Design trends: Have a seat

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Considering how often the proverbial throne is mounted in a day, toilet redesign is long overdue. Or is Canada just finally catching up to Japan? That country has been on the cutting-edge of toilet innovation since forever.  

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Following suit – Canadians homeowners have been requesting the comfort of the Japanese smart toilet, including any customers of local Toronto restaurant Sara. The proprietor of Japanese and global-inspired menu offerings, imported a “smart toilet” ubiquitous in nearly every Japanese service establishment  – from airports to small ma-and-pop bistros.  

Multi-functional in nature and sleek in design, the toilet showcases the hygiene-friendly automatic opening and closing feature, ultra-violet disinfection system, seat-warming and spray-oscillating (built-in bidet element) that customers have reported as “life-changing”. Sidenote: this is all controlled via a remote.  

“Our clients are definitely requesting more ‘smart toilet’,” says Cori Halpern of the Toronto-based Cori Halpern Interiors. “There are fantastic ones by Kohler and Toto that integrate the bidet function, so that a separate bidet isn’t necessary.” Given the size-restrictions in most Toronto bathroom renos, Halpern says that there often isn’t the square footage to install both.  

As far as getting creative with toilet seat design itself, Halpern says the request is rare: “I’ve seen accent seats in the UK that are wood grain or black – perhaps even an accent colour, but not much more.” But a quick search of Home Depot products shows a distinct variety beyond the typical standard vs. elongated options.  

A Kohler Kathryn black toilet seat with polished chrome hinges ($598) exhibits an elegant demeanor. While Topseat’s High Res 3D Image Sea Turtle round with chromed metal hinges ($158) brings the ocean to life in a kitschy-but-cool statement piece. Perfect for a child’s bathroom or – a zoo? Home Depot also offers a rainbow variety of matte colours, including Colonial Blue, Raspberry, Seafoam, and Wild Rose.  

“The bathroom is a low-risk space to try something new,” says Cynthia Ferguson. “In the design world, there is a lot of discussion about adding a pop of colour to fixtures or something a little retro, such as a green or soft pink toilet. It’s a safe space to play around.” Ferguson notes that her own clients tend to be more traditional, less likely to experiment with trends. “We have seen the return of darker woods in bathrooms,” she says. “The use of mahogany or walnut.”  

Ferguson says the wood-grained toilet seat is more popular in a British design context – though it’s trending among retailers too – with everyone from Wayfair to Rona offering mohoganny, pine and walnut lids with hinges in gold, chrome, or even bronze.  

Then there’s artists like the L.A.-based Bailey Hikawa who are changing the game. Hikawa began with 3D ergonomic phone cases. The former art-student then received a series of mould-making lessons from an old prop maker in Hollywood. Soon after – Hikawa found her niche in the design world and hasn’t looked back since starting her company in 2019, and the orders keep rolling in. 

“The toilet seat started off as an offshoot of the phone cases,” says Hikawa. “It’s funny because both the phone case and the toilet have this public and private barrier – and both are huge parts of our everyday lives. But you don’t usually see a lot of design innovation in this space.” Hikawa says that making toilets is also a comment on gender roles: “Women have always cleaned the toilets, done the housework,” says Hikawa. “But now I as a woman am able to actually make the toilet.”  

Hikawa’s clear acrylic toilet seats run in themes, there are the everyday objects, such as her “Food and Jewelry” toilet embedded with earrings, spoons, watches and then the foods – pizza slices, pretzels, bacon, cheese-its. But then there are more abstract ones, such as the “A Matter of Time” toilet ($2456, USD), with just time pieces and clock faces. There are also themed toilets, such as the “Clear Vision” ($1754 USD) with glasses and sunglasses encased within. 

 “I’m not so excited for a private resident to buy it – although of course that’s always an option,” says Hikawa of her customer base. “The real joy is having it in a public place. It becomes a novelty piece and something that spreads joy through word of mouth.”   

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