This romantic fort night is the perfect romantic date night at home! With instructions on how to make a romantic blanket fort, activity ideas, and an easy dinner idea too- you’ll love this date night in a fort!

One of our biggest requests is for creative date ideas you can do at home. After testing thousands of dates of professional date night planners, here is one of our favorite ones you can enjoy in your living room!

Cheap At-Home Date Idea

In the Christmas of 2011, I gave my husband a year of dates with my 12 Months of Dates gift that included one date to do every month. It worked so well, I did it again in 2012! And now, for over a decade, I’ve been giving the gift of date nights planned and prepped as a gift.
Inevitably, we need a few cheap date ideas and some date nights at home to throw in the mix. There’s something about a romantic fort date night that makes you feel like kids and enjoy a night together at home.

Here’s what the folder I gave Jacob looked like, and some fun ideas for giving your sweetheart a date night gift.

How to Build a Romantic Fort

A romantic fort date night starts with the fort. And this is something that can be so fun to build together. Because we’ve done this a few times, we have some tips and tricks for making your own blanket fort/ pillow for a fort date night.

Blanket Fort Ideas and Tips:

1. Design your time.
It’s much easier/faster as an adult! Building forts taps into the childhood nostalgia, but it may only take you a few minutes to construct the fort itself.

2. Think light!
Lightweight tarps and sheets work really well! Heavy blankets tend to fall and often break down parts of the fort. So we’d recommend lighter blankets and fabrics if you have them.

3. Be ready with supplies.
Clothes pins, safety pins, or chip clips from IKEA do a great job attaching sheets to ceiling fan chains. You could also pick up some zip ties to help hold the fort in place. The best fort is going to be one that doesn’t collapse on you, so plan for one of these items.

4. Start with a good base.
The back of your couch and chairs do a great job! We recommend starting in a place with plenty of space for building that already has a couch back or chairs you can use as a base. If you can secure the main blanket with clothespins, you’ll be set with a secure base.
Some people love to use a tent secured to a pole. But we like to think of that as an indoor camping date night, and lean into the coziness of a pillow fort for this date.

5. Make it comfy!
Air mattresses make for a better sleepover situation, and that our top pick! But you could layer up blankets and use lots of pillows for a comfy base too.

6. Lean into some romantic ambiance!
Fairy string lights or Christmas twinkle lights make everything romantic. We’ll probably add them to everything we do from now on no matter what the activity or season is. Easy, free, and seriously fun!
You could also add some decor using a heart garland, battery-powered candles, or even some rose petals really help set the mood.

7. Lean into the romance.
It’s really hard not to make out in a fort. Okay, I’m half kidding, but know that the comfort and cozy setting can be extra romantic. Make sure your date is comfortable with this!

Romantic Fort Dinner Plans

A romantic fort is a great place for a living room picnic! You could pack a picnic for a meal, or go simple and order a pizza like we did.
We added some Trader Joe’s Sparkling Pomegranate juice to make it a little extra special.

Blanket Fort Snacks

You’re going to know your date and their lifestyle best, so we’d say lean into showing your thoughtfulness and get some of their favorite snacks they’ll love!
A few ideas:

• Favorite Junk food items
• Popcorn
• S’mores items (chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers)
• Charcuterie board (cheese, crackers, meats, jams, fruit, etc.)

Fort Date Night Date Night Activity

Since you’ll be spending your date night living your best life in your romantic fort, you may need a few fun activities. Here are some favorites!

• Have a Movie Night
  You could build the fort in front of your tv. But it’s also fun to grab a laptop and enjoy your entertainment on the small screen cozied up.
• Spend some time talking and catching up.
  It’s amazing what one-on-one quality time does after both having some busy work weeks! Snuggling and chatting in this setting just felt so special and romantic.
• Use Some Conversation Prompts
  See below for one of our favorites we used during this date night!
• Have a Game Night
  Grab some board games or cards, and get ready for a game night date night with some cozy ambiance.
• Lean into the Romance
  I mean why not make out, cozy up, and enjoy a new setting with your sweetie?

Conversation Game Perfect for a Fort Date Night

After an hour or so we decided to play a game I heard about from friends called Do You Know Your Husband?: A Quiz about the Man in Your Life. There’s also a version for him called

Do You Know Your Wife?: A Quiz about the Woman in Your Life. You can get them from Amazon through the links above, and they are about $5 per book. They ask questions essentially about how observant you are about certain aspects of each other’s life, as well as some random things you have or may not have had conversations about.

After you take the test you total up the correct answers and score from 10-1,000.

Seriously, some of these questions and some of our answers were just total crackups!

And guess what- good news, according to the test we both “very impressive” so neither of us had to wonder who that person in our bed is and why we don’t know them.

This was a free (minus the game and dinner) at home date that we’d highly recommend to anyone who needs a romantic night in!

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