Your primary suite is where the day begins and ends—more sanctuary than utility, and worth designing with the same intention as every other room in the home. When you've chosen every tile, fixture, and finish with care, that same standard should extend to the toilet, an item that's easy to treat as an afterthought despite being one of the most-used pieces in the entire house.
The range of toilet types and features available today means the choice no longer has to be about compromise. From luxury upgrades like heated seats and no-touch flushing to accessible, aging-in-place-ready designs that never sacrifice on style, there's a toilet built for exactly how you live. Here's a look at some common toilet types, flush technologies, and design options to help you choose the one that fits, and elevates, your space.
If you’re a fan of all-in-one fixtures, the one-piece toilet may be the perfect choice. The tank, bowl, and trapway are all included in a single piece of material which makes for fairly easy installation, maintenance, and cleaning.
They also have a more streamlined profile and can be more durable than other toilet types, like a two-piece toilet. While they may also be a bit more expensive, the single-piece design can make them a good option for smaller bathrooms or ones that simply have a tighter space allocated for the toilet.
As the name suggests, these toilets come in two sections: the tank and the bowl. Installed together, they make up your completed toilet assembly. This type is the most common in the U.S. as they are very durable, relatively inexpensive, and the individual pieces can be replaced separately if one of them does happen to fail.
Installation and cleaning is a bit more difficult than a one-piece toilet, but not significantly so, and the lower cost may outweigh those potential drawbacks. The two-piece design also makes maintenance easier. You can often replace broken parts on your own, whereas this may not be as easy with a one-piece.
If you’re after a minimalist toilet footprint or you have space restrictions, a wall-hung toilet may be a good option. The bowl is mounted on the wall while the tank is hidden inside the wall. A flash plate or panel is then affixed to the wall surface rather than to a tank-mounted handle.
These are great to consider if you’re doing a full-scale remodel, as there is more planning involved in placement and installation. In terms of cleaning, these are also a great option since there’s less to clean overall. Maintenance can be tricky though, especially if there’s an issue with the tank, but if aesthetic is important to you, these may be hard to beat.
A skirted toilet has a smooth, uninterrupted surface running from the tank down to the floor, concealing the trapway that's normally visible on the back and sides of a standard toilet. The result is a cleaner, more streamlined look that's noticeably easier to wipe down, since there are no crevices around the base for dust and grime to collect in.
Skirted designs are available on both one-piece and two-piece toilets, so you don't have to choose between the two styles to get the cleaner look. They do tend to cost a bit more than a comparable standard-trapway model, but for many homeowners the easier cleaning and more polished appearance are worth the difference.
If your bathroom layout is tight on space, a corner toilet is designed to fit into, well, a corner. The tank is angled to sit flush against two walls rather than one, freeing up floor space elsewhere in the room. Corner toilets are a common solution in powder rooms, half baths, or older homes with smaller bathroom footprints, and they come in the same range of flush technologies and features as standard-format toilets.
If luxury is your main driver, consider a smart toilet. Not only do they offer a range of functional features, they can also include several comfort enhancements over traditional models. From hands-free flushing to heated seats to self-cleaning tools, smart toilets are reshaping the bathroom experience.
In terms of aesthetic, most come in sleek, contemporary profiles perfect for a modern bathroom remodel. Upfront cost will be higher and installation will be a bit more complex, but the added features and comfort may be worth it in the end.
While not officially a toilet, bidets are becoming more popular in bathroom remodels. They can offer superior cleaning after using the toilet, and they provide a positive environmental impact by allowing users to cut down on toilet paper use. Of course, a bidet will require a bit of extra plumbing work and space for the additional appliance, which will all add to your cost.
One way to get many of the features of a bidet without springing for a completely new fixture is to invest in a bidet toilet seat. They offer the cleaning function of a traditional bidet, but rest on top of your existing toilet tank, replacing your old seat. These come in a variety of sizes and colors, to help make matching one to your current toilet easy.
Before comparing specific features, it helps to understand the flushing mechanism underneath them—it affects water usage, noise, and how well a toilet clears the bowl in a single flush.
This is the most common and traditional flushing system, and the baseline that most other technologies build on. Water stored in the tank is released by gravity alone, creating a siphon effect that pulls waste through the trapway. Gravity-flush toilets are quiet, reliable, and simple to maintain, which is why they remain the standard choice in most homes.
