25 Fantastic Date Ideas at Home

Need to spice things up for date ideas at home? We have you covered! Whether your home is literally your house or apartment, or “home” equates to doing things close to your address, not venturing out far, we have inspirational, fun, and affordable ideas for you.

Many of these are, of course, geared toward adults. But if you have children at home too, most of the recommendations work with your family as well. And if not, then simply engage in the dates after they're in bed if appropriate!

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Home Date Ideas Categories

We have broken the ideas down into three categories for our date ideas at home:

1. 100% indoors
2. Either inside or outside
3. 100% outdoors

Date Idea for Couples That Can Be 100% Indoors

If you want to stay indoors because the weather is inclement, we understand! Here are great ideas for date ideas at home that you do not have to go outside for.

➜ 1. Give Each Other Massages

Need some sensuality in your life? Take turns giving each other massages! Order some massage oil online or use lotion you have at home. (Be kind – warm the lotion up with the body heat in your hands first so you're not slapping cold lotion on your partner.)

Just remember – if you want to receive a massage, you have to do your part to give your partner one too. If it helps, set a timer for 15 to 30 minutes, then switch.

➜ 2. Have Your Own Sing Along and Dance Party

Some of our best nights have been inside, taking turns looking up our favorite music videos on YouTube or Vevo, singing along. Inevitably dancing ensues! (Did we mention this is usually after a few drinks?) Truly, some of our best memories together are thanks to evenings like this.

Dan always loves rocking out to the Tragically Hip – a local Canadian favorite band, for my Buffalo native husband – and I love a good Cher tune. “If I could turnnnnn back timmmme…..” (Her costume in that video, alone, is worth looking up the video!)

➜ 3. Ask Each Other Questions

There's a free app resource for couples to get conversations going. And you can choose the “severity” of questions for some categories, from surface to deeper meaning. It's the Gottman Card Decks app; we recommend it.

Have an intellectual evening to yourselves. Choose a category – from appreciation to sex, to empathy – and ask away.

We also love Chat Packs, which are fun decks that you can easily buy online.

➜ 4. Have a Game Night (Puzzles Included)

It's always fun to engage in some friendly competition with a game night. Or collaborate to complete a puzzle.

This could turn into a multiple evening activity, as some board games like Monopoly and Risk take more time than an hour or two, as does a 1,000-piece puzzle.

(Did you know there are so many cute versions of Monopoly if you're into a particular theme, like wine or politics?)

➜ 5. Make Each Other Breakfast in Bed

You can do it together or perhaps cook for one another for two consecutive days. One day I'll make breakfast in bed for Dan, and the next day he'll do it for me.

➜ 6. Make Dinner Together or For Each Other

We love cooking. So it's always fun to make dinner together or for one other. This isn't unique in our home – we do it several nights a week.

So what would make it special? Make a dish you haven't tried before. Use different plates or silverware. Swap out the wine for champagne. Play some sexy tunes. Whatever is going to switch things up is what we recommend.

➜ 7. Take a Cocktail (or Mocktail) Class

Did you know there are affordable mixology courses online for under $20? Learn how to make cocktails together, then drink the results. Skillshare has a ton of options too.

If you're not into alcohol, research mocktail recipes or courses on the web.

➜ 8. Learn About Wine

There's no time like the present to act on learning more about wine like you've wanted to do for years. (Are we speaking our own thoughts aloud?) For example, you can enroll in a self-paced Napa Valley Wine Academy course to learn the basics of wine (a 101 course). If you like it, sign up for some more!

➜ 9. Have an Extra Sweet Evening

Everyone deserves some sweets in a while, even if you don't have a particularly strong sweet tooth. Dan does not, however, I know he loves freshly baked sugar cookies!

Bake cookies together or have a melted chocolate evening to dip everything – from banana slices, to strawberries, to marshmallows, pretzels and each other (hmmm?) – in chocolate! Just be sure to look up how to properly melt chocolate first; it's a very easy thing to burn but it's also very easy to avoid.

Date Ideas for Couples At or Around Home for Outside or Inside

➜ 10. Write Each Other Love Letters

Get out some paper – or greeting cards if you have them at your home – and get to writing.

You can then do one of the following in your home or your yard:

• Read them aloud to each other after you've written them on your date
• Exchange them on your date and read them silently to yourself
• Save reading them for another day, perhaps when one of you is feeling down and needs a pick-me-up

➜ 11. Create a Bucket List Vacations Plan for the Future

Just because you have to social distance right now doesn't mean you can't dream about future trips and vacations. Create a joint bucket list of destinations you'd love to go to. Take it a step further and break it down into years.

Where do you want to go? What bucket list destination is at the top of your list?

