Ashely Kuo, a designer and cofounder of the firm A+A+A, notes that in a couple of renovations of apartments in older buildings with smell problems, dead raccoons and rats that have gotten into the walls or the air ducts have been the culprit. Because of this, it’s worth checking in with your landlord. If the smoke is coming from the wall adjacent to the stairwell, then you have a much larger building problem at hand. “It should be a fire-rated wall and sealed pretty well,” Kuo says. If there’s a slightly noisier spot (or spots) in the apartment, that is another indicator of gaps that might allow smells to seep in and could benefit from sealant, says Arianna Deane, an architect and A+A+A cofounder.
Barring an architectural solution or HVAC upgrade, products that can purify your apartment’s air or prevent the unappetizing smells and noxious smoke from coming in will be your best bet. Kuo recommends the Levoit Core 300 ($100), which she uses in her apartment.
“Candles are great, but you want to look for something that’s actually going to be absorbing the smell,” Deane adds.
If you have more budget to spend, Janine Carendi MacMurray of Area Interior Design recommends air purifiers with activated carbon (such as the Coway Airmega 200M). “They are incredibly effective at tackling odors,” she says. “They don’t just mask the smells, they actually neutralize them, and activated carbon is completely nontoxic.”
She also suggests looking into the Oransi TrueCarbon 200C ($180), “a powerful option, though it can be a bit loud,” she says. For something quieter, she likes the Rabbit Air MinusA2 ($600) and notes that it has customizable filters that target specific issues like pet allergens, VOCs, and odors. The Coway Airmega 400 ($649, but now on sale for $429) is “another great option, as it combines carbon and HEPA filtration,” she adds.
