Well this is a good one for the board! I believe it comes down to personal preference and clearance between where the front of the bowl is and any other structures (wall, door etc). I can tell you I prefer round and my mom says she does too. The men our lives prefer elongated. I went out of town to a business meeting once and all the bowls in the entire hotel were round and boy did the guys complain! These are the questions I would answer to decide:

What do you have now?
Is your current shape comfortable for you and anyone else living with you?
What are your clearances for the space allotted?
Do you have a preference based on the aesthetics of the two shapes?
Is there a cost difference round vs. elongated in the style you've chosen?

Good luck with your decision!

Men will generally prefer the elongated, or rather, find the round to be a bit small. As mydreamhome says: what do you have now? The difference in space is not huge, so unless you're really tight on space, I'd recommend elongated. (We bought one round a few years ago, and if I was doing it over, I'd definitely do elongated.) I don't know what toilets you're considering, but be aware that Kohler makes a few models in "compact elongated" bowls -- meaning that it's the elongated shape bowl in the same total space as a smaller, rounded bowl toilet (they shave the space off the tank).

-- Eric

We are building new and went with all elongated. In our current home we have a mix. Hubby demanded we get the elongated. It didn't matter to me. My only concern was space in the guest bath but the elongated is not that big of a differance.

I would look into good toilet seats. Most are plastic now and not very comfortable. I think the molded or wood ones are better.

Hope that helps.

I prefer elongated. I'm a...wait a sec...yup, I'm a male.

It didn't matter to me and I my hubby preferred the elongated, so we went that way. I wanted the higher height "handicapped" toilet and he gave in on that for me.

Well, that is a good mix of answers.
We are looking at the Kohler memoirs toilet.
Space is small but their is not a huge difference. 2 inches.
I will have to draw it out and see if it matters.
I agree the seat is important, I have a cheap plastic upstairs and hate it but a wood one downstairs and it is good but if you drop it , beware! What does molded mean, is that wood?

After reading here why men preferred the elongated bowl (!), I shared the info with DH. He said that he'd probably prefer elongated bowl toilets when we reno'd the bathrooms. We put a Toto Soiree (also has comfort height and Sanagloss) in our guest bathroom, which is very narrow. Fits the space just fine. We bought two more Soiree's for the bathrooms we are demo'ing now.

We just put an elongated toilet in our master bath after having only round bowls. I can definitely see the difference with my hubby or son when they use the elongated because it stays much cleaner.

I would definitely recommend the elongated bowl if you can fit it. If you are tight on space, consider the compact elongated (Kohler has them as mentioned by jacobse). I have never met a man that didn't prefer the elongated, and as a female I have never cared. I think the elongated in general looks a little more luxurious and adult.

Kohler Memoirs Compact Elongated Classic Design
Kohler Memoirs Compact Elongated with Stately Design

The house we bought recently came with a Kohler Memoirs toilet. it is the WORST toilet we've ever had as far as bowl size/shape. It is a round bowl, but it's the shortest, shallowest round bowl I have ever had. My husband can't stand it, and he's not a very picky guy. Maybe it's some sort of uber-small model of the Kohler Memoirs line, I don't know. But I'd just like to recommend you NOT get the one we have!

We had a cheap Kohler Wellworth round bowl in our last home and it was just fine!

(We opted for the Toto Aquia III, elongated and "comfort height" for our new master bath, FWIW.)

I am putting in all elongated bowls in our new house- with 2 young boys, I think it is a must- gives them more room to "aim"

Not to be too blunt, but if you have men in your house, you definitely want elongated bowls. Not because the men will prefer it, and not because it provides "more room to aim" but because the guys will usually stand closer and more drips will end up in the bowl, rather than on the floor in front of the toilet.

Elongated. Hint-my user name.

I wonder if this thread will get as many (or as humorous) responses as the infamous "round or elongated" thread from a few years ago. I've always preferred elongated, but that thread opened my eyes as to why men prefer (need) elongated bowls.

I also have 3 boys, a husband and 4 elongated bowls in my house. If you have the space, go for elongated. BUT, if you ever want to find a contour rug to fit around the base, you'll probably have to make one (like I did). Don't love contour rugs, but had to hide the damage to the wood floors in the powder room bathroom... :P

I personally prefer the elongated bowl if you have the space and the money in your budget to get it. Here is a website to help others in the future when making a decision. It talks about the difference between round and elongated toilets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Round vs Elongated