I bought this for my front door. It's outside, but under a porch roof, so somewhat exposed to the elements. I noticed it had a strange smell when I took it out of the box, but figured it would dissipate with time. However, when it got damp during a rainy day, it developed a awful noxious odor. I almost got rid of it but decided to leave it up because it looks nice and see if the stink would mellow out. I'm sure it's because it's artificial and coated with some sort of chemical. It eventually did. Now you can only detect it when you go up to it and sniff it. Hopefully it will totally disappear.