The Best Candle Scents You Should Have In Your Dining Room

Utilizing scented candles is a great way to liven up a room, as well as set a specific mood. Seasonal scents can help set the tone for the time of year, comforting scents like vanilla can help make a space feel cozier, linen scented candles can freshen and rejuvenate a room, etc.

While the tone for areas in your house like the living room, bedroom, and bathroom are more flexible, the dining room is a bit more complicated. It's a place to relax and enjoy yourself, but more importantly, enjoy your food. The wrong candle scent could not only interrupt the aroma of your dinner, but distort it and make the meal unpleasant. Science World says that taste is 80% influenced by your sense of smell, and as such, adding in a combating fragrance can alter the actual taste of your food.

Scents that replicate natural mealtime aromatics, such as dessert or alcohol scented candles, as well as refreshing pre- and post-meal fragrances, are great options to keep your dining room smelling its best while still maintaining the integrity of mealtime. To that end, here are the best candle scents you should have in your dining room

A good candle option to burn during mealtime is any scent that helps enhance the scents already present. Dexter and Mason specifically suggest a whisky scented candle that will help encourage post meal conversation. Consider opting for any other mealtime aromas, such as a fragrant coffee candle, or any smokier, grounded scents that match the natural food smells in the air.

Take into consideration the appropriate time to burn these candles. For example, a coffee scented candle will be well received any time of the day, whereas the aroma of whisky is more suited for dinner time. Coffee candles also come in a variety of tones, some sweeter and more dessert-like, and some more strong and rooted in the coffee bean scent. A sweeter candle may smell good burning all day, but overwhelm at night.

You can burn these candles both during and after dinner. While dining, opt for a subtler scent. After dinner, though, go for a more intense scent, as it will help set an intimate, cozy, conversational mood.

While you should primarily focus on enhancing mealtime aromas in the dining room, the aftermath of these scents can sometimes be unpleasant or stagnant. For this, Dexter and Mason suggest something lighter and more refreshing. Any candle can create this, but they specifically suggest a mint, berry, or herb-based scent.

Herby aromas will help create a neutral environment in the dining room, which is excellent for in-between meals — they won't overwhelm the space, but will provide a gentle, earthy feel. Berry scents can be earthy or sweet. Either one will create an appealing sensation, but sweeter berry tones can also help create anticipation for dessert.

Berry and herby candles are also an excellent, lighter alternative for post meal conversation. Breakfasts and lunches, or even lighter dinners, can benefit from a refreshing but rooted aroma boost — and mint, herb, and/or berry scented candles are an excellent option for these situations.

The dining room is largely a pleasant area of the house. However, leftover or fallen food and mealtime residue on tables and chairs, as well as its proximity to the kitchen, can all lead to a build-up of old food smells. Lack of air circulation can also cause post meal smells to become stagnant. The Road to Domestication suggests the previously mentioned herb-based scents to help liven up the room, but they specifically recommend citrus-based scents to get rid of old food stench.

Citrus is a popular cleaning scent already, as well as something that pairs nicely with fresher meals, so it won't be out of place in the dining room. Orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit, and other citrus-based scents will eliminate any old odors, giving your dining room a fresh, clean smell. Citrus based scents will smell great with breakfast or brunch, as citrus fruits are often a part of those meals anyway. They are also great candles to burn in between meals to get rid of any lingering food aromas.