We've made it super simple for you to plan this with a free downloadable worksheet! Print it out to fill in the blanks or complete it on your computer during your date. (We recommend printing it if you can – computers only tempt you with distractions!)

We have done this exercise in the past, and it not only helps us prioritize travel but also helps us turn those dreams into reality. Having a focus on where we want to go and when has enabled us to travel to Thailand in 2016 and Spain in 2022, for example.

➜ 12. Exercise Together

Is there a saying that couples who exercise together stay together? Well, if not, it sounds good to us!

Get that adrenaline going! You can look up tons of workout classes online – paid or free, like on YouTube – and burn some calories. Look up yoga, dumbbell classes, pilates, stretching, etc. Showering together after is optional, of course.

➜ 13. Read to One Other

We think it's very sweet to read to each other. Especially love stories. One of my favorite books to read to my partner is True Love, by Robert Fulghum. It's all sorts of love stories from different kinds of relationships – lovers, friends and family – and all walks of life. It's a good one!

➜ 14. Spend an Evening Reminiscing

We have a lot of photos from previous trips we look at together periodically. But the idea struck us to make a night even more memorable by specifically designating it to this purpose.

Get out your photo books or open up online galleries. (And if you only have online galleries, please print your images! We recommend these killer, high-quality photo books that we are in love with.)

A reminder to shut off all outside disturbances, like your cell phone ringer or social media. And focus on each other and the beautiful life you've built together, by recalling the memories you've created.

Here are some things to remember:

• Your first date
• The first (second or third) vacation you took together
• A milestone, like getting a pet, having a child or moving in together

We can only imagine the wonderful times you'll recall.

➜ 15. Order Take Out and Picnic In (or Out)

Don't feel like cooking? We know plenty of people who don't find joy in it. And even if you do, everyone appreciates having a meal ready-made for them. So why not order takeout and dine in? What about making it a picnic with some favorite foods? (For us, it would be Southern classics.)

Lay out a blanket – whether inside or in your front or backyard – and enjoy the food that's been delivered to you.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can always pack the car and head to a nearby park. Pack your picnic properly so the meal you packed will stay as fresh as possible, and you won't forget anything if you're away from home.

➜ 16. Have Your Own Happy Hour

No matter the season, rhyme, or reason, Dan and I love our little at-home happy hours. We have them all the time.

This is generally when the sun is still up. (We just prefer it that way. Personal preference, so we can eat outside if the weather is nice.) At whatever time, let's say 5:00pm or 6:00pm, I'll prepare a cheese plate and declare it's Happy Hour!

All you need is: snack(s) + drinks

We love to create a cheese and/or charcuterie board on a beautiful cheese plate, pour some drinks, and talk. We usually have dinner about an hour later or, if the plates were filling enough, use that as dinner.

Here's what we utilize to put together a cheese board:

• Cheese, of course: usually two kinds, if not more, a soft and hard cheese
• Cheese board of some kind (which is also an awesome house-warming gift to give friends) with a cheese knife and spreaders (especially if we have soft cheese on the plate)
• Nuts, like cashews or almonds (Marcona almonds are the best for cheese boards – they're pricier but the taste is unmatched – we like to just have them in the house specifically for this purpose!)
• Pickles, usually baby pickles called Cornichons or maybe some marinated artichoke hearts or pickled veggies (green beans, asparagus or carrots)
• Olives like Greek Kalamata olives. If we're feeling fancy we get higher quality ones like green Italian Castelvetrano olives (they are so good!) 
• A quarter-sized schmear of honey, lemon curd or mustard (or all of them…why not?)
• Water crackers, a sliced baguette, and/or mini toasts.

If we're going for meat, we'll include some of the following:

• Ham, like Italian Prosciutto or Spanish Serrano
• Sopressata
• Salami
• Pepperoni

We'll enjoy our plates, drinks and each other's company outside if the weather is nice. If not, we'll keep it indoors.

➜ 17. Watch a Movie Together

Make popcorn! Have candy laid out. Get comfy pillows and throw blankets and snuggle up on the couch. If you want to switch things up then theme your evening to a decade and stick to that era for the film(s) you watch. Pick the 80's and watch “Say Anything,” and “The Breakfast Club,” for example.

If a movie doesn't suit your time needs for a date, then try to start a series together. Throughout our relationship, we've enjoyed watching things like Westworld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bear, or the Mandalorian.

Date Idea for Couples At or Around Home that are Outdoors

➜ 18. Driving Date Idea to Cruise on a Road with a Destination in Mind

We have been fortunate enough to live in some attractive areas. For example, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, we're really close to highway A1A, which goes past the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway. Impressive mansions line the road in many of the neighborhoods A1A runs through.

