Typically you will get about an inch gap. If you have a tile wall the gap will be smaller. 4" is too much. Did you measure to see what the rough in distance is on the toilet. The plumber should have installed the flange so it is 12".

i might be wrong (because i know squat about toilets) but it seems to me that in the specs for my toto toilets it said you could buy a thingie to adjust placement from a 15" to a 12" ummm connection thingie (flange?) we had to move our flange thingie in the powderroom because the plumber said...they're all standard, which of course mine wasn't (he had the specs). but i was lucky because the floor was still ripped up. if it makes you feel better...the gc instaled it wrong (wrong height) and has now pretty much ruined it because he cut up all the pipes. another grand down he toilet as they say...

Two TVs here: 21" in a bedroom and 15" in the kitchen, both tube-type, not f/s. Not used much. No cable or satellite available in the area, and needless to say no high speed phone connection. I'm on this forum usually at 16,400 kbs, occasionally as slow as at 9,600, so I hate it when someone loads heavy pics in their posts. Before the change to digital TV, we got 4 channels (big 3 plus, plus PBS) year-round, though somewhat woozle-ly at times. Since the switch we can get same 3 main ones, three channels of PBS, Fox and couple of outdoor sports channels, but only in the late Fall through mid Spring. So at this time of year I'm largely TV-less, despite extravagant antenna and converter box set-ups. I think the switch was designed to boost cable and dish companies' revenues and completely ignored what it might do to people who for one reason or another relied on over-the-air broadcast TV. However, after a period of adjustment when it felt weird not to have even TV news available, we've adjusted pretty well. Once the seasons change and we can get TV again in Nov., we go on a two-week TV binge, but then revert back to "normal". It's interesting how necessary it must seem to the majority of posters. I feel sure some of the readers here are incredulous that I can live so unplugged, and so contentedly. I am taken aback, in turn, how much you guys are paying for the TV and internet connection services! L

My space is somewhat limited, but I also have a table behind the sofa, which pushes things forward a little. Our coffee table is a large rectangle and it's 20 inches on the long side and 17 inches on the short side between the table and the furniture. I don't think there's a dictated distance except there needs to be enough room to walk through and not so far that it's difficult to reach for a glass or cup on the table. 18 inches seems about right to me.