On our travels this week, we've spent a few moments in new bathrooms (airports, fancy restaurants, our boyfriends' families home). We've noticed super spare toilet tanks and those with a little more flair. We decided to round up previous posts on toilet tank decoration ideas for your home...


We really love the idea of decals on the toilet. We think they can stand alone, giving the porcelain a clean and polished look while still making a statement.

This grouping of plants and matches is so simple yet charming. We agree that plants usually do well in bathrooms because of the humidity. Plus they go the extra mile in making the bathroom feel fresh.
If you're more about organization, this over-the-tank magazine and tissue holder is for you. You'll never have to wonder where your next roll of toilet paper is coming from and there's always a steady supply of reading materials for a longer stay.

House Tour: Meg and Ross' Life in Logan Square
If you prefer a more stable surface for your items, a glass shelf is the perfect option. Because the shelf is clear, it doesn't feel like you're further cluttering an already cramped space.
You'll definitely want to give guests a tour of the bathroom with the Fish N' Flush tank which houses real fish!

This is a great solution for a small space--a sink on top of the toilet tank.
Keeping up the water theme for the bathroom, we found this lovely vignette on sfgirlbybay's blog. Some sand and a few starfish in a decorative bowl complement the mirror, thus giving the space a bigger feel.
Related Bathroom Posts
LOOK! More decals and junk you can buy!
What's so wrong with just leaving the tank clean and empty? Less stuff to dust and remove when you inevitably need to adjust the flush mechanism...
view bepsf's profile
I love features like these!
view KWorld's profile
every picture is hideous
view mayer1's profile
I don't care how it works, I am not washing my hands or using any water from a sink that is incorporated into the tank lid
view funstraw's profile
hehehe fluch that toilet with your old toothpaste water! Though probably eco-friendly (unless it's a gag), the inside of the tank would probably get quite gross...
view ce_pelle's profile
gah!! flush
view ce_pelle's profile
again, fish do not belong in the bathroom. decor made of animals encourages bad relationship to the animals and the environment. entire avian rescues -- millions of birds -- are given up because they do not fit the decor anymore. this is a plea--no fish over toilets.
view avianmission's profile
"I don't care how it works, I am not washing my hands or using any water from a sink that is incorporated into the tank lid"
It's too bad that your view is so shortsighted - The water used to wash your hands is fresh water that would otherwise be used only once to fill the tank for the next flush...
...so in having this, you are using the water twice - and have nice soapy water to clean out your toilet bowl. Plus this encourages hand-washing since the water comes out via the spigot anyways - this is obviously good for overall cleanliness and helps limit the spread of Noroviruses.
I liked using these in Japan - I wish I could install them in my apartment here in the US.
view bepsf's profile
I prefer a toilet tank bare.
But I do like the starfish one - as long as things aren't falling off all the time.
But the real reason I commented was to compliment the gorgeous bathroom in the first photo! Sure the wall paper needs to go - but that tile is AMAZING! Particularly the floor - and I'm partial to the trim tile. I love that style.
LOVE that floor!
view clickchick's profile
I prefer my toilets naked. Easier to give it a quick wipe down.
view Rick Roberts's profile
I love the first bathroom, including the wallpaper. Looks modern to me. But I prefer a clean toilet, with nothing on it exept cleanliness.
view RobinD.'s profile
you guys really need to stop posting things that have animals as decor in them! really. it's a turnoff considering most of the things are usually horrible ideas.
view terka27's profile
I have a feeling that decals like Blix and the ones on these toilets are going to be the successor to the ubiquitous "Keep Calm" posters. Ick.
view madsarah's profile
I bought the toilet tank lid sink, having first seen them in Japan, and I've got to say it's really great. There's nothing unclean about it.
view campari's profile
I think keeping a small plant in the bathroom makes it feel fresh and clean. I recently put a small aloe plant on the toilet and I love it.
view spiralcma's profile
I don't really like this. Too campy. And again with the "our boyfriend" thing, it just doesn't work. Can you guys please, please, PLEASE! not say "we" all the time???
view WendyJ's profile
I wasn't going to post a comment - really, "to each their own", but I have always kept plants in my bathrooms. They appreciate the humidity in the air from showers, and I'm a plant lover.
Isn't there a bit of backsplash caused each time by that toilet sink? Ehhh, I'm givimg it the thumbs down too, with one exception: in a motor-home. But I'm neurotic this way, won't even bring food into the bathroom. And now you all know so much more about me than I ever planned to reveal!
view Vincent B.'s profile
i had a nice hunk of coral ontop of my guest bath - but other than a bluish whitish color scheme the coral was the only beachy item in the bath...so it wasn't kitsch.
view nickel525's profile
One of my friends has a Japanese-style sink-top toilet in a tiny 1/2 bath on her basement stairs. I have used it and it is NOT gross. The water is just coming from the wall to the sink before going down into the tank. It actually makes a lot of sense and is a great solution for a tiny space. In her case, the choice was to have the "Japanese toilet" on the stairs or have two adults and two kids fighting over the only other bathroom in the house.
view madsarah's profile
That fish toilet is hilarious.
But the only decor idea I actually like is the shelf above the toilet. Everything else seems so germy. Especially the magazine thing...
view idiotdogbrain's profile
I like my toilet tank tops like my men...naked. ;-)
view Monica's profile
I was thinking of going to the hardware store to get some letters for my toilet lid, as I don't have a tank. They would have spelled out POOP HERE, but I'd rather the lid be up first. I think it's self-explanatory anyway. The toilet is not hidden and bringing attention to it is just not stylish. This site gets caught up in ideas that it's some sort of sin to have any bare spaces. If one has a tank, putting things on it like a shelf or putting a shelf across it is ok. Declaring the shitter a place where fish tank goes is wrong. Drawing the eye toward a turquoise jellyfish decal (or whatever that shape is supposed to be) is wrong. It's a toilet. It's a monument to natural bodily functions. There's really not a lot you can do to minimize it short of building a little stall inside your bathroom so it's not that obvious. Making it cuter doesn't work the way you want it to.
view K T G's profile
Monica makes me laugh -- I like my toilets naked too, but naked men have gotten me into too much trouble!
I do like that wallpaper in the first photo.
view madampince's profile
Most things on, hanging off of, or decaled onto toilet tanks look cluttery to me. And what is the AT obsession with visible rolls of toilet paper? Hardly a week goes by here that I don't see a picture that somehow features extra rolls of toilet paper hanging around. I feel like you guys grew up with toilet paper rationing or something. My toilet tank features 1 Christmas cactus and 1 odd little book from my odd little book collection.
view mskk's profile
That floor!
What about windowless bathrooms? What plant could survive in there? :(
view xieta's profile
Thankfully, I just bought a killer-looking toilet, the Starck 3:
http://www.duravit.us/products/series/starck-3/toilets/two-piece-toilet--210501_toilets_93561_useo6q3rtg.html
view modtramp's profile