Pressure-assisted toilets use a sealed air chamber inside the tank to force water into the bowl with extra power, on top of gravity. This produces a stronger flush that's more resistant to clogging, which makes pressure-assisted toilets a popular choice for high-traffic bathrooms or households that deal with clogs often. The tradeoff is noise—these toilets are noticeably louder than a standard gravity-flush model.
In older, standard toilets, the average flush can use up to 7 gallons of water. That's a lot. More modern ones use somewhere around 1.6 gallons, but there are ways to decrease that even more.
Enter the dual-flush toilet. These give you more control over your flushing habits by letting you choose how much water to use. Selecting the full-flush option will use more pressure in order to remove solid waste. The half-flush will adequately remove liquid waste from your toilet and can cut water consumption in half.
Another water-saving toilet option is the double-cyclone style. They create a powerful flush by using a pair of nozzles along the rim of the bowl, but they still use a minimal amount of water. The result is both a clean rim and bowl after every flush.
Siphon jet toilets use a jet of water aimed directly into the trapway to kick-start the siphon effect more forcefully than a standard gravity flush. This produces a faster, more thorough flush and is common in mid-range and higher-end toilets that still rely on gravity rather than pressure-assist technology.
Common in many parts of the world outside the U.S., washdown toilets use a simpler mechanism that pushes waste directly out through a wider trapway, rather than relying on a siphon effect. They tend to have a shallower water surface in the bowl, which can mean more visible waste between flushes, but the wider trapway makes them highly resistant to clogging.
Personal hygiene is always important. One way to help stay germ-free after going to the bathroom is to use a no-touch flushing toilet. Common in public spaces like restaurants and airports, these can also make great additions to your home bathroom.
They work by using motion sensors, so they flush when they detect you moving away from the toilet after you've finished or by waving your hand over a sensor. Simple, clean, and seamless.
The seat is an easy upgrade to overlook, but it's one of the most direct ways to improve day-to-day comfort without replacing the whole fixture.
A soft-close seat uses a hinge mechanism that gently lowers the lid and seat rather than letting them slam down. It's a small feature, but one that's hard to go back from once you've had it—no more late-night slamming, and less wear on the seat hinges over time.
Heated seats warm the seat surface to a consistent, comfortable temperature, a genuinely welcome feature in colder climates or during winter months. They're most commonly found on smart toilets and bidet seats, and many models let you adjust the temperature to your preference.
Self-cleaning toilets use built-in UV light, electrolyzed water, or antimicrobial coatings to reduce bacteria buildup in the bowl between cleanings. This isn't a substitute for regular cleaning, but it does meaningfully cut down on how often deep cleaning is needed, and it's a feature increasingly bundled into smart toilet models.
When it comes to toilet shape, the two most common types are round and elongated. Most elongated bowls offer about 2 more inches of length than round ones, which can improve comfort and give added surface area, particularly helpful for those with longer legs, for example.
Round-front bowls are a bit more compact. This means they take up less room and can work better in smaller bathroom spaces. If you're remodeling a hall or half-bathroom, this may be the ideal choice.
While most toilets come in a standard white, if you're looking for a bit more flair with this fixture, you do have color options. Whether you're going for a retro pastel look, something bright like fire-engine red, or prefer a more understated gray or black, chances are you can find something that matches your style.
If accessibility is a priority in your remodel, whether for aging in place, mobility needs, or simply everyday comfort, an ADA-compliant toilet is worth considering. These toilets are built to a taller "comfort height," typically 17 to 19 inches from floor to seat rather than the standard 15 to 17 inches, making it easier to sit down and stand up without straining. Many also include additional clearance around the bowl to accommodate grab bars or wheelchair access. Even outside of a fully accessible bathroom design, plenty of homeowners choose comfort-height toilets simply because they're more comfortable for everyday use, especially for taller adults.
Most toilets last 25 years or more with basic care, since the porcelain fixture itself rarely wears out. What tends to fail first are the internal components: fill valves, flappers, and flush mechanisms, which may need replacement every few years depending on water quality and use. A few signs it's time to consider a full replacement rather than another repair: frequent clogging despite a healthy flush, visible cracks in the porcelain, a base that rocks or feels unstable, or a rising water bill that points to a slow, hidden leak. If you're already remodeling the bathroom around it, it's often worth replacing the toilet at the same time rather than reinstalling an older unit.
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