My girlfriend makes fun of my towels – she says they’re ratty. Do I really have to worry about my towels on top of everything else?

I never counsel worry. I do, however, counsel making women comfortable in your home. That means being aware of the kind of detail that may never strike you as important. It took me years of adulthood to discover, for example, that women don’t like using a regular bar of soap to wash their hands with. They find it icky. It’s easy and cheap to get a bottle of liquid soap with a dispenser pump thing, but it’s the kind of thing I walked past on the supermarket aisle for my entire life without ever seeing. Most of us need someone to tell us these things.

Other things women will notice: posters or calendars instead of original art; overhead lights on instead of lamps; too many cd’s everywhere; a tv as the focal point of the whole place; those awful office blinds made of vertical beige strips that came with the place; unchanged sheets; an olfactory sense that the laundry hamper has not been emptied in a while; and, yes, towels. I am guessing yours are of the beach variety – all striped or otherwise colourful – or at least that you don’t distinguish between your beach towels and your daily ones.

You can get sets of matching towels – note the plural; buy more than one set, all in the same solid colour – in any department store, and you shouldn’t stint on the quality. The pricier they are, the thicker and softer, and this is going to make your girlfriend feel safe and comfortable and this will in turn improve your sex life. Reserve the beach towels for the beach.

You also need a set of wineglasses without any promotional logos or brand names on them.

Image courtesy of chris.peplin.