Everyone has his or her own special place. Saddam has his bunker. Ted Williams, the back of an ice-cream truck. Phil Donahue, the unemployment line.

We have the bathroom, where we are lords of all we survey. In this kingdom of one, you can either be a peasant or royalty. And we’ve got ways to spiff it up most regally.

It all starts with the throne. And where else to turn for that seat of power than the exclusive, artist-designed " water closets " of Newbury Street’s Waterworks, which claims to have perfected all those toilet details you never wanted to think about? The classic, elegant Bristol line is the store’s most expensive ($995), but as with any top-flight ride, it’s the options that make it special: a lush, high-gloss Georgian mahogany seat ($860) with gleaming chrome hinges adds a touch of Tara to the arrangement; a handle attached to both the seat and the cover will more than justify the cost by protecting your noble hands from the germs on the underside of the lid.

The czar of the ceramic should not have to reach back for important papers; rather, those papers should be presented in high style by Waterworks’ brushed-nickel free-standing toilet-paper holder ($495). And all you touch should be commanding. Therefore, let those papers issue the order: " Shit, be gone! " — which is, in fact, the name of a toilet paper sold by MIT-based artist Jed Ela. The two-ply brand, with its attractive ShitBegone wrapper, can be ordered over the Internet in cases of 96 rolls ($45) in either regular or 100 percent–recycled versions.

Restoration Hardware makes it possible to afford your pricey Waterworks throne: use your tuition money. To make up for flushing away that formal schooling, your toilet time can be spent reading the 600-plus pages of Passing Time in the Loo, Vol. 1 ($25, Compact Classics), which provides an education on subjects such as megatrends, The Divine Comedy, trivia and memory tricks, and, of course, Shakespeare. The store also provides a way to keep that Bristol bright, with Sprayway Orange Citrus Crazy Clean ($5.95), a bottle of organic, biodegradable, nice-smelling all-purpose cleanser with a pleasing 1950s-style apron wearer on the label. Restoration Hardware also offers a nice brass toilet-paper holder ($39.99).

What is the hand of power without a scepter? Hold Everything has the Baxter Collection of toilet brushes ($29) and plungers ($39), which come carefully hidden in stainless-steel columns, for an elegant way to cover up those sometimes-messy affairs of state. When you’re done brushing, you can brush up on magazines organized in steel bins ($34) from the Museum of Useful Things. And to eliminate the (ahem) air of royalty, we suggest hyacinth ($8.95), available three to a pot and ready to bloom, at Bread & Circus.

Just don’t lock yourself in — we don’t have the keys to the kingdom!

Where to find it:

• Bread & Circus, various locations; www.breadandcircus.com.

• Hold Everything, various locations; www.williams-sonomainc.com.

• Museum of Useful Things, 370 Broadway, Cambridge, (617) 576-3322.

• Restoration Hardware, 711 Boylston Street, Boston (617) 578-0088; 300 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, (617) 641-6770; www.restorationhardware.com.

• ShitBegone, www.shitbegone.com.

• Waterworks, 103 Newbury Street, Boston (617) 267-2511.