Should A Toilet And Sink Match?

Toilets and sinks are essential features in any bathroom. The sink and toilet serve a functional purpose and contribute to the interior design of a bathroom. As a result of this, many homeowners wonder whether the toilet and sink in a bathroom need to match.

Historically, toilets and sinks have always matched. However, today there are more brands, styles, and designs to choose from for plumbing fixtures. While matching a toilet and sink is an easy way to create a cohesive interior style in a bathroom, it isn’t the only way and isn’t always necessary.

From why many homeowners choose to match their bathroom fixtures to why you don’t need to, we will explain what you need to know about matching toilets and sinks. If you want to perfectly match these fixtures, we’ll explain the factors you need to consider. If you want to tie together mismatched fixtures, we’ll tell you how to do it!

Should A Toilet Match A Sink In A Bathroom?

When it comes down to any bathroom in a house, the sink and toilet are crucial features. Of course, both your sink and toilet play important functional roles in these spaces, but they also contribute to the overall appearance of a space.

In fact, if you researched considerations to make when purchasing a toilet or sink, style and color would always be mentioned. Not only do homeowners want their bathroom features to be trendy and well designed, but they want them to complement the other design elements in their bathroom.

Unfortunately, there are also other considerations to make that are more practical in nature. For instance, homeowners need to consider aspects like installation, plumbing compatibility, and price. Due to this, many homeowners must compromise on style and color, often resulting in mismatched toilets and sinks – but should they match? 

Many interior designers believe that these features should be matched in terms of their design, style, and color. Of course, having a matching sink and toilet helps create a cohesive interior design. This is the core reason many homeowners and interior designers ensure that sinks and toilets match.

However, this doesn’t mean that a toilet and a sink must match one another. You can choose a mismatched toilet and sink that can still complement each other in terms of appearance. Essentially, this means that your sink and toilet features don’t necessarily need to match perfectly but can still complement one another in terms of style and color.

There are even ways to achieve this cohesive style by focusing on other elements in your bathroom. At the end of the day, it’s about your bathroom and the style you’re going for. While you can perfectly match your sink to your toilet, you can also wildly mismatch them and tie them together using other elements.

From the above, it’s clear that you have many options for your bathroom’s interior design and how you incorporate these features. You likely haven’t decided yet whether your toilet should match your sink if you’re reading this. To help you make your decision, it’s important to consider all your options.

In the following section, we’re going to break down key factors to consider for those who want their toilets and sinks to match. Once we’ve done that, we’ll explain all the reasons your toilet and sink don’t need to match. By considering these factors, you can choose the solution best suited to your bathroom!

Factors To Consider When Matching Toilets And Sinks

As we explained in the previous section, matching a toilet to a sink – or vice versa – can help create a cohesive interior design scheme in your bathroom. Of course, this could also be achieved by focusing on other design elements in the bathroom, which we’ll discuss later.

However, matching these features is one of the easiest ways to seamlessly create a cohesive visual style. If you want to match your toilet to your sink, there are three core factors you need to keep in mind. By keeping in mind these factors, you can ensure your toilet and sink match!

Hardware

If you are striving for uniform bathroom fixtures, matching hardware and fixtures will be an important consideration. The hardware and fixtures you need to consider here include faucets, cupboard doors below the sink, and toilet tank handles.

For instance, you’ll find many different metals used in these handles, including nickel, bronze, and steel. By sticking to one type of metal, you can ensure that your fixtures perfectly match. You may even want to compare the same metals used by different manufacturers, as these may vary slightly in color.

Color

Of course, we already touched upon this element in the previous section. However, color is an important consideration when choosing bathroom fixtures – especially if you’re trying to match these elements. For example, many homeowners have purchased sinks and toilets, only to later realize they’re not the same color. As we explained, it’s important to carefully consider and compare fixture colors for those looking to match these elements.

Style

Toilets and sinks come in a variety of styles and shapes. To ensure uniformity, the sink style should match or complement the toilet style. If you’re going for a sleek, modern bathroom, you’ll want to choose fixtures that both match this description. However, if your bathroom has a rustic design, the fixtures should be chosen to match this. Style is almost as important as color when creating a cohesive interior design!

Brand

Finding a toilet and sink might seem like a daunting task. However, it doesn’t need to be! When browsing your options, you’ll find many brands that manufacture both basins and toilets. By choosing a brand that manufacturers both fixtures, you’ll find that many of their products complement each other in terms of design. Choosing a manufacturer like this is an easy way to match your sink and toilet.

Reasons Toilets And Sinks Don’t Have To Match

In the above section, we outlined the factors that need to be considered when matching a toilet and sink. However, it’s time to consider the reasons that your toilet and sink don’t need to match.

