Because you don’t need a special occasion to make a little more of the everyday.
There are nights we plan for weeks.
Birthdays. Anniversaries. Vacations. Dinner reservations. Concerts.
And then there are all the other nights.
The Tuesdays when dinner happens in front of the television.
The Fridays when you're both tired and can't decide what to do.
The Saturdays when going out sounds like more effort than fun.
Those ordinary nights make up a lot more of our lives than the big ones do.
And maybe they deserve a little attention too.
Making an evening feel special doesn't require an elaborate dinner, an expensive bottle of wine, or a house that looks like it belongs in a magazine.
Sometimes it just takes changing a few little things.
Here are some of my favorite ways to turn an ordinary night at home into your own Little Escape.
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01 Give the Night a Name
It's amazing what happens when “dinner” becomes “Italian night.”
Instead of saying:
“Let's stay home tonight.”
Decide what you're staying home for.
Maybe it's:
French Café Night
Wine & Cheese Night
Tapas Night
Fireside Wine Night
Pasta & Prosecco
Tea & Something Sweet
Ghost Stories After Dark
Suddenly you aren't just making dinner.
You're creating an evening.
And once you have a theme, the rest becomes surprisingly easy.
Pick something to eat. Something to drink. Music that fits.
That's enough to start.
A little intention can make the same four walls feel completely different.
02 Turn Off the Big Light
Possibly the easiest mood makeover in existence.
There is something about overhead lighting that says:
We have things to get done.
So turn it off.
Light the candles you've been saving.
Turn on the fireplace.
Use the little lamps.
String some lights across the patio.
You don't need dozens of candles or a perfectly styled tablescape.
One or two little pools of warm light can completely change the way a familiar room feels.
And please use the good candles.
They don't need to wait for company.
Little Escape Pick — $
A simple set of unscented taper candles or votives adds instant warmth to the table without competing with the smell of dinner or wine.
[Shop the Little Escape Pick →] Find it Here
Little Escape Upgrade — $$
Rechargeable cordless table lamps are one of my favorite ways to create that restaurant-at-home feeling. Put one in the middle of the table, turn off the overhead lights, and suddenly Tuesday dinner feels very different.
[Shop the Little Escape Upgrade →] Find it Here
03 Add a Soundtrack
Let the evening begin before dinner reaches the table.
Music is one of the quickest ways to transport yourself somewhere else.
Having Italian night?
Find an Italian café playlist.
Dreaming of Paris?
Put on French jazz.
Having wine by the fire?
Choose something warm and acoustic.
Planning a spooky October evening?
Find something wonderfully moody.
Put the music on while you're cooking or setting everything up—not after.
Because the preparation can be part of the escape too.
04 Eat Somewhere Else
Sometimes you only need to move ten feet to feel like you've gone somewhere.
If you normally eat at the kitchen counter, use the dining room.
If you always use the dining room, eat outside.
Move appetizers to the coffee table.
Spread a blanket on the living-room floor.
Take dessert to the porch.
Set up dinner beside the fireplace.
You don't need a new destination.
Sometimes you just need to experience your own home differently.
And if you're moving dinner somewhere a little unconventional, a few simple pieces can make almost anywhere feel like a destination.
Little Escape Pick — $
A washable picnic blanket works just as well on the living-room floor as it does in the backyard. Add a board of snacks and a bottle of wine and you've created an indoor picnic without leaving home.
[Shop the Little Escape Pick →] Find it Here
Little Escape Upgrade — $$
A low folding picnic table gives an indoor or backyard picnic a more intentional feel and can be brought out again for wine nights, date nights, and summer evenings outside.
[Shop the Little Escape Upgrade →] Find it Here
05 Make One Thing Special
Not everything. One thing.
This is where I think we sometimes make things harder than they need to be.
A special night doesn't require a five-course dinner and a perfectly styled table.
Choose one thing to elevate.
Pick up dessert from a bakery.
Buy a cheese you've never tried.
Open the bottle you've been saving.
Bring home flowers.
Make a cocktail.
Use the dishes that normally stay in the cabinet.
Put cloth napkins on the table.
Serve takeout on actual plates.
It can be tiny.
But tiny details have a funny way of making an ordinary evening feel like an occasion.
Little Escape Pick — $
A set of pretty cloth napkins is one of those inexpensive details that can make even takeout feel a little more intentional—and you can use them over and over again.
[Shop the Little Escape Pick →] Find it Here
Little Escape Upgrade — $$
A set of simple appetizer or dessert plates is lovely to have for wine nights, tapas, afternoon tea, dessert dates, and all those little occasions that don't require your full dinnerware set.
[Shop the Little Escape Upgrade →] Find it Here
The point isn't to buy everything.
It's to find a few things you love using and then actually use them.
06 Do Something Besides Watch Something
You can always turn Netflix on later.
Most evenings have a rhythm.
Dinner.
Clean up.
Couch.
Television.
Phone.
Bed.
And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But it's also why one evening can start looking very much like the next.
Change one piece of the routine.
Have a blind chocolate tasting.
Open three wines and rank them.
Play cards.
Make dessert together.
Try trivia.
Pull out a board game you haven't touched in years.
Read ghost stories.
Make a cheese board and see which pairing wins.
Ask each other questions you've never asked before.
It doesn't need to take the whole night.
Even thirty minutes of doing something different can change how the evening feels.