Take a drive with a destination in mind, like a ritzy area or downtown. Or drive a scenic route. Even if it's an hour away, it may be worth the time to drive to a destination to explore by car.

And heck, if no one's around you can park and get out during your affordable driving date to take a little walk in someone else's neighborhood. Or surrounded by new-to-you nature!

➜ 19. Pack a Picnic to Eat in a Park

If the weather is beautiful, this date idea near home is especially fabulous!

Put together a lunch or dinner of things that don't necessarily have to be heated, like sandwiches and salads. Pack some beverages and a blanket and head to a local park to enjoy.

If a park isn't close by, consider your back or front yard or drive to one.

➜ 20. Watch the Sunset or Sunrise

One thing's for sure – even if we're self-isolating or participating in an at-home quarantine, the sun will rise and set each day. Make a point to be outdoors for one or both as a couple. Maybe even combine it with your own happy hour.

You may just witness an inspiring, colorful sky as mother nature shines down.

➜ 21. Stargaze

Do you live in an area that is great for stargazing? Perhaps you can drive to one if you don't. There are few things more romantic than stargazing. Even in Manhattan, it only takes about an hour to drive somewhere outside the city (like north on I-83) to a place with low light pollution. You can take Metro North there too.

Be sure to download an astronomy app before you head out, like SkyView or Star Walk, to identify constellations. We personally love Night Sky (which is always one of our recommendations when people ask us about the best apps for cruises).

➜ 22. Create a Scavenger Hunt through Your Home

It depends on how in-depth you want to get with the number of clues in a scavenger hunt and how big your home and surrounding area are. But who doesn't love a scavenger hunt? It'll take some pre-planning but these days, if you're home in isolation for days on end, you have nothing but time!

Give your partner a clue that leads to one hidden in your home somewhere. Involve drawings, sentiments (that exist from your relationship or come up with new fun little gift ideas), and words to lead your partner on a fun journey throughout your place.

➜ 23. Go For a Walk, Hike, or Bike Ride

Sometimes we think the obvious isn't worth mentioning. Yet many people have to be reminded there's a lot to explore in their neighborhood. We go for walks almost a daily basis right now but change our route each time. It's likely we discover undiscovered things each time too.

If you live near a great public park or a greenway trail, be sure to consider a longer hike. And if you have bikes, don't forget about those. (We even saw some people rollerblading when we went for a walk this week!)

➜ 24. Learn More About Nature

If you love the outdoors, now is as good a time as any to further educate yourselves on some plant identification and even local wildlife, like birds that fly through your backyard.

Look up identification books or websites (be sure they're appropriate for where you live and identify flora and fauna in your home hardiness zone) and set out on that walk or hike we mentioned above to identify.

➜ 25. Rent an Air BnB or Hotel for a Weekend Close to Home

Even if you're near your own home or make someone else's home your weekend getaway, doing a staycation is a great idea to escape your daily environment and routine.

Or you can venture out for a weekend trip or even fly somewhere if you're feeling inspired! Date ideas at home can be at someone else's home!

Conclusion for Date Ideas at Home

We realize the probability of carrying out some of these ideas may depend on where you live.

For example, if you live in the middle of Manhattan, you may not be able to stargaze with so much light pollution and limited options beyond an apartment window. But you will definitely be able to make each other breakfast in bed.

Our date ideas at home for couples are fabulous for anyone aged 21 to 91!

Some of these ideas are great even if you're…

• …not physically in the same location. Dating long distance? Take an online wine course together on your computers while you FaceTime!
• …looking for solo dates! Treat yourself, right? Take yourself on a date. Nothing wrong with a little #selfcare

Things to Keep in Mind for All Date Ideas at Home for Couples

• Dress up for each other: if you're going to make the evening different and special then don't wear the casual clothes you've been wearing daily for the past week or two. Make it nice! Dress up, do your hair, put on makeup.
• Spray some nice smells: put on perfume or cologne. Wear your partner's favorite scent. (This isn't as important if you're dating long-distance. However, part of putting yourself in the right mindset is going through the motions of doing these things regardless of location.)
• Light candles
• Pour some wine (or your drink of choice)
• Minimize disturbances, including cell phone and text alerts, social media, and the like.
• A goal is to make the ordinary extraordinary. If it's something you'd normally do, like cooking, just make it exceptional. And challenge yourself to find ways to bring any activity you may already engage in up three to five notches to be something date-worthy.

Check out more Home Inspiration:

• What to Do if You are Bored at Home: Ideas for Things to Do
• Our Photography Inspiration, including articles like Travel Photography Q&A
• Everything PUZZLES, including Useful Puzzle Tips and Tricks

Have a great date idea you can do in isolation we didn't cover? Let us know in the comments below!