Adam spent 20 minutes of his life yesterday on a DIY toilet lever upgrade. Something he probably didn’t even realize existed until I handed him the package and asked if he could install it while I was at pilates.
And I didn’t even realize it existed myself until I was at a Fourth of July party in Irvington, VA two years ago. In the bathroom, I noticed that the toilet had the most chic bamboo lever. It had never occurred to me that you could have anything besides the basic lever that came with the toilet. But, once you’ve seen one that looks nicer, you can’t go back.
I totally get that this is the most ridiculous detail to upgrade — but why not?!
So it went on my list of must-haves once we renovated our bathroom. Our main bathroom is small, so every detail counts. If there’s anything in there that feels sub-par, you notice it. And details like a toilet lever are cheap, so they are an easy place to add a little bit of elevated detail.
$13 DIY Toilet Lever Upgrade
I did try to find the bamboo toilet lever that I’d first seen, but I couldn’t find one in chrome, which is the finish we have throughout our bathroom. But, instead, I found this $13 chrome lever that has the tailored, traditional look of the rest of our bathroom hardware. All of the reviews said it was easy to install, so I went for it. It took Adam about 20 minutes but, if he was to do it again, I think it would be easier and faster. It was more of a learning curve than actually difficult to do.
When you look at the old lever vs. the new one, it’s a surprisingly significant difference. The first one felt dull, chintzy, and at odds with the traditional chrome fixtures throughout our bathroom. The new one has weight and style. It’s a completely unnecessary detail, but, for $13 and just a little bit of time, why not upgrade to something more elevated?
Details: $13 chrome lever
