Bathrooms: The top design ideas for the best seat in the house

Viva back-to-the wall toilet with matching basin. Here the toilet sits on the floor but the cistern is supported in a frame in the wall, with a flush plate completing the look. Prices from €227, suppliers include brooksonline.ie.

When building new or renovating, the toilet is something that will become a mysterious and magnificent obsession. It’s a servant that forms such an integral part of our life at home, and having a comfortable, attractive loo that sits quietly in the surrounds of your bathroom or en-suite — well, it’s oddly important. Here are the basics to find your top throne.

Close-coupled toilets have largely replaced traditional low and high-level cisterns in Irish bathrooms as they form one, stable, handsome unit. The cistern sits on an extended base (some designs are just all in one), which supports the weight of the cistern even before it is fully attached to the wall.