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The isolation period is well underway for many people. If you've nailed your at-home wardrobe, figured out your WFH routine, how to co-exist with your partner and even make tinned meals, we've rounded up fun things to do at home and some brilliant ways you can spend your time indoors, from cheese tasting to virtual beach cams. You're welcome.
1.Read a book
Whether you have time off work or simply find yourself with more time on your hands, there's no better excuse to curl up with that book you've been meaning to read from last summer. Or you could try one of the hot new book releases for 2020.
2.Read a magazine
If novels aren't your thing, may we take this opportunity to recommend the beautiful, brand new issue of GLAMOUR, starring the queen, Connie Ferguson? We may be biased, but we think it's pretty great.
3. Join a virtual 'day out'
Let’s Day Out is launching ‘Let’s Day In’ (see what they did there?) to all IOS users with an array of events that will be available to them to do – and all virtually. You can enjoy live cooking demonstrations, virtual parties, art classes, workout sessions led by trainers, themed online meetups etc. The events will be free-of-charge to the public, but all users will have the option to donate £1.00 (R22) to the World Health Organisation to help them find a cure for COVID-19 with their COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
4.Tidy the house
*Collective eye roll* but hear us out. Tidying and deep-cleaning your space will not only get rid of harmful dust, dirt and germs, but it'll put you in a clearer headspace. So, chuck on your favourite playlist, wash those throws and cushion covers, hoover right into those corners and take the bloody bins out. You'll feel better for it, promise. Plus, you can totally reward yourself with a glass of wine afterwards.
5. Sort through your wardrobe
That old band t-shirt gathering dust in the back of your wardrobe? Those sequinned denim shorts you haven't worn since Glasto 2015? It's time to get rid, huns. Grab some strong bin bags and get closet culling. It'll make you feel wonderfully cleansed, and your local charity shops will be very grateful for donations (make sure it's in a saleable condition though; anything with holes or stains should be recycled instead). The same goes for the rest of your home, too – most charity shops are super grateful for bric-a-brac, no matter how small or cheap.
6. Join a Harry Potter-esque potion making class
Harry Potter mad? Hogwarts Is Here is an online social network created by fans who are now hosting live Harry Potter-esque classes. You sign up, choose your house and enrol in classes such as Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Astronomy, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Herbology. Magic!
7. Sign up to a virtual wine tasting
Yes, we are missing Saturday nights at the pub, too, but thankfully, Pull The Cork is bringing wine tasting to your house via Instagram. Order one of Pull The Cork’s Isolation Wine Tasting Kits ready for a live Instagram wine tasting on Saturday. Remember when you said you wanted to learn a new skill in quarantine?
8. Organise your beauty cabinet
If you're anything like us, your current bathroom shelf situation is a mess of fake tan spills, near-empty serums and old lipsticks. Check out this make-up organising hack and get sorting. Added bonus: you can take a chic shelfie for the 'gram afterwards.
9. While you're at it, clean those make-up brushes
Yes, they can be a faff to clean, but dirty make-up brushes are an absolute breeding ground for bacteria. "If you are one of those people that does all the right things and yet can’t understand why you have rashes and spots, take a look at the tools you use to apply your products with," says Lynne Sanders, cosmetic scientist and founder of Cosmetics a La Carte.
10. Oh, and don't forget your straighteners/ curlers
Yes, really. Get cleaning those hair tools people.
11. Start gardening
Okay, you've cleaned every corner of your gaff, had that glass of wine and hung up your Marigolds. No more cleaning for you. Now, why not turn your hand to gardening? Tons of studies recently have shown the benefits of gardening for our mental health (so much so that horticultural therapy is said to help treat depression and anxiety), and you don't even need a garden to get started; even the smallest of balconies or terraces can be used for a herb garden. Or stay indoors and become a loving houseplant mum.
12. Cook up a storm
Cooking is wonderfully therapeutic, too. Batch cook some of your favourite recipes or turn to one the best cookbooks for recipe inspiration. Can't be bothered to buy your own ingredients? Call on a meal delivery service to send them to your front door.
13. Get your bath time self-care game on
Light your favourite candles, run a bubble bath, get that face mask on – your self-care game is about to be its strongest yet. Think 'at-home-spa'.
14. Improve your posture
We all know that the amount of time we spend sitting down in our daily lives is not doing our bodies any favours and working from home in the current isolation period isn't helping.
