monotone design inspiration

You'd never know from my colorful household decor that my eye really tends to prefer a neutral palate when it comes to interior design. I find it extremely pleasing to look at photos of homes that utilize natural elements and decorate with a base of white and cream tones. On top you throw in the color (pillows, throws, art). Whatever color you fancy at that time! And it can change! Country Living photo (the mirrors, the staircase, the light, perfection!). Sadly, it's not practical to upholster anything in white or beige with my small children (who generally run around with this or that goo stuck to their faces and hands-ALL THE TIME) and I don't get any say in what the furniture we are using right now looks like. I mostly feel completely design un-inspired when I look at my old drab 1980's Ethan Allan bulky wood furniture. Our walls are white and that pleases me since they are a blank canvas for lots of our holiday projects. I guess I mostly dream of monotonal rooms, natural fiber throw rugs, rustic old wood pallets turned into coffee tables and lots of natural light streaming through the big windows to illuminate the many shades of white. I've done a lot of design dreaming in my days.

I really love our one level apartment though. I especially love the built-in bookcases and storage that it has. My very favorite part of the house is the built-in shelving in the master bedroom. We've used it to store our book collection that just grows and grows (we left all our books in DC and have now accumulated an entire new collection in Manila-hello, used book sale at our house this spring). I tried grouping the books by color which looks better than just randomly stacking them but overall just leaves the eye distracted and looks cluttered no matter how many times I rearrange them. I've seen some really great design photos where people flip the books around so the pages are pointing outwards, thus the monotone color scheme.
I gave it a try and it ended up being the perfect back drop for my new porcelin seashell candle holders. I bought these gorgeous white creations from a lady at the American's Womens Club bazaar. I drool over her delicate porcelain vases, statues, and bowls every month and I promised myself I'd leave Manila with some of her collection. How can I pass it up when they each cost around $8? Seriously! The sea urchin is my favorite but the other two are just as sweet. They are heavenly all lit up at night. Look how the light seeps through the tiny holes on the urchin and the shells look like they are on fire. I'm in love. I have my eye on a few decorative vases now too. The entire collection is...you guessed it, white!Have you ever designed something in your house and then just sat there and stared at it because it made you so happy?