As Valentine’s Day approaches, many people are looking for ways to spread their love to the people closest to them. Studies show that performing random acts of kindness can increase gratitude and feelings of worth for both the giver and recipient but this isn’t limited to strangers. Doing so at home for either your partner or platonic friend who’s a roommate will help strengthen the bond you each share.

However, because people are often around their roommates on a daily basis, it’s common for people to get stuck in their routines and stop showing their appreciation and love. Additionally, increased time at home during the pandemic has caused more feelings of stress from roommates. To help, we’ve compiled cute date night ideas at home, including COVID date nights and simple date nights, as well as roommate gift ideas so you can spread love to the one you’re living with.

Cute Date Night Ideas at Home

Surprise your roommate with a cute date night at home. This can help ease the stress from the day and limit potential COVID-19 exposure from going out. These ideas can be simple or extravagant, and romantic or friendly.

• Have a Game Night
  • Game nights are great for people dating and those who are just friends as they require you to put away the screens and talk. Choose a game like Backgammon or cards, as these only require two people. Add in a charcuterie board and wine on the side to increase the relaxation.

• Tasting Party
  • A tasting party doesn’t just have to be wine and cheese. Instead, you can have a tasting party for all three courses of your meal! For example, you could have whiskey or juice tastings, sandwich tastings, and chocolate tastings. You can lay out your food and have notebooks for writing notes. This is a great COVID date night idea because you will avoid eating out in a crowded restaurant.

• Have a Karaoke Night
  • Instead of going out to a karaoke bar, turn the house into a karaoke club! You can add fun colored lights, get dressed up, and use a karaoke machine. If you don’t have a machine but have an Amazon Fire Stick, ask Alexa to play Karaoke Night – she’ll get the party started! To make it more fun, you can use a karaoke microphone and even create a scoreboard for each other! Singing helps release endorphins, which will increase your happiness and love in your roommate relationship.

Roommate Gift Ideas

Another way to increase the love and affection between you and your roommate is by surprising them with a gift! Maybe they have a favorite food, or there’s something you both want to spruce up the living space but haven’t taken the time to buy. The random act of kindness of gift giving is simple but effective in showing that you care.

• Care Package
  • You can DIY this gift, or put one together through an online source. The ultimate care package can include some of their favorite sweet and salty snacks, drinks, and comes in a cute and reusable storage bin! You can find premade and customizable care packages at websites like Olive and Cocoa.

• Luxe Candles
  • Candles are a great roommate gift idea because they will help the entire living space smell great. If you know your roommate has a favorite scented candle, you can buy them that scent in an assortment of sizes. Candles are great for late night study sessions, intimate dinners, cozy nights in, or spa days. You can even get custom candles that give off scents to match their personality traits.

• Framed Photo
  • With so much focus on cell phone photos, people often forget to print their favorite pictures and hang them on display. Show how much you love and care for your roommate by gifting them a photo of the two of you in an elegant frame. If a big fancy frame isn’t your style, you can surprise them with a set of smaller photo tiles from Shutterfly.

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, it’s important to share the feelings of love with everyone who matters. Go the extra mile to be kind to your roommate with a number of roommate gift ideas, or through a cute date night idea at home.