When you think “date night,” you probably think of a nice restaurant or night out on the town, right? While those are always great options, they aren’t the only ones. Who says date night requires a reservation or fancy clothes?
If you’re looking for creative ways to switch up your time together, here are 41 date ideas you can do from the comfort of your home!
Backyard Date Ideas
Want S’more?
All you need is a blanket, an open flame, and all the ingredients for s’mores! (JUMBO marshmallows are necessary.) If you don’t have an outdoor fire pit, just use a candle! See? This list is all about being resourceful.
Get Twisty
Bust out the classic game Twister and get ready to have some laughs! Not only does it get you extra close to your partner, but it will also put you both into some compromising positions! Raise the stakes by setting a prize for the winner: they get to pick the movie, perhaps?
Star-Gazing Session
How long has it been since you’ve done nothing except look up at the stars?. Change that tonight and cuddle up, stash the phones, and enjoy the night sky.
Dine Al Fresco
Think: elevated picnic foods. A bottle of wine, some cheese, olives, a baguette. It’s the next best thing to traveling to France – but this saves you the round-trip airfare.
Live Music Anyone?
Live music is great… in theory. But you have to battle the crowds, get gouged for the drinks, and stay up until way past your bedtime. Enjoy a front-row seat to your favorite band by playing their album, watching a live taping, or simply letting Spotify play DJ.
Early Bird Gets The Worm
This week (or weekend) set the alarm extra early, have coffee ready to go, and head out to the backyard to watch the sunrise. It’s a quiet reminder that the simple pleasures make this crazy world worth it all.
Get Your Sweat On
Crank up some tunes, stream your favorite workout (or try something new!), and grab your favorite workout partner. Studies show that 30 minutes of exercise can boost your mood and lower your stress levels. Might as well ride the high together, right?
Bedroom Date Ideas
Brunch In Bed
Sure, breakfast in bed is great, but wouldn’t a great date let you sleep in? Don’t set an alarm and enjoy the extra zzz’s – but surprise your honey with their favorite breakfast, all while they stay in their PJs!
Pillow Fight
Laughter is the key to all healthy relationships, and sometimes that requires some immaturity. Just before bed, hide behind the bathroom door or crouch down by the bed. Attack when your partner has their guard down – they’ll never see you coming!
Poetry Reading
It doesn’t actually have to be poetry if that’s not your thing, but there’s something intimate and tender about reading to each other. Dim the lights, get under the covers and enjoy.
Staycation Vacation
Enjoy more of that relaxing vacation feeling in bed! (Pro tip: move to the guest room for a change of scenery!) Grab the paper, a book, some coffee, and any other entertainment you want – or don’t want. The important thing is that you just…relax.
Lights Out
Remember life before electricity? Yeah, us either. But you can travel back to a simpler time by abstaining from electricity for a romantic date night in bed. It’s amazing what you can still see by candlelight…
Couple’s Massage
Warm up some oil and set the mood. Massages are so wonderful but they’re too expensive for most of us to get with any regularity. This way, everyone wins!
Kama Sutra Challenge
Some of us shy away from the more… intimidating… positions just because we don’t want to go out on a limb. But that’s where all the fruit is, didn’t you know? So choose an exciting position you’ve never tried before (the more advanced the better!) and go for it!
Bathroom Date Night Ideas
BYOBubbles
Drawing a bubble bath for your significant other is one of the sweetest gestures known to mankind. To make it even more romantic, make it a bubble bath for two. Light some candles, play some music, bring in some champagne if you want to enjoy double bubble.
Spa Night
Spas are absolute heaven, minus the ridiculous price tag. So grab your fluffiest robe, get the face masks ready, and prepare to be pampered. Sometimes it’s just time to treat yourself, together.
Dining Room Date Ideas
Game Night
… With a twist. Up the ante on any of your usual suspects like Scrabble, Pictionary, or Yahtzee, by adding a little stripping! Make up your own rules (like in Scrabble, for every 6-letter word or above, you lose a piece of clothing) and then get ready to enjoy both game night – and foreplay.
5-Course Dining
Order a few entrees from your favorite take-out restaurant (it doesn’t have to be fancy!) and get out your best flatware. Light some candles, set a floral centerpiece, and split up your meals. It will feel extra luxurious to enjoy your food one course at a time, and bonus: you get to enjoy more conversation with the one you love.
Paint By Number
Research shows that when we experience new activities together, we feel a deeper connection with each other. So unless you’re an artist, you likely don’t spend a lot of your time painting. That can change right now! Choose an item you both want to paint or draw, like a bowl of lemons, or a picture from a vacation you loved. Set a timer for an hour, and get lost in your own creativity! You might not frame your creation, but you will have a blast.
Wine Tasting Or Beer Flights
Who needs a tasting room? Set up your own on your dining room table! The booze is cheaper, the ambiance is nicer, and you can flirt all you want with the cute bartender. Bonus points: brown bag the bottles! That way you can actually discuss the notes, guess the type, and basically become experts by the time you’re finished.
