Feeling tired with your old bathroom design and/or decoration? Still using the same old toilet seat? Want to sparkle it up with a makeover but facing with a quite limited budget? One of the simplest ways to give your bathroom a fresh new look without having to burn a big hole in your pocket for remodeling works is to replace your bathroom accessories and fixtures that are already worn or have been heavy use or even out of styles. Such bathroom accessories include the faucets, shower head, towel rail, shower curtain, floor mate (if you have any) and bathroom mirror.
However, one item that can really make the 
difference and help transform the appearance of your bathroom is none other than the toilet seat. Having a unique or stylish toilet seat can really give you a different feel, especially if you are replacing your worn out standard toilet seat.
The best choice of toilet seat should be the one that could match with your bathroom existing color schemes and décor, as well as the model of the toilet you have. Nowadays, you can find varieties of toilet seat designs and colors in the market. For example, if you do not like a bare toilet seat, you can get one with logo or designs on it. This will definitely turn your bathroom into a ‘wild’ one.
On the other hand, if you prefer the contemporary feel, get one with a color other than white but can accommodate the color and overall design of your bathroom. You can even pick the seat with a better shaped lid other than the bored bare normal round or elongated shape. These toilet seats can fit your toilet bowl as long as you get the measurement right as the only difference is the shape of the lid, the seat will remain the same.
Things to Consider When Shopping for a New Toilet Seat
You can browse an online catalog or visiting popular marketplace such as Amazon to get more idea and inspirations. Amazon offers a broad range of different toilet seat designs at a discounted price. Below are some of the guides that can help you to make a choice that’s not only practical but also promising right away:
The Shape of Your Toilet Seat: Round or Oval?
This is the most important aspect that you must pay attention as you can’t simply pick one shape that you prefer as it won’t fit into your toilet bowl if you get the wrong one. Most new homes are fixed with elongated toilets while older homes normally with have the standard round toilets. Just a glance is enough to tell what is the shape your toilet. However, if you want to check, get a steel rule or measuring tape and measure the distance from the front of the bowl to the seat hinges (the edge). An oval toilet will have the measurement of 18 ½ inches long while the standard round toilet is about 16 ½ inches. Take note that if your toilet bowl is from a certain brand and model, it might have a different shape and measurement. So if that’s the case your options will be limited as you will have to get the seat from the particular brand.
The material of the toilet seat made of: Wood or Plastic?
After having to use a plastic seat for such a long time, perhaps you might want to try a wood toilet seat instead. Wood seat provides you with luxurious feel and classy look and there are several different types of woods or finishes to complement a range of different decorating styles. Some of the things that you might want to consider when choosing between a wood toilet seat and a plastic toilet seat include:
- Comfort: A wooden seat may be more comfortable to sit compares to a plastic one. It feels warmer and more solid compares to a plastic one.
- Cost: In general, a wooden toilet seat will cost more than a plastic toilet seat. But if you are looking for a branded seat, you should also expect to pay extra even for a plastic seat.
- Durability: As long as you don’t go for the low quality seat, you can expect that both types of seats will last long.
The Hinges that Paired with the Toilet Seat
Wooden seats are normally supplied with chrome or metal hinges; plastic hinges wouldn’t work great with the wood. One the other hand, plastic seats tend to have plastic hinges. But it you are paying for premium seat, you can expect that it is paired with metal hinges.
Other Feature of the Toilet Seat
Other feature that you can expect from a toilet seat includes the soft closing mechanism. Soft closing mechanism is a type of feature where it can prevent slamming of toilet seat. With just a gentle tap on the lid will make it to close slowly and softly. However, this feature only available for the plastic seat version and depending on the brand, this type of toilet seat is more expensive than those conventional ones.
Other Types of Toilet Seat
There are also few other types of toilet seats which you might want to consider in case if there’s a need. These include heated toilet seat, padded toilet seat, built-in bidet toilet seat or those models with arms, an open front seat or even a built-n potty training seat, which commonly known as the family toilet seat.