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Now you see it, now you don’t potty chair

Jules Yap·
IKEA Bathroom HacksSeating
·14 Comments·1 min read

Materials: Stefan chair, additional seat panels

Description: My grandmother lives in an old house in Malacca, Malaysia without upstairs plumbing. I hacked the Stefan chair to build her a potty that looks like a regular chair.

It was quite easy, mainly because I stumbled across a bunch of extra seat pieces in the As-Is section for Singapore $1 each. I used them to make a raised section to hold the rim of the potty, a seat cover, and 3 panels for the side.

If I was to do it again, I would use a chair with arms, but Granny loves her new chair nevertheless.

Inspired by all the creativity on this website, I have done many other Ikea hacks over the years and will be submitting them soon, now that I have figured out how; in the meantime, many thanks Jules and do keep up the great work on this website!

~ mmscpsyh, Singapore

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14 Responses

  1. I would love for more people to adapt to this kind of non-plumbing. With the addition that the contents in the morning went to the poop-compost and not flushed in the downstair loo! This planet is crawling on its knees – composting human poop into useful “humanure” and stop using potable water to flush our loos (and then spend mountains of money to make it potable again – which is standard in the Western world) could help this poor planet a lot!

    This is an admirable hack, and your granny is a darn lucky lady!

    Reply

  3. This is cool — and well thought out. Congratulations. I’m thinking that would be a cool thing to do for little kids who get potty trained — only with a kids chair, and even in the US, ;-).

    So long,
    Corinna

    Reply

  4. I’m American and completely concur with your comments. granny is very lucky to have such a sensible and devoted grandchild…please avoid broad statements regarding certain nationalities…

    Reply

  5. I am assuming the previous two anonymous commentators are American. I am not from Malaysia but I can tell these houses are not your typical stick frame construction where you just tear down and “fix” at will. Only Americans criticize aesthetics when functionality is paramount. Also there is nothing “nasty” about it. In a place where indoor potty is necessary due to inaccessible plumbing, mmscpsyh’s idea is ingenious because it satisfies a need while keeping a necessary part of life for his/her grandparents neatly hidden.

    My only advice would be to use some kind coating/glazing (like the kind used to restore bathtubs so that the seat of the commode (where the rim of the potty is held) so that the wood isn’t exposed and the surface is easier to keep sanitary. Great job though. It’s good to do things for our parents/grandparents.

    Reply

    1. Go on please – we’re all enjoying your ridiculous blanket statements about Americans. Of course, when I say “we’re” I am of course talking about “all Americans”, which according to you, are the only people with indoor plumbing…

      “Only Americans criticize aesthetics when functionality is paramount.” How far up your rear-end did you have to reach to pull out that nugget of wisdom?

      Reply

  6. Very thoughtful indeed, I miss the good ol ‘cebok’ days. By the way, this isn’t even ‘retro’, early ’90s indo housing only had holes for toilets and toilets typical in most US housing were for the rich.

    Reply

  9. Just exactly like the commodes that were used in the old days! Now someone needs to invent one that folds up and comes with it’s own foldable pop up enclosure to use on camping trips.

    Reply

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