Being locked in one position for many hours of the day is the total opposite of what the human body has evolved to do and this makes our joints and muscles unhappy.
Why not enlisted the expert advice of Postural Alignment Therapist, Posture Ellie (@posture.ellie), who shares simple videos you can follow at home to improve your posture? Check out her YouTube here.
15. Crack the games out
It's time to show some love to that jigsaw puzzle your aunt Karen bought you for Christmas 2010. Or challenge your SO/ flatmate/ mum to a game of six-hour, relationship-testing Monopoly. Shotgun the thimble.
16. Listen to a podcast
To say that podcasts are having a moment is a massive understatement. Whether it's to have a serious LOL or be inspired in your career, there's never been a better time to plug in to some juicy conversations. There's a hell of a lot to choose from, but fear not, because here's our pick of the best podcasts out there.
16. Binge all your 'to-watch' list on Netflix
Whether it's catching up on all the new Love Is Blind dramz or starting one of Netflix's new drops, now is the time to snuggle up in front of the telly without a care in the world. You could even tackle one of those epic binge-worthy TV series you keep meaning to start...
17. Do a home workout
'I be up in the lounge just working on my fitness', as Fergie would say. There's plenty of exercises you can do sans gym; just check out our round-up of the best at-home workouts.
8. Nap. Nap till your heart's content
After that sweat sesh, you deserve a little lie down. And really, when was the last time you actually had time to nap? And aren't naps one of life's greatest pleasures? So, go forth, get cosy and have a delicious little nap. You so deserve it.
19. Paint your nails
Honestly, hear us out. We know you're missing your favourite salons right now, but doing your own nails can be pretty therapeutic. If you've not yet mastered the at-home mani, why not take this time to try doing your own gel nails at home?
20. Marie Kondo the sh*t out of your phone
Those emails from Domino's? That recipe app you downloaded and literally never used? Those 500 accidental screenshots of your home-screen? They are using precious phone storage and now is your chance to go on a deleting spree. Boy bye.
21. Call your friends and fam
Just because you're a nice person.
22. Host your own cheese tasting sesh
Just because you can't get out to your favourite Italian doesn't mean you need to skip your next cheese fix. The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company are on hand to deliver you genuine cheddar to your front door. Cheese lovers up and down the country can support the business by taking advantage of their speedy courier delivery service just in time for the weekend. A brie-lliant idea (sorry!).
23. Enjoy a literary festival from the comfort of your own home
Fill your spare time by watching sessions from talks at Cliveden Literary Festival, the literary salon of the 21st century which takes place annually at the magnificent Berkshire English country house. Enjoy sessions including The Art Of The Novel with Howard Jacobson, Ian McEwan, Kate Mosse, Ben Okri and Leila Slimani; Emotional Education with Alain de Botton; Britain’s Sharpest Airhead with Emily Maitlis and many more.
24. Live stream a beach cam
Just because your holiday got cancelled doesn't mean you have to miss waking up to the sound of waves. America’s iconic and historic beachfront hotel "The Del” is one of the few surviving examples of an American wooden Victorian beach resort. See the crashing waves, ocean breezes, and beaming sunshine from afar with The Del's live beach cams which offer a glimpse of the breathtaking views seen from Hotel del Coronado.
25. Get green fingered
Now is the perfect time to pot up some herbs and vegetables - and you don't even need a garden or a balcony to do so. You can grow a variety of herbs, salad leaves, spinach, potatoes and carrots in containers and it makes life easier when you can't get to the supermarket.
26. Work on your wellness, on-demand
Missing your weekly yoga class? In pain and can't see your physio? Wellness app Urban is launching a temporary online home for live-streamed, one-to-one fitness, physio, yoga and mindfulness. The service aims to support Urban’s community of self-employed, mobile practitioners, by providing them with a safe way to earn from home; and users an easy way to stay active and well. Named ‘The stay at home club’, the new category on the app and urban.co features private, live-streamed classes and sessions delivered by two-way video and are conducted by qualified Urban professionals from their own homes. If you're dubious about following YouTuber and 'influencer' advice, this is the professional help you've been searching for.
27. Try your hand at Sourdough
Anyone else's Insta feeds rife with people whipping up their own bread? If you want to jump on the bandwagon, Tara Jensen's Instagram account is worth a follow. She documents her bread making journey, step-by-step. Plus, it means we don't need to steal it all from the supermarket when there's people more in need of it.
This article was originally published on GLAMOUR UK
