Upgrade

I've got Beyonce's song "Upgrade U" in my head as I write this. Feel free to listen to it here while you read on.

What does a single chick do to furnish her home at the age of 24? She accepts hand-me-downs, scopes out garage sales, and carries on with her college-bought K-mart pieces. Well, she does if she's me anyway.
Fast forward 6 years and this chick is ready for some serious upgrades. Last summer, I had saved enough of my lil' teacher salary and upgraded my dining room table (with the help of Ikea and Value City Furniture).

This summer's focus was the living room. I bought my TV stand for $25 a few years ago from a coworker. I refinished it and painted it black. I decided to upgrade my TV and bought a new stand from Ikea. I simultaneously changed cable providers and had to switch my TV to the opposite wall, which turned out to be a happy accident because all of my black & white furniture looks fabulous on the red wall.

Plus now I always get to look at my favorite feature of the house: my grandparents' and parents' black & white wedding photos!

I decided to keep the old TV stand and upgrade it with a new shelf so I could use it for my books. Here's the before pic:

Shout out to my dad and uncle Mike for helping me make the shelf! I painted it up and Dad helped me install it. After much trial and error, I found an arrangement of books that I liked and voila! Bookshelf upgrade complete:

And yes, that is my niece's pic nestled next to the Twilight series.

So I showed y'all the desk that I ordered via Overstock in a previous post, along with the chair I ordered for it from Ikea (can you tell I like Ikea?). My poor printer has been resting on an antique vanity table in my bedroom for years (and by 'resting' I mean hanging off the front of the table). I'm happy to say that now the printer has an actual desk on which to sit, cozied in the corner of my living room.

I'm in love with the lamp I got from Target! I also like how the desk highlights my pics from Ireland. I'm in the market for a new pot (maybe yellow?) for my plant. Any ideas where I should look?

On the horizon for my living room is a couch upgrade, and after that, it's time to get the pretty Pottery Barn mirrored dressers for my bedroom. 

Can't. Wait.