Morgan Motsinger Lamps Plus DBC Scholarship WINNER

Back in the 90’s when weblogging was a squalling newborn, I was in grade school, so busy making elaborate dollhouses out of anything and everything that I didn’t have time to actually play with the Barbies. Two decades later I made the leap to start my own interior design business. As mom of three children, with no formal design education or experience (aside from Barbie mansion designer extraordinaire), I felt like this venture was the biggest risk I would regret not taking. I deeply believed my home environment positively affected my family, and that knowledge empowered me to use my skills to design places for families to connect in theirs. It was a rocky (albeit, thrilling) start as projects poured in, and I didn’t have great systems in place yet to support the flow. Thankfully, I came across several podcasts that provided such quality education, I didn’t hesitate to implement the things I was learning. Those positive changes gave my husband Ryan and I the confidence to merge our businesses.

Lot 35 Homes sprang from Ryan’s well-seasoned construction company and my newborn interior design venture—like an old man baby business (Benjamin Button style). Blogging was a natural outflow of the design work, not just to highlight the projects we do, but as the way to have a wider reach, offering DIY help and design ideas to even more people. The Lot 35 blog is a place for intentionality, encouragement, laughter and connection. I love highlighting great design, good people, and helpful advice. I wholeheartedly believe I’ll always have more to learn, and I’m confident that the DBC will teach me ways to be able to serve our growing circle of Lot 35 friends even better.