Try These Date Night At Home Ideas Next Time You’re “Dating In”!
Here at B and L, we like to be creative… and this mentality definitely spills over into our time for “date night”. We have a tendency to work hard and have little energy for a date night out – which is why we opt to do “date night at home” pretty frequently!
Maybe you are in the same boat? Maybe you can’t leave the house because you have kids – or you want to save money but still have a nice evening. These date night at home ideas are a great way for couples to spend quality time together without leaving the house.
So, from the perfect date night at home dinner to romantic ideas for him/her and other ways to keep your stay at home date cheap for couples, we’ve got you covered! Let’s explore 11 ideas for date night in!
Have A Taste Test Experience
Are you a fan of cheese, wine, beer, or any other food item? Well, there are so many different foods and beverages that allow for a fun and/or romantic taste test experience.
If you want to, you can go all out by lighting candles, putting on a playlist with your favorite songs ,and preparing a variety of foods/drinks to try.
You could add a blindfold and have your partner guess the flavors – or you can just try out unfamiliar items together and find some new favorites.
Bruce is a big craft beer fan and so a beer tasting (with a food pairing) would be right up his alley!
Create Your Ultimate Bucket List
Talking about the things you really want to do together can be a great date night at home idea. Grab a glass of wine, some snacks, a pen and paper, and write down your ultimate couples bucket list.
It can be a lot of fun to talk about the things that you’d like to do together (at least) once in your life. You’ll probably learn quite a few new things about each other, as well. Maybe you always wanted to go sea kayaking together? Or maybe you want see the Northern lights and sleep in an igloo? Anything is fair game!
To be honest, we haven’t created our own ultimate bucket list yet. Sure, we have one for our travel experiences, but there are so many other things that we could also include. We are planning on writing a couples’ bucket list post soon – so keep an eye out for that if you would like some inspiration!
Have A Theme Night
Theme nights are fun because you can take them any way you want! You could combine this idea with your dinner plans or just dress up and watch your favorite international movie. You can go all out or just keep it simple.
How about trying to make authentic Spanish paella and learning how to dance Flamenco from watching YouTube videos? Lisa is a huge fan of the Spanish cuisine – and the country in general – so this is something we will try out soon!
Another good one is turning off all the lights and watching scary movies or even having a Harry Potter marathon while dressed up as characters. Hey, you do you!
Cook A Romantic Dinner Together
This one is a pretty standard at home date idea for couples, but that doesn’t mean it is a bad one. Cooking together is quality time spent as a team. You could tackle a new recipe or stick to an old favorite – the kitchen is yours.
When we try new recipes, we work on them as a “cooking team” when we do them for the first time. Besides that, we have a few classic meals we love to fall back on but there’s something exciting about trying out a new recipe and seeing if it tastes good – and if you can even pull it off!
Make A Blanket Fort And Watch A Movie In It
Did you ever build living room forts with your siblings or friends when you were a kid? We sure did – and they were awesome. Letting out your inner child and building a blanket fort in your living room can be a fantastic date idea that doesn’t require leaving the house.
And once you are done building, you can get cozy inside and watch a movie on your laptop, read each other stories, or simply relax and cuddle. Just use your imagination and we’re sure you’ll come up with something great. (Our tip: Fairy Lights can make blanket forts even more romantic!)
Play A Game
This one is a classic – but a fun board or card game is hardly a bad choice. It’ll allow you to forget the things that are still on your to-do-list and give you the chance to spend a relaxed evening full of laughter together.
That is to say unless you choose Monopoly – in which case you might end up sleeping in different rooms that evening. Nobody gets through Monopoly without a breakdown. We’d suggest games that take cooperation if you are worried about getting to into the game and creating tension on your home date!
Have A Photoshoot
If you and your partner are as much into photography as we are, then having a photoshoot can be a great way to spend your date night. And even if you don’t know that much about photography, there are lots of ways to make it fun by trying silly or romantic poses or outfits.
You don’t even need to use a fancy camera – most cellphone cameras take great photos nowadays. You might even snap a few and get them printed like your own “photobooth” style photos of four photos in a row!
Stargaze In The Backyard
This one might not be an option for everyone, but if you live in the country where the light pollution isn’t terrible then stargazing in your backyard (or a park) might be a good idea.
There is just something super romantic about this. We really like stargazing in the summer. Bruce’s family has a small vacation home in the middle of nowhere which is perfect for that.
Sometimes, there is nothing better than laying in a cozy sweater with your person and watching the dark sky go by. Unless you have a glass of wine or beer – then it might be a tad better!
Plan Your Next Vacation Together
We both LOVE planning trips and could spend hours doing it. Sometimes, we even like to “fake plan” a trip that we know we won’t even take simply because we love reading travel articles, learning about the world, and admiring stunning photos.
Planning a trip together (that you can actually go on – like a weekend getaway) is also a good team exercise since you do it together. By planning a future date, you are also creating more excitement because you will actually go on the weekend you plan out that evening! It’s like two dates created at once!
Have A Spa Night
Everyone likes to be pampered sometimes – especially when one of you had a really stressful day recently. If you are like us, we work hard and usually want to relax at the end of the day. So, buying a few pampering items like a face mask, scented bath bombs, and/or massage oils can be a great idea.
Relaxing as a couple – and helping the other person relax and melt away the day – is a great idea for a home date. It also saves a ton of money compared to going to an actual spa!
Have A Stroll Down Memory Lane
Sometimes it can be really nice to have a stroll down memory lane and be reminded of all the great experiences you’ve had in your relationship so far.
You can either just talk about the time you got to know each other and how you were feeling then or you can even look at photos or watch videos, as well.
We like to do this quite regularly because it can be nice to reminded of how strongly we felt for each other from the beginning. We obviously still love each other very much now, but sometimes with the stressful daily life, it can be easy to forget and appreciate how great our relationship is.
And there you have it – 11 great date night at home ideas that you can try out. These are just a few, of course, and you can change them up or think of your own! The point is to have fun/enjoy the date together. That’s it. Just be together in the moment doing something enjoyable and you can’t go wrong.
As always, Stay Curious,
-B&L
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