You know you’ve left your mark on the world when people quote you in the pages of Time magazine or you’re interviewed by Oprah. But what does it mean if one of your top google results is “young house loves the toilet(true story)? And until now, searching for that term on our blog didn’t really do you any favors (Sherry talks a lot about our favorite toilet mostly on IG Stories). So if that’s a rabbit hole that brought you to our blog and you type those famous words, this post will now cover you and all your toilet related questions.
Our favorite toilet is Kohler’s Elongated Memoirs Toilet (sometimes also called Memoirs Extends magnificently). This has been our go-to for 7 years now, since installing it in our last home powder room. It’s comfortable, it’s good-looking, and – for lack of a better phrase – always gets the job done.
Why Is This Our Favorite Toilet?
The main selling feature for us is slightly “fancy” design., in particular details such as the classic crown molding around the top of the tank and similar decoration around the base. Of all the toilets out there, we think it will the perfect complement to the traditional style of our former home in Richmond, Virginia. So we bought one for the bathroom downstairs and one for the bathroom upstairs.
But we also bought another one recently for our more modern beach feel home in Florida and it works great. Again “modern-looking” toilets. tends to be simpler and therefore, to us, tends to look more basic – like the kind you might find in a retail environment or fast casual restaurant. Sort of… round and round and sort of cartoony? Is that thinking too deeply about the toilet?
Possible.
I think this toilet design is classic, so it can go anywhere. And wait until we get into the function section. That’s where this baby shines.
The point is, if you are the type of person who pays a lot of attention or thought to the appearance of your other bathroom fixtures (faucets, showerheads, towel rails, etc.), Memoir toilets seems like a more deliberate and less like an afterthought choice. It’s also available in several colors like black, gray, gray, and more – but we’ve always preferred the classic white.
We also REALLY LIKE how it functions. As mentioned, we’ve bought it three times over the last 7 years, and have used each one a lot (it’s a toilet we use every day), and neither of them have ever needed as much as one repair. a visit or one call to a plumber. Never. We have not plunged into this toilet once. Not once. Which is more than we can say for every other toilet we’ve had. So yay for a working toilet.
How much does it cost?
Granted, it’s not the most affordable toilet out there. At the time of writing, sometimes listed for about $399 (although currently out of stock at that price) and are often listed slightly higher (like here House Warehouse where actually there is stock). That’s why we skip them when we do more budget-friendly renovations, like on our Airbnb duplexes. But when it comes to where we, um, use each day, we decided it was worth the extra few hundred dollars. Plus the elongated bowl and comfortable tall design make it more comfortable to sit on than smaller, less expensive models.
The main drawback is that the Kohler Memoirs Elongated 2-Piece toilets are not usually sold in stores, so you will have to order them online for delivery or in-store pickup. You can do it in places like owned by Lowe and House Warehouseor with online retailers like Build.com.
TIP: Double check that your establishment includes toilet seats as many do not. We recommend This Kohler Highline toilet seat because it’s quiet-close and elongated (it’s a must, or your toilet will look like an underbite).
Want a More Basic Budget-Friendly Toilet?
Let’s talk about this for a second. Because we are definitely not looking for our favorite toilet everywhere, as we have already mentioned. Our favorite basic toilet that is lower budget but still reliable is this one by Delta, which we’ve used over 7 times in our previous duplex, pink house, and home with no issues – which is a pretty good track record). I mean, look review. For the price, it doesn’t get any better.
OK, Back to Our Favorite Toilets – What Before & After?
If you’re interested in seeing more of the bathroom makeovers in which we used the Kohler Memoirs toilets, you can take a look this post is about our current bathroom (and what it’s like to have 4 people sharing 1 bathroom).
Or dive deep down Colon renovation of our previous master bathroom – we knocked down walls, tore down doors, smashed bathtubs, and more. The post even includes a budget breakdown for you (toilet included!)
As part of that renovation, we also overhauled our walk-in closet using the affordable Ikea Pax system. Our walk-in closet post including how-to videos on how we customize and organize cabinets to make the most of space. Toilet is not included in this room…
…although you can see it in the mirror above. All the more reason to spend more than a minute thinking about which one to buy 😉
This brings me to one last thing…
How To Install Or Repair A Toilet
Replacing your old toilet is also something you can do yourself. We’ve done it many times! Here are some posts that may help:
*This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through a link on our site at no additional cost to you.
