And the best restrooms in Lodi are ...

Life is too short to spend in a bad restroom. The News-Sentinel salutes the best and most interesting restrooms in town. The ones that make us smile, giggle or stand in awe. The ones that inspire design ideas for our own homes. The ones that we seek out when we’ve got to go. These are our picks:

Brightest restroom: City Hall.

The women’s restroom on the second floor of City Hall may be the only public restroom in the city where you can bask in some natural light. With a large frosted glass window facing north, the room gets enough sunlight to support a thriving fern, which sits in a pot in between two sinks. Other attractive features includes raspberry colored artificial flowers which frame the window and the big burnished wood door leading out.

Most luxurious restroom: Temple Baptist Church.

This is less restroom and more retreat. It includes a spacious carpeted sitting room with plum-colored sofas, three angled full-length mirrors and a large television overhead for nursing mothers who don’t want to miss the Sunday sermon. The toilet area features nine sleek burgundy stalls, tiled with a vanilla colored stone. A long matching burgundy rug by marble sinks, two diaper changing units, festive vases with artificial flowers, and fluorescent lighting complete this look. The men’s restroom is smaller but still stylish with four urinals, four stalls and even a baby changing unit.

Best theme restroom: Moo Moo’s.

The cow theme of the restaurant extends to the men’s and women’s restroom, a single room painted sky blue with a black and white Jersey, moo-ral on the wall, conceived by owner Nabil Zumout. The cow stands in a pastoral scene behind a little brown fence. A birdhouse is nearby. It’s a moo-sing.

Coziest restroom: Wine and Roses.

Restrooms here are marked simply with a sign reading ‘His’ and ‘Hers.’ This dimly lit sitting area features a deep red and buttercup yellow printed wallpaper, a rounded sink with a pie crust rim and a long silver bucket for collecting used paper towels. Through another door is the small toilet area, decorated with black and white tiles, an ornate lamp hanging from the ceiling and some flowers rest in a vase on the wall.

Best music in a restroom: Hutchins Street Square restrooms, near Kirst Hall.

Yes, the public restrooms at Hutchins Street Square are nice for other reasons: for the spacious design, the Kohler toilets and the black speckled marble sinks. But the best part of the Hutchins Street Square restroom is the music that is piped in. It’s “Old Black Magic,” followed by a jazzy version of Stevie Wonder’s hit “For Once In My Life,” followed by some contemporary piano music. It might inspire some fancy footwork on the tiles.

Most pet-friendly restroom: Lodi Animal Shelter.

If nature calls while you’re picking out a furry friend, you’ll be directed into the cat room, a little feline playground of three adjoining rooms, home to about a half dozen resident cats. One of these rooms is a working restroom, complete with cat toys and a friendly feline or two to keep you company.

Most feminine: Shimmering Locks.

From the big floral rose-colored wallpaper to the pink tiles, from the bluebell colored window sill and matching door, the restroom of this downtown hair salon has definitely been decorated with a woman’s touch. Spray a few puffs of the sweet, peach-scented body spray kept on the sink for the complete effect.

Best winery restroom: Lodi Wine and Visitor Center.

Just around the corner from the wine tasting station and through the classic wooden door, you’ll find this charcoal-themed abode. There is an almost Cubist style of wall tiles, an automatic flush toilet, a silver toilet roll holder and a big rectangular sink. If you care to sit a spell, there is even a rattan chair.

Best smelling restroom: Carnegie Forum.

Potpourri can work wonders in a restroom and the management at the Carnegie Forum knows it. The ladies room here, tiled in a neutral beige, has a small brown checkered box, filled with a fragrant cinnamon potpourri, with some dried pine cones thrown in for good measure. It’s subtle and won’t agitate allergy sufferers, but it’s a nice touch.

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