#1: There Are Many Other Factors To Consider

We briefly alluded to this reason in the first section. When choosing a sink or a toilet (or both), there are numerous factors that need to be considered. Due to this, it can be difficult to find a sink and toilet that perfectly match your needs. As these are functional fixtures, you need to ensure that the plumbing and hardware of these fixtures are compatible with your bathroom.

When choosing a basin for your bathroom, you need to understand how the pipes in your bathroom function. You also need to consider available space when choosing a sink. With small basins, you need to consider whether the sink will meet your needs. With large sinks, you need to consider whether the basin will dominate different design elements.

When choosing a toilet, available space is just as important. However, comfort also comes into play when choosing a toilet. Strength and durability are other aspects that also need to be considered. Like basins, the cost will also be an important consideration. Finally, you’ll need to consider available styles and colors.

#2: There Are Countless Styles And Designs Available

As plumbing technology has improved, the plumbing industry has seen countless innovations. Due to the limited designs and styles available in the past, matching was common. However, this also means it was easier to match a sink to a toilet in the past. Today, however, there are an unprecedented number of options for homeowners to choose from. 

Sinks and toilets come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, sizes, designs, and styles today. By matching your toilet to your sink, or vice versa, you are effectively limiting yourself to the sheer possibilities available. Perhaps matching toilets and sinks are best left in the past! By forgoing the need to match these fixtures, you do not limit your choices!

#3: There Are Many Brands To Choose From

As we discussed earlier, many brands that manufacture bathroom basins will also make toilets. Choosing one brand for a sink and toilet is one of the best ways to ensure that your fixtures match. However, manufacturers like this often rely on consumers believing their fixtures should match. When shopping for a sink or toilet, you’ll find many options – we touched on this above.

However, you may discover that one brand produces one fixture better than another. By mixing the brands you use, you can choose the best brand for each type of fixture. This allows homeowners to use brands that truly specialize in each bathroom fixture instead of choosing a brand that does only one well.

#4: It Comes Down To Your Personal Preference 

Numerous factors, styles, designs, and brands aside, your personal preference is an important aspect to keep in mind. After all, you’re choosing fixtures for your bathroom. If you truly want your toilet and sink to match, you can match these fixtures to your heart’s content. However, you can also let your personal preference inform your decision-making process.

When you’re not limiting yourself by the perception that your toilet and sink should be matched, you can choose the styles that truly speak to you. Even if you choose a toilet and sink that don’t match, there are other ways to create a cohesive bathroom style.

#5: There Are Other Ways To Achieve A Cohesive Bathroom Style

Contrary to popular belief, the toilet and sink in a bathroom do not need to match for the bathroom to have a cohesive interior style. When bathroom fixtures do not match, other elements in the bathroom can be used to tie these elements together. In the following section, we’ll explain two ways this can be done in any bathroom! 

Matching Mismatched Toilets And Sinks

Many homeowners believe the only way to match a mismatched toilet and sink is to replace one of, if not both, fixtures. You will be happy to know there are far easier ways to create a seamless visual style with a toilet and basin that don’t match! To do this, you simply need to consider the other elements present in your bathroom.

For instance, changing the color of your bathroom walls can be one way to tie together a mismatched sink and basin. To do this, you can choose wall colors or wallpaper that incorporate the different colors of your sink and basin.

Whether these fixtures have wildly contrasting colors or are different shades of white, the right wall colors can easily tie these mismatched elements together. However, this may be easier for some homeowners. Ultimately, it depends on your bathroom walls. Luckily, wall color isn’t the only way to tie these elements together!

Another way that you can match a mismatched toilet and basin is by using accessories. For instance, the use of toilet covers or basin accessories like toothbrush holders can be used to tie together design elements. Throw some wall art into the mix, and there are plenty of ways accessories can be used to create a cohesive interior style.

If your sink and toilet aren’t perfectly matching, there are many ways you can tie these elements together without replacing one of them. However, the way you do this depends on your bathroom and the elements therein. By focusing on these elements and how you can use them to your advantage, you can create a balanced bathroom style.

Conclusion

It has always been customary for toilets and sinks to match, which is largely due to limited technologies that were used previously. The plumbing fixtures of today come in a variety of brands, styles, and designs. Traditionally, matching your toilet to your sink was easy and helped create a cohesive visual style.

Today, however, it isn’t always necessary to match your sink to your toilet. In fact, when this is avoided, you do not limit the options available to you. You can always use other design elements in your bathroom to tie together a mismatched basin and toilet.

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