I Tried the (Surprisingly Stylish!) Toilet Stool All My Friends Have Been Talking About and Determined Whether It Deserves Space in Your Bathroom
About a year ago, it seemed like everyone around me all of a sudden got super into toilet stools. Even when I visited my friend’s new home and got the tour, she made a point to highlight the stool in the bathroom! After that, I started noticing them in other friends’ houses and thought for sure I was the only one left in the group who hadn’t gotten on board with it. I knew vaguely about toilet stool benefits, but it didn’t seem like something I needed to get my hands on right away, so I didn’t. Not to mention, how do you even begin to pick one out?
When I think of a toilet stool, the first thing that comes to mind is a basic plastic footstool. Pretty straightforward. However, toilet stools can get fancy. Given the opportunity to try one out for myself, I picked one of the nicer options from Squatty Potty: The Stockholm Bamboo Folding Stool.
Truth be told, I don’t typically have any issues going to the bathroom, so I wondered if I’d see any benefit to the Squatty Potty in the beginning. However, the purpose of a toilet stool is to put you in the best position to make doing Number Two more efficient and productive. If I could go “better,” then I was fully game to try it out. Plus, it’s certainly nice to look at. The sturdy bamboo stool comes collapsed and packed in a narrow box with its own stylish suede drawstring bag for discretion. The painted legs unfold with a simple pull, and they lock in place until you manually push and hold a button to fold them back down. It keeps the stool from collapsing mid-use and takes out the extra step of unfolding it when you need it right away.
Honestly, I didn’t notice a difference after the first time I used the Stockholm Bamboo Folding Stool. Although, when I was able to tell that it worked, it hit me unexpectedly. I was standing in my kitchen (looking for a snack, of course), and I don’t know how to explain it, but I felt lighter. I’m not sure if that’s the case for everyone, but as someone who tries to keep tabs on how my body feels throughout the day, I knew immediately that it was a change from the norm. I didn’t have a lingering heavy feeling from whatever I’d eaten however-long ago. I could finally see what the hype from my friends was all about. From that point on, I’ve used the toilet stool regularly.
Early on, I was folding and putting away the stool after every use, but that was SO tedious and unnecessary in my household. I have nothing to hide! Though it definitely can’t be used as a step stool, the Squatty Potty looks good enough to be kept out at all times if you have the space for it. The stool fits the shape of the toilet well enough to be kept underneath and out of the way when you don’t need it. Mine sits unfolded just outside of the toilet-and-shower side of my bathroom so it’s easily accessible, though not in the immediate area, because the room is just too small. This is one of the most surprising products I’ve received that’s now become a constant in my everyday life. Maybe I should actually take my friends’ suggestions more often?
Buy: Stockholm Bamboo Folding Toilet Stool, $44.99 (originally $54.99)