Scent & Sensibility

THE SECRET OF SCENT: ADVENTURES IN PERFUME AND THE SCIENCE OF SMELL

DEMOLITIONUndeterred, they hit upon a neat idea to transform the room into a simple, nautically-themed haven... with a splash of seaside colour and a lick of yacht varnish. They tell CAROLYN EELES how they did it..."We absolutely love our bathroom," says Lisa. "It's my favourite room in the house now. I think we've proved that Victorian style can be fresh and welcoming as well as cosy and relaxing!"TOTAL pounds 1,553Inspiration came from a magazine cutting Lisa had saved. "I remembered seeing a small room which had been fitted with tall tongue-and-groove panels. Initially Graham wasn't convinced and he took some persuading!"WITH stripped original floorboards in the rest of the house, Lisa wanted a similar effect in the bathroom. To match the ceiling, Graham painted the boards in the same white emulsion. Then he gave them several layers of yacht varnish to seal them against water splashes and for long-term durability.But with faded Seventies decor throughout, the couple knew they had a major DIY job on their hands.Disputing the current theory of smell, he suggests that molecules are detected not according to their shape, but by the way they vibrate. In so doing, he comes across as both a little crazy and a little visionary.The dreary bathroom, with its cracked patterned tiles and drab suite, represented the biggest challenge for Lisa and Graham, both 32.BUDDINGROSES

I am not a perfume person. Possibly the only fragrance I have ever owned was a bottle of Turin's bete noire, Poison, as a teenager. The Secret Of Scent, however, made me want to loiter around a perfume counter, take a long draw of Diorrissimo and seek out the "hyper-realism" of its lily of the valley. I was seduced.

Author: Vicky Allan