8 Stay At-Home Date Night Ideas

8 Stay At-Home Date Night Ideas

Going for regular date nights is a lovely concept to ensure quality time with your partner where you can focus on each other and your relationship, whilst doing something fun together. A typical date night could be a meal out together at a restaurant, taking a class together, or going to the cinema for example. The date night options are endless when you don’t have young children as you can go anywhere and do anything you like whenever it suits you. 

For parents with young children, it can be hard to get out for regular date nights though, especially if you don’t have any family nearby that can help you with childcare. Of course you can hire childcare so that you can go out together but this is not for everyone and also adds a big expense. 

Just because you can’t always go out for date nights doesn’t mean you can’t have them. At-home date nights can be brilliant too and will give you the same opportunity to connect with one another. Below are a few ideas for stay at-home date nights to try with your partner. 

• Prepare a Special Meal Together

The classic date night out, but at home. Enjoy a romantic meal together at home and make the effort to make it truly special. Choose a recipe that you love or a new one that you’ve been wanting to try and cook the meal together, perhaps while enjoying a glass of wine and some music in the background. Make sure the kitchen/dining room is clean and tidy, and set the table with a tablecloth, candles, flowers, and cloth napkins to give it that bistro feel. Then take time to enjoy the meal and the conversation with your partner. If cooking is not your thing, order a takeaway instead but eat it like you would in a restaurant.

• Movie Night

Another classic – a movie night, but at home. Don’t just put a movie on Netflix and get settled on the sofa. Choose a film that you are both excited to watch and prepare your living room to be as cinema-worthy as possible – without the sticky floor of course! Set up the sofas or chairs to be as comfortable as they can be, set up the lights to be just right, and hook up the surround sound system. Clear the sofa table to make space for snacks and beverages. Go all out with these – recreate your favourite movie/cinema snacks and drinks at home whether this is popcorn, nachos, hot dogs, anything you like.

• At-Home Spa Date

If you and your partner are in need of a bit of relaxing and pampering, an at-home spa date can be just what you need. Set up the bathroom and bedroom to create a spa-like environment, pop on some soothing music, pour a couple of glasses of bubbly, and get busy pampering each other. You could enjoy a nice bath together with a bath bomb, Epsom bath salts, and/or some bath oil. Then you could do a mini-facial, for example. Best of all, give each other a massage with a nice massage oil to get you both fully relaxed.

• Escape Room Game Night

For a bit of excitement and brainy fun, play an escape room game at home as a date night. These days, there are lots of great escape room kits that you can buy to play at home and lots of escape room games too. We love EXIT games by Thames & Kosmos. They are really well-made and come in different difficulty levels. They are fun and challenging, and provide a great activity to do with your partner. As part of your game night set up, you could make drinks and snacks that fit the theme of the game to make it extra fun.

• Garden Stargazing

There are not that many outdoorsy dates that you can do at home but, if you have a garden, (and the weather is nice), you could get cosy outside with blankets and a little picnic and watch the sun set and then do a bit of stargazing. If you have a firepit, light it for extra cosiness and warmth.

• A Night of Reminiscing

Whether you’ve been with your partner for a short while or for many years, I’m sure you’ll have lots of memories that you are fond of and lots of photos from your time together. Get cuddled up on the sofa with old photo albums or armed with all your digital photos and look through your shared moments and reminisce about your time together. This is a great way to feel close and I’m sure you’ll laugh a lot too!

• Cocktail Evening

Cocktails always make an event feel extra special and if you can’t head out to a trendy bar, create your own drinks at home. Dress up like you were going to go out together but instead of hopping in a taxi to go into town, head into your kitchen to create a fun range of cocktails for you to sample and enjoy together. Make some of your own favourites that you choose when out and also whip up a few new, exciting recipes.

• Online Class

Another fun at-home date idea is to sign up for an online class and do it together. This could be a cooking/baking class, something crafty like a flower arrangement class, a cocktail masterclass – anything that’s interactive where you follow along at home whilst watching an instructor. A great way to learn something new whilst doing something together.

Tips for Making At-Home Dates Extra Special

As you can see there are lots of great options for dating at home too – the above are just a few of the many things you could do. The key to successful at-home dating is to do everything you can to make them just as special as dates out. Make the effort to ensure your home is tidy and clean so that you’re not distracted by jobs that need doing and piles of laundry. Get dressed up and ready for the date like you would if you were going out. This will all get you in the right frame of mind and get you ready for enjoying an evening at home with your partner.

If the reason you are dating at home is that you have children, make sure they’re settled in bed before your date starts if they are little or that they have something they want to do in another room if they are older.