Your Private Photo-Booth
Instead of getting charged $8 for a strip of photos, set up your own photo booth. You can use all the props you like: hats, scarves, boas, sunglasses. Your phone has an auto-timer that you can set to take a few different pictures right in a row – just get your silly faces ready.
Bucket List Research
No matter how creative you get, you can’t physically travel during an at-home date night. BUT, you can plan your next trip! Sometimes, that’s half the fun. Get out the tour guides, look up some deals, and drool over the views. Once you’re done planning, the hard part is over, and all you have to do is enjoy!
Personality 101
Do you know your enneagram? Myers-Briggs? Or how about your Love Language? All these can reveal a lot about our personalities and certainly a lot about our partners.
So Puzzled
You can learn a lot about a person by doing a puzzle with them! It’s a great lesson in patience, tenacity, and strategy. Also, it’s just really fun! If you can finish one in one night, you’re a pro! But if it takes you longer, it’s something you can continue to work on all week.
Dessert First
Life’s too short to wait for something sweet. Instead, start your meal with the good stuff, or just try a flight of your favorite desserts!
Casino Night
Any card game will work just fine! Betting against the dealer might end in a domestic dispute, but here, at least all the highs and lows of a typical Vegas night are much lower stakes. No need for money – just bet with kisses, and remember to keep upping the ante.
Kitchen Date Ideas
Chopped Champion
Have a third party fill two baskets with mystery ingredients. If you’ve ever seen the popular reality show, you know it’s the weirder the better. Raspberries, fresh salmon, fried shallots, for example. Set the timer and get cooking! At the end of the round, don’t worry – neither of you has to be chopped. Because in your kitchen, everyone’s a winner.
Apps-Only
Tapas restaurants are popular for a reason. They’re light, delicious, and you get to try a bunch of different flavors! Make a couple a day or two ahead so you’re not in the kitchen for 5 hours, something easy like stuffed olives or hummus. The rest you can make day-of and enjoy an evening of casual grazing.
DIY Taco Bar
Play some mariachi music, fix up some different taco fillings, and make your own tacos! Also substitutable with nachos, or chalupas, etc. Cervezas, anyone?
Ciao Bella
There’s nothing in this world better than some garlic bread and cheesy pasta. So enjoy an indulgent dinner with your amore – including all the trappings of a Sopranos-style feast.
Blindfolded Taste Test
One of you is the chef, the other is the food critic. (We know the chef seems like the short straw, so you can always switch positions before dessert!) Create a specialty or try a new recipe, and don’t tell your sweetie what’s in it. See how many ingredients they can guess!
Living Room Date Night Ideas
Video Game Marathon
Join your partner if they usually play alone, and enjoy a tour of all the top games. Play for high stakes or just for fun, but enjoy the time together – and go for the gold.
Forts Are Fun
Sure, you might think this sounds a bit… silly, but sometimes adults need to remember their inner child. Prop up some blankets with different furniture, make the inside of your tent/teepee/fort super cozy with blankets and pillows (add some twinkly lights for a serious mood booster), and let your inner 12-year-old have the time of their life.
Ready, Set, Write
Get outside your comfort zone and try writing each other haikus. You know haikus, the thing we were assigned in fourth grade. Well, write one for your significant other, in under a minute. You can do this as many times as you want! Even when the poems are bad, they’re still so good.
Cut A Rug
You don’t need to go out on the town to enjoy a big night of dancing! Just pop on your favorite record or playlist, get dressed up, and put on your dancing shoes!
Karaoke Magic
This is less of a high-tech-at-home-karaoke-machine situation and more of a stepmom-scene-ain’t-no-mountain-high-enough-with-hairbrush-microphones situation. Just grab a spoon, a spatula, or a curling iron, and serenade your sweetie!
Would You Rather?
Playing a game of “would you rather” can reveal a lot about your partner, while also making you giggle uncontrollably. The questions can be silly or serious, you can play lightning round or take your time!
It’s A Dance-Off
Time to throw down. Challenge your partner to a dance-off, winner-take-all. If you feel like watching Magic Mike beforehand for some inspiration, be our guest. No one ever said anything about having to keep on all your clothes…
Yoga Duo
Whether or not you do yoga consistently, or have ever tried it before, the physical and mental benefits are too numerous to ignore. So enjoy that relaxed state with each other!
Checkmate
Chess is one of those games that shows you a lot about your opponent. In this case, your partner. It’s challenging, strategic, and takes a lot of concentration – perfect for a date night, right? You can step it up by labeling pieces with chores, AKA if you take your partner’s bishop, they do laundry, and if they take your rook, you have to vacuum.
Themed Nights
Here’s how you do it: you match a movie of your choice with an appropriate dinner, and pick it up from the restaurant because who wants to do dishes? Examples include:
Pulp Fiction: Cheeseburgers
Lady and the Tramp: Spaghetti and meatballs
Ratatouille: Ratatouille, duh
Forrest Gump: Shrimp Gumbo
When Harry Met Sally: Apple pie
Goodfellas: Bolognese
So, are you ready to turn your home into the ultimate date night location? Now that you have these 40+ great, creative, and really cheap date ideas to enjoy, what are you waiting for?!
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