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It's my boyfriend's birthday today, and since our 3 year anniversary was also two days ago, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to post something love related :)
Following my blog post on 20 Outdoor Date Ideas, here are a bunch of suggestions for when it's cold out and you really don't want to leave the house. Since my boyfriend and I have been living together for more than three years now, your home can become rather unromantic and mundane. So make it a cozy and special place again that is worthy of romantic dates!
Here are 20 budget-friendly ideas for how to transform your day-to-day home into a love nest.
20 At-Home Date Ideas
01. Set up a private cocktail bar (or lemonade bar, whatever you prefer) and slow-dance to soft music in your kitchen or living room.
02. When you use your kitchen daily for cooking, turn it into a more romantic spot by having a cozy candle light dinner. Set a fancy table with flowers and red wine (or an alternative that suits you), and use dimmed lights and fairy lights to create an intimate atmosphere. Get dressed up even though you're "just at home", and eat something you don't usually cook. It doesn't matter if that's homemade sushi or just Chinese takeaway – anything eaten by candle light is romantic ;)
03. Do an at home movie night! Make your own popcorn and snuggle on the sofa. Movie suggestions: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Garden State, Dirty Dancing, Jurassic Park, Mr & Mrs Smith, Easy A, The Notebook, Blue Valentine, or La La Land.
04. Play a board/card/computer game or do a puzzle together (that's actually quite fun to do!).
05. Do a (homemade) chocolate or cheese fondue night.
06. Do an at-home spa day! Run a long hot bath (DIY bath bombs?), light some candles, apply fun face masks... Your boyfriend will appreciate some pampering too.
07. Give each other a massage. Whether that's relaxing or more sexy is up to you ;)
08. Build a cosy blanket fort in your room (bring snacks) – and then make out inside it.
09. Make a time-capsule with photos and letters of you and your partner (e.g. letters to your future selves, secret letters to each other, or bucket lists). Decide an opening date, such as a 5 year or 10 year anniversary, or just the same date next year.
10. Draw portraits of each other. To make it even more fun: draw each other with eyes closed!
11. Watch funny YouTube videos and laugh your asses off. Here's a good place to start.
13. Put an air mattress and comfy blankets on the living room floor and do indoor camping.
14. Do an at-home karaoke night and go sing your hearts out. You can just search for karaoke on Youtube to find tons of karaoke versions of songs.
15. Choose a cultural theme and centre your date night around it. Make food, play music and watch a movie from or about that culture. For example, if you choose Italy, you could make homemade pizza, eat gelato for dessert, listen to some Italian folk music and watch a movie like "Life is Beautiful" or "The Godfather". If you choose Japan, make your own sushi, play traditional Japanese music and watch a movie like "Memoirs of a Geisha" or "Spirited Away". Some other fun theme ideas are Vietnamese, Mexican, Greek, Ethiopian, Russian, or a certain decade like the 1920's.
17. Look at each other's cringy old photos and have a good laugh about it :) You could also look at photos of you two together in the early stages of your relationship and take a trip down memory lane.
18. Do a blind taste test where each of you let's the other try some yummy treats like peanut butter, chocolate and fruits, but also some meaner foods like mustard, chili, baby food etc. Use a blindfold or an eye mask.
19. Watch a movie you've never seen before (any genre will work for this, but romance, crime or melodrama will probably be most fun). Set on mute and improvise the dialogue.
20. Have a progressive dinner date! So start with an appetizer at one restaurant, a main dish at a 2nd restaurant and dessert at a 3rd restaurant. That way you can eat three different cuisines all in the same night!
Do you have any more ideas for at-home dates? Leave them in the comments below! I hope I could inspire you to switch it up a little :)
♥
Maisy