The automatic arm that raises and lowers the flapper can be set up so that it stays open for the correct amount of time each flush—that means never having to tell guests to jiggle the handle.

Smart-flush toilets You can save enormous amounts of water by buying the right appliances. In the bathroom, choose smart-flush toilet systems, like the Double-Cyclone mechanism employed in the TOTO Drake® II 1G Two-Piece Toilet, pictured. The system uses two nozzles to siphon water in a centrifugal, cyclonic motion, eliminating the need for multiple flushes.

Since a full touchless flush toilet from Kohler will cost upwards of $350, this $100 kit makes sense if you already have a functional but analog toilet. It looks best on a unit that has the handle mounted on the side since the included cover-up for the handle’s cut-out is just a small piece of white plastic.

The kit comes with a sticker that you can set on the tank to indicate that it uses a touchless system.

The Pursuade Curv dual-flush toilet by Kohler

The main component is a motion sensor that goes inside the tank and triggers the flush cycle when it detects your hand. The four AA batteries that power it will last for a year.

Just off the bedroom, a restrained bathroom combines Duravit D-code sinks with Techno by Cifial faucets and a Toto Aquia toilet.

Other sensors on toilets project a beam of light that, when a hand interferes, senses movement. Kohler’s system projects an electromagnetic field that they say is more accurate and reliable.

An Envy II Wall-Faced Suite toilet by Parisi sits in the home’s sole bathroom and Caroma’s Starlett 1850 Island Bath was installed next to the window.

Nearby, the bathroom includes a composting toilet and a Home Depot sink on a pedestal Chris made from chunks of found wood.

The Unisphere lit up at night, 1964.

The Unisphere in the Flushing Meadows and fountains during the 1964 fair. It was designed by landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke and explored that year's theme, "Peace Through Understanding."

Metallic Geology Created by injecting gas into molten metal, aluminum foam was utilized by London's Studio Swine to make a series of cloud-like cabinets. It's an interesting repurposing of a material that mostly has industrial applications, such as insulation.

Sinks and a toilet from Laufen’s Il Bagno Alessi line add a sculptural presence to the master bathroom.

A trolley in Flushing Meadows for the 1939 World’s Fair. Coming out from the Great Depression, the overarching themes for the fair were progress and hope. City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses used the fair to advance his plans to build parks, highways, and bridges throughout the region.

Downtown Flushing has the city's second-largest Chinatown, and third-busiest intersection.

The master bathroom is clad in inexpensive tile from Daltile. The wall-hung toilet is by Duravit.

Replacing the old toilet with a wall-hung Duravit model continues the floating theme, which is echoed by the custom recessed magazine caddy. The room’s sole freestanding piece is a glass-sided cabinet from Restoration Hardware. The diamond-shaped tile is from the Dwell collection at Heath Ceramics.

1993 Stefano Giovannoni designs Merdolino toilet brush for Alessi.

“There is no silver bullet, but there is silver buckshot. Small solutions can be impactful.”

In the master bathroom, Godmorgon vanities from Ikea stand next to a dual-flush Aquia toilet from Toto. A Tolomeo Wall Spot lamp, designed by Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina for Artemide, hangs above the mirror.

The renovation also added flushing toilets to the old vessel.

The standard Living Vehicle models come with an all-porcelain, foot-flush toilet. Customers can also upgrade to an electric toilet with a bidet or a composting toilet.

The owner sought an elegant toilet solution, so the team opted for a Cinderella incinerator toilet—a product Latimer refers to as the “Rolls Royce of non-flushable toilets.”

For when there just isn't storage space to hide away certain water closet accessories, designer Josh Owen created the WC Line. Made from silicone and tanoak wood, this three-piece set includes a wastebasket, plunger, and toilet brush. It's available in black, white, red, blue, and orange.

From above and below, the blue foam models of these unused Dutch buildings form a beautiful landscape suspended in mid-air.

The roof features a cool roof, which reflects heat back to the sky rather than having it absorbed into the house, and 26 solar panels that often cause the meter to roll backward.

Jack and Jill Bath with step in shower room, polished concrete floors, natural light

The bathroom is fitted with a dual-flush toilet, shower, and sink. Ceramic mosaic tiles line the walls and floor.

Since septic systems are impossibilities on Criehaven, the Porters chose a Sun-Mar self-contained composting toilet as the ideal alternative.

The wet room connects to two half-baths on either side that are equipped with dual-flush toilets and WaterSense fixtures. Gray porcelain tiles from Statements Tiles line the room.

Japan, birthplace of the Washlet, continues to forge new ground in toilet design. This one by architects Yuri Naruse and Jun Inokuma and toilet manufacturer TOTO smells like a conservatory greenhouse thanks to the living wallpaper and floor. Perfect for all those Tokyoites without an outdoor garden of their own?

The Birillo Toilet Brush lends a touch of elegance to an otherwise dolesome household chore. Created by Italian-based designer Piero Lissoni, the Birillo Toilet Brush is made from shatter-proof PMMA in opaque white and high polished stainless steel to create a mirror effect. Perfectly compliments the rest of the collection of Birillo bathroom accessories for the modern home.

In the bathroom, the water-flushing or electric incinerating toilet can be switched to off-grid alternatives, like an odorless dry toilet or an incinerating option that runs on gas.

John Hsu's house is a concrete modernist box nestled amid “suburban eclectica,” as architect Drew Lang characterizes the neighborhood’s prevailing style.

With its orderly rope-covered ceiling and sleek bars of light, Minnis Shabu Shabu, John Hsu's restaurant, is purposely at odds with Flushing's aesthetic.