10 At-Home Date Night Ideas

Recently, I’ve pivoted from writing mostly about travel destinations and tips to writing about how to navigate this time in our lives of staying home and trying to make the most of it.

I know no one wants to see photos and itineraries of places that we can’t visit right now! It can be inspirational and keep us excited for future travel plans, but that’s not what you need right now. I know most of you are working from home, living at home, eating at home, and drinking from home (notice a pattern?), and I know it can sometimes be a struggle. I’ve found a couple things that help, so that’s what I’m choosing to write about for the time being.

If you missed it, here is a post I wrote that lists out (and links to) several different museums, parks, monuments, etc. that are offering FREE virtual tours! This definitely doesn’t replace the magic of travel, but it might help us stay sane until we can travel again.

I also created a resource to help keep you productive, focused, and positive while working from home. I know this is new territory for most of you, so I wanted to share what I’ve learned about working from home for months at a time and you can access that below.

Here’s what happened…

And now, to get into this post – Stay-at-Home Date Night Ideas!

First, let me paint a picture for you. If you don’t know much about my love life, Austin and I have been dating for over two years. Throughout that entire time, we’ve gone back and forth between living together and being in a long distance relationship. Talk about extremes!

The silver lining to a situation like this is that you never take a day together for granted. Of course there are outliers, but most days are filled with love, excitement, going out to eat, and finding something fun to do.

Except this last time.

Austin came home for Spring Break and we couldn’t go anywhere or do anything due to Covid-19. I was at a loss. It felt weird to just sit at home and watch TV all day, every day with him because that’s not usually what our relationship looks like.

Austin’s back at school right now, but he’ll be back in Chicago this week and this time…WE DON’T EVER HAVE TO BE LONG DISTANCE AGAIN! I am so excited to enter this new time in our life together, but I needed to figure out what to do at home so our relationship doesn’t fall flat. Enter this list of ideas for a date night at home.

1. Plan a Bucket List

I LOVE to plan. Something about it soothes my soul and eases a lot of anxiety, so we decided to plan a bucket list for ourselves! It can be places you’d like to travel, experiences you’d like to have, or really anything else. When ours is finished, it might be something I’ll post on the blog, so stay tuned. If you end up doing this, share yours in the comments! I love to read them.

2. Watch a Broadway Show

I recently discovered the Netflix of Broadway. Broadway HD will allow you to stream a bunch of entertaining Broadway shows including Cats, Kinky Boots, and even Brokeback Mountain! There is a small fee for a monthly membership, but they have a 7 day trial period (so, set a reminder to cancel after a week!).

Check it out: Broadway HD

3. Take a Virtual Tour

I mentioned this above, but there are so many virtual tours out there and they can make for such a unique date night. I know Austin and I really bond over travel in general, but specifically tours because we both love to learn. This is definitely a good option if you’re looking to take a break from Netflix see some new places. The best part is you don’t have to leave your couch!

Check it out: My list of recommended virtual tours

4. Defuse a Bomb

I know what you might be thinking here, but I don’t mean a physical bomb (that could get dangerous). One of my FAVORITE games to play together is Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.

We have it downloaded on Steam (a PC gaming software), but it looks like you can also get it on your phone. The premise of the game is that one person is looking at a bomb and the other is looking at an instruction manual. The person looking at the instruction manual has to instruct the person looking at the bomb how to defuse the bomb based on what they’re told about it. It takes some SERIOUS communication skills and is SO fun!

Check it out: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

5. Take a Cooking Class

Tastemade has a TON of free video cooking classes to teach you how to make macarons, pies, cocktails, burgers, pizza, and so much more – all for FREE. Did I mention it’s free yet?

They even have a downloadable PDF with ingredients and tools that you can print out and take with you to the grocery store to get everything you need. It’s safe to say we’ll be having some macarons this weekend!

Check it out: Tastemade homepage

6. Virtual Paint and Sip

If you haven’t been to an in-person Paint and Sip class, here’s how it goes. You’re given a canvas, paint, paint brushes, and everything you need – including an instructor who teaches you how to make beautiful works of art one stroke at a time! Oh, and THERE’S WINE! or any other beverage you choose to bring.

The difference here is that you stay home. Painting parties has a bunch of instructional painting videos you can choose from for $4.99 per month (no monthly commitment). You’ll just need to buy all the supplies and press play, and you have yourself an at-home date night.

Check it out: Painting Parties at Home

7. Wine Tasting

I LOVE seeing how companies are pivoting their business structure to meet their customers half way while abiding by social distancing requirements! A few wineries are doing virtual wine tastings to give you their sommelier expertise right in your home!

Evesham Wood and Ken Wright Cellars are two of these wineries. First, you’ll purchase a wine tasting package (anywhere from 3-6 bottles). When they arrive, you’ll contact the winery to schedule a free one-on-one video call with their experts to learn more about each of the wines you’re tasting. It’s pricier than traditional tastings because you’re buying full bottles, BUT then you have extra wine to drink later!

Check it out: Evesham Wood

Check it out: Ken Wright Cellars

8. Bracket Competitions

I’ve seen a lot of friends do things like this recently with a ton of different categories. Let me explain. There are premade brackets out there that help you determine which Taylor Swift song you like the best, which The Office episode is the best, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I’ve seen people take a blank bracket and, by a very tasty process of elimination, decide on the best sub sandwich shop.

You can pick something that can be done in one night or something you can drag on over time. Either way, I think this is awesome and will definitely be trying it.

Check it out: Taylor Swift Bracket

Check it out: Blank Bracket

9. Local Restaurant Delivery

Nothing says “date night” more than food and nothing says “at-home date night” more than take out.

Depending on where you are, local restaurants are likely still open for pick up and/or delivery. They are certainly hurting right now and could use your support. Get fancy with it! Choose different places for your meal and dessert, order a few different entrees and save the leftovers, there are literally no rules here.

Check it out: Door Dash (use this link to get $5 off your first 3 orders).

Check it out: Postmates

10. Plan your 2021 Travel

None of us are sure when we’ll be able to travel again, but I’m hoping that it’s before the end of the year. We already have travel planned for August, but we might have to end up pushing that back until December or even next year.

To be safe, I’d recommend planning any new travel in 2021 (or sooner if we hear of borders opening up before that). To get you started on that, I’ve got blog posts all about Napa Valley, Alaska, Italy, and Poland. I also have a FREE travel planning template you can use to make things easier! Just fill out the form below and it’ll be sent right to your inbox.

However you’re spending your quarantined time, I genuinely hope you’re okay. That’s my intention with this post – if we can find fun things to do and ways to stay productive while at home, it can make all our lives just a little easier.

Are you going to try any of the at-home date night ideas on this list? Don’t worry if you don’t have a date, you can do most of these solo and still have an awesome time.

Let me know how you’re spending your date nights in the comments below!