A 365-day outdoor lifestyle is why the tropics keep people in North Australia.

Bringing the outdoors in is a key design choice, with clean open spaces, outdoor living and bright tropical colours playing a part in the design choice of our homes.

But a signature scent for your home can add another layer of bringing the outdoors inside, and create a clean and fresh aroma to complement the decor and lifestyle.

Cairns interior designer Erin Landells said scents and candles were often something she gifted her clients, and could really add another layer to living in the tropics.

“Good scents for the tropics are vanilla, coconut, and mango as they’re all very light, breezy and tropical,” she said.

“Vanilla grows so well up here, there’s a vanilla farm in the Daintree, coconut of course, and mango grows across most of North Australia so bringing these scents through your home is never a bad choice.”

One of her favourite brands of candles is sister-duo 26 Candle Co, whose candles are made in Dimbulah in the Atherton Tablelands, and are inspired by the Great Barrier Reef and Cairns Botanic Gardens, to name a few.

“These sisters are fantastic and their scents really take inspiration from everything around us here in North Australia,” she said.

Erin’s top four scents for a tropical home are listed below, and she encourages everyone to think about how a signature scent can make a difference to their space.

Urban Rituelle’s Crisp Sea Mist Juniper Amberwood

This is one of my recent favourites, and comes as a candle, reed diffuser and a room and linen mist. It has a very fresh smell, with some lemon and iris blended through. The 400g candle will burn for 80 hours, so it has longevity there too.

Urban Rituelle’s Sea Salt and Lemon Myrtle

The product promises the zest of the Australian bush, and they don’t disappoint. This is a great one if you want to bring a bit of the ocean to your home but live close to the bush. This scent also comes as a reed diffuser set.

Dusk’s Lychee and Black Tea

Dusk is great because you can get their signature scents in a number of products including reed diffusers, tea light candles, wax melts and linen sprays. This lychee scent also has notes of peach and grapes, so it’s incredibly fresh.

Glasshouse Fragrance’s Coconut Lime

This candle really hits all the tropical notes, including lime, coconut, and vanilla. This scent is inspired by the Caribbean so they have nailed the tropical, forever summer vibe.

If you’d like to bring some tropical scents to your bathroom, Erin recommends the Al.ive Body products, particularly the Sea Cotton and Coconut scent.

“Don’t be scare to mix and match the scents and really hone into our love of the tropics,” she said.