Does a Cherry Wood Toilet Seat Look Good on a White Toilet?

Personal Taste

• Traditionally, when seats are paired with a specific toilet -- even those toilets that come with a seat -- the seat and toilet are the same color. However, with modern developments in toilet seats giving choices between plastic or wood and plain or decorative, the choice is totally up to the homeowner and her own preferences. As long as the seat is the right size for a particular toilet, either round or elongated, it can be properly installed.

Overall Decor

• One factor to consider outside of the toilet and seat is the overall decor and feel of the bathroom. Unless you are choosing the different colors inside the bathroom on the basis of shock value, you want them all to blend together and complement each other. Consider the colors of the bathroom floor, the shower curtain, the walls and any cabinets or vanity inside the room.

Matching the Colors

• If you are installing a cherry wood seat on a white toilet and you want to ensure that it fits in with the rest of the bathroom, take color samples from items in the bathroom with you to the store at which you will buy the toilet seat. A simple method is to take a cell phone photo of the bathroom, although this may make it more challenging to properly match the colors. Taking tile or fabric samples allows you to better compare how all the colors go together.

Choosing the Right Size

• If you move forward with a cherry wood toilet seat, make certain that you obtain the right size. An elongated seat will not fit on a round bowl, just like a round seat will not fit an elongated bowl. To determine whether or not your bowl is elongated or round, use a tape measure to measure the distance from the hinge post holes on the rear top of the bowl up to the front tip of the bowl. Do this after you remove the old seat from the toilet bowl. A round bowl will have a measurement of roughly 16 1/2 inches for this distance and an elongated bowl distance will measure about 18 1/2 inches.