Little Escape Pick — $
A beautiful deck of playing cards is one of the simplest things to keep tucked away for nights when you want something to do besides turn on another show.
[Shop the Little Escape Pick →] Find it Here
Little Escape Upgrade — $$
Choose a conversation or couples card game that gives you something a little different to talk about over dinner, dessert, or a bottle of wine.
[Shop the Little Escape Upgrade →] Find it Here
Or make the activity the entire theme of the evening with one of The Little Escape printable experiences.
[Explore The Little Escape Experiences →] https://thelittleescapeco.etsy.com
07 Put the Phones Somewhere Else
Not face-down on the table. Somewhere else.
You don't need to declare a digital detox.
Try an hour.
Put both phones in another room.
Pour the drinks.
Sit down.
And see what happens when neither person can disappear into a screen the second there's a lull in the conversation.
Sometimes the lull turns into another conversation.
And then another.
You don't need to buy anything for this one.
Consider that your free Little Escape upgrade.
08 Stay at the Table
The dishes can wait.
There's a beautiful Spanish word: sobremesa.
It describes the time spent lingering around the table after a meal, talking and enjoying each other's company.
No rushing to clear the plates.
No immediately moving on to the next thing.
Just staying.
I love that idea.
So when dinner is finished, leave everything where it is.
Bring out dessert.
Pour another glass of wine.
Ask another question.
Tell another story.
Stay for twenty minutes longer than you normally would.
And if you're going to linger, make the table somewhere you actually want to stay.
Little Escape Pick — $
A small wooden serving board is perfect for bringing out cheese, chocolate, fruit, or a few little bites after dinner.
[Shop the Little Escape Pick →] Find it Here
Little Escape Upgrade — $$
A larger charcuterie board with built-in serving details gives you room to create a beautiful spread for wine night, date night, or evenings with friends.
[Shop the Little Escape Upgrade →] Find it Here
Some of the best memories around a table happen after everyone has finished eating.
09 Give Yourself Something to Look Forward To
The anticipation is part of the escape.
One of the best parts of planning something isn't actually doing it.
It's knowing it's coming.
Imagine it's Monday and you decide:
Friday night we're having a wine tasting.
Now Friday isn't simply the end of the workweek.
There's something waiting for you.
It doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate to create that little sense of anticipation.
Pick your evening a few days ahead.
Buy the wine.
Choose the dessert.
Put it on the calendar if you have to.
There's something lovely about having a small plan sitting in the middle of an otherwise ordinary week.
10 Stop Waiting for an Occasion
Wanting tonight to feel special is reason enough.
We tend to save things.
The nice wine.
The good dishes.
The candles.
The recipe we've been wanting to try.
The idea we saw months ago and said we'd do sometime.
We're waiting for a reason.
But what if wanting tonight to feel nice is reason enough?
Most of life doesn't happen on birthdays and anniversaries.
It happens on regular Wednesdays.
Quiet Sundays.
Rainy Saturdays.
Random evenings when you happen to have nowhere else to be.
Those nights count too.
A Few Things That Make Staying In Feel Better
You absolutely do not need to buy a collection of new things every time you plan a night at home.
In fact, I'd rather have a small collection of things that make lots of different evenings feel special.
A pretty serving board.
Good wine glasses.
Cloth napkins.
Warm lighting.
Little appetizer plates.
A cozy throw.
A few candles.
Things you can pull out for Italian night one week, wine and cheese the next, and takeout on a random Friday after that.
Little Escape Pick — $
Start with one inexpensive detail you'll use again and again—a serving board, cloth napkins, candles, or a set of pretty glasses.
[Shop My Little Escape Picks →] Find it Here
Little Escape Upgrade — $$
If you want to build a small collection of entertaining pieces, invest in something versatile enough to work across lots of different nights at home, like rechargeable table lamps, a larger serving board, or beautiful glassware.
[Shop My Little Escape Upgrades →] Find it Here
The goal isn't to have more stuff.
It's to have a few things that make it easier to create a moment when you want one.
The Idea Behind The Little Escape
The Little Escape started because I knew this feeling all too well.
We'd want to have a date day or date night, but when the time actually came, neither of us knew what to do.
Sometimes we'd just get in the car and start driving, trying to come up with somewhere to go.
And I'd find myself frustrated.
Not because I didn't want to spend the time together.
Because it felt forced.
Like we were supposed to be doing something simply because we'd decided it was date night.
Eventually, I started wondering:
What if we didn't need somewhere to go?
What if we just needed a little help turning the time we already had into something that felt different?
That idea became The Little Escape.
Not elaborate parties.
Not picture-perfect evenings.
And not another project you have to plan.
Just thoughtfully created experiences that give you a reason to gather, connect, try something different, and make a little more of an ordinary day.
[Find Your Next Little Escape →] Find it Here
Because Ordinary Doesn't Have to Mean Forgettable
Maybe tonight isn't your anniversary.
Maybe nobody's birthday is coming.
Maybe you aren't on vacation.
Maybe it's just Thursday.
Make the pasta anyway.
Open the wine.
Light the candles.
Put on the music.
Use the nice glasses.
Leave the dishes until later.
Stay at the table.
Because someday, when you think back on the moments that mattered, they won't all be the big ones.
Some will be the surprisingly ordinary nights when you decided to make a little more of them.
Where should we escape to next?
Escape the ordinary. Find your little escape.
