Move Over Netflix: 41 Creative At-Home Date Ideas

When we picture date night, we think flowers, white tablecloths, fine china, and buzzing atmosphere - but who says that has to be at a restaurant? If you’ve never enjoyed an all-star date night in the comfort of your own home… you’re not thinking big enough. And before you think that a date night-in consists exclusively of take-out, sweatpants, and Netflix in the living room (although that sounds pretty great) you can actually get creative in each room of the house!

Backyard Date Night Ideas

Want S’more?

S’more what? Just kidding. All you need for this nostalgic date night is a blanket, an open flame, and JUMBO marshmallows. (Seriously, don’t skimp.) If you don’t have an outdoor fire pit, just use a candle! See? This list is all about being resourceful. Sit back and enjoy the sweet life.

Get Twisty

Bust out the timeless classic and get ready to have some laughs! Not only does this game put you in very, very close physical proximity to your beloved, it will 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

Sometimes the simple things in life are the most pleasurable. How long has it been since you’ve done nothing except look up at the stars? Likely since your 3rd grade field trip. 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 travelling to France - but this saves you the round-trip airfare. Clear your schedules and kick up your feet. C’est la vie.

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. Best part? You can go to bed anytime you want.

Early Bird Gets The Worm

When’s the last time you watched a sunrise? Well, they happen every day. So this week (or weekend) set the alarm extra-early, have coffee ready to go, and head out to the backyard to enjoy the quiet, simple pleasures that 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 Night 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 a short stack, a pot of hot coffee, and some fresh-squeezed orange juice, 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. Don’t cease until they wave the white flag of surrender.

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. Find a passage from a book you think they’d like or a romantic poem to express yourself through someone else’s words. Dim the lights, get under the covers, and enjoy.

Staycation Vacation

Think of the moment you love best about vacation: the fleeting feeling that everything is all right, you’re relaxed, and you get to live in the moment. Yeah, that only lasts about 20 minutes amid the packing, unpacking, traffic, parking, driving, and cleaning. So, enjoy more of that relaxation in an in-bed vacation! (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, throw on a little mood music, and set the mood. You and your partner are both in for a treat! 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.

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Bathroom Date Night Ideas

BYOBubbles

Drawing a bubble bath for your significant other is one of the sweetest gestures known to mankind. But if you want to get a little more romance, make it a bubble bath for two. Light some candles, play some music, bring in some champagne if you want to enjoy double bubble. More than anything, just relax.

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 Night Ideas

Game Night

... With a twist. Up the ante on any of your usual suspects like Scrabble, Pictionary, or Yahtzee, by making them strip Scrabble, Pictionary, and Yahtzee. 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 date night - and foreplay.

5-Course Dining

Order a few entrees from your favorite take-out restaurant (it doesn’t have to be fancy, casual is fine as long as they have great food!) and get out your best flatware. Light some candles, set a floral centerpiece, and split up your meals. It will feed 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 ambience 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. The sky's the limit. 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 Human Design? All these tests can reveal a lot about our personalities and certainly a lot about our partners. These don’t take more than 20 minutes each, so you can blitz through them and discuss the results!

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! Sometimes it’s nice to turn off the TV and just focus on something tangible. 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! We know you’re already sweet enough as you are, but a little extra sugar never hurt anyone.

Casino Night

Blackjack, anyone? Roulette may be a little difficult to simulate at home, but 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, much lower stakes. In fact, you don’t need money at all! Just bet with kisses, and remember to keep upping the ante.

Kitchen Date Night 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 have 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

We’re always in the mood for a trip south of the border, but who has the time? 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. Remember, don’t get up from the table until you have to unzip your pants. Buon appetito!

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! Who knows, you might find you have a certain taste bud skillset.

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Living Room Date Night Ideas

Video Game Marathon

There’s a reason video games are so darn popular - they’re really fun! 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! It’s a great way to mix up the environment, with your eyes closed, music in the background, and your significant other twirling you around - you could be anywhere in the world!

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?

This game 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. Who cares, it’s your game!

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! If you’re feeling really bold, you can watch a YouTube video about Intro to Acro Yoga, a fun way to really depend on 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

While just zoning out in front of Netflix doesn’t sound that fun, transporting your date night to another culture or era sounds really exciting! Here’s how you do it: you match your movie 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 now that you have 40+ great, creative, and really cheap ideas to enjoy a memorable at-home date night, we just have one question… What are you waiting for?

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