Adding Candles to the Bathroom for Soothing Scents

Decorating the bathroom with candles is a great way to enhance the relaxing atmosphere while adding soothing and appealing scents. Although the bathroom is often one of the smallest rooms in the house, it's still important to add decorative accents that can give it a friendly and warm feeling. Accessories and wall decor, like wrought iron grilles or Western metal wall art can help define your style. Then, by using candles, you can add a complementary warm glow to the room while also adding a fresh scent. If you'd like to add a few candles to your bathroom, here are some decorating tips that will help get you started.

Choosing the Perfect Candle Scent

Candles come in so many luscious scents that it can often be quite difficult to choose. Choosing candles with a light or fresh scent is usually the best approach when decorating the bathroom. Although you might enjoy the occasional heavily scented candle, they can often be a bit too overpowering for the bathroom, especially since the room size is often small. Instead, focus on candles that impart a fresh, clean scent to the bathroom, such as those with citrus, clean linen or ocean scents. Of course, for those special times when you would like to soak in the bath, you might want to keep a few aromatherapy candles on hand. Scents such as lavender, vanilla and sandalwood can often be nice in the bathroom, especially when used in small quantities.

Using Candles to Complement the Decorating Theme

If your bathroom already has a decorating theme, the best choice is to select candles that enhance it. For example, for the nautical or beach themed bathroom, ocean scented, blue or seashell shaped candles can work nicely. For a country theme, choosing rustic candle designs and colors can be a good approach. When you use candles as part of an overall style of decorating, you can easily create a more coordinated look in the bathroom.

Great Candle Locations

Although placing candles on the countertop is a popular approach, displaying them on small wall shelves can help to conserve valuable vanity space. To add a decidedly elegant look to the bathroom, try using one or more candle wall sconces. Small jar candles are often especially nice in the bathroom, because they are compact enough to be placed almost anywhere. Creating a small arrangement of candles on a mirrored plate can also create an interesting visual accent in the bathroom.

Candle Safety Considerations

Although it's certainly safe to use candles in the bathroom, there are a few safety precautions you should take into consideration. Never place candles in areas where you plan to use small bathroom appliances, such as hair dryers, curling irons or electric razors. Because these appliances have cords, they can increase the risk of knocking over a candle, potentially causing a fire. You could also accidentally burn a cord by passing it over a candle flame. You should take care to not use candles in locations where you plan to use flammable personal care products such as perfume, hairspray, or any kind of aerosol spray cans. It's also important to avoid using candles in areas where towels, curtains or other fabrics could touch them.