common a certain aromatic earthiness and woodiness that we find timelessly elegant.

As for Carta Aromatica D'Eritrea, we prefer the Blue type, a mix of "Cedar Wood Essential Oil from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Lemon Essential Oil and Mediterranean Sweet Orange, combined with a touch of Patchouly from Malacca".