Believe it or not, LoKey Designs was supposed to be a blog.

It is funny to think back to the first days of LoKey Designs and how it all got started. Before my business even had a name, my plan was to start a blog. I was going to do an array of DIY projects around my home, photograph the steps and use the blog as a space to share my ideas and information.

My first DIY project was hanging a light over my washing machine, which I did complete but never blogged about.

My second DIY project was to plant succulents. I was looking for low maintenance plants for my home to use as "living home decor" and succulents were the perfect option for me. Succulents are vibrant and bright like flowers but last longer and can be put high on shelves, hang from the ceiling and generally be away from my flower and plant eating cats. Great!

How did I even come across succulents as an option? I went to Home Depot one day, literally without a plan, just looking for inspiration for home DIY projects I could do for this blog that never happened(but you don't know this part yet). I gravitated toward the indoor plant section and just basically hung out there for...probably a suspicious amount of time because an employee finally approached me and asked if I needed help. I said, yes, I think I want to plant succulents. The friendly staff member pointed me to all the materials I would need to complete this project. I scooped up all my new succulents(which took forever to choose), planting materials and headed home. I went through all my cabinets for containers I could use to plant in. I set myself up a spot on my back porch to plant (on an unseasonably warm December day in 2015) and got to work.

I got a little excited about my work and before ever making a blog post, or even setting up a blog space at all for that matter, I posted the images of my plant creations on my personal instagram and facebook page...and it kind of took on a whole different trajectory from there. A true life of its own(punn intended).

After posting the photos from my patio planting sesh, I had a few friends immediately reaching out to ask if I would teach them how to plant succulents like that. If I had them over, could they pay me to teach them? Ummmm, yea! Duh....and I will serve wine. And cheese. You are welcome.

So right away, I kind of felt like I had to put a name to this thing I was about to do. I sat in my bed and did a word and name association game. I wrote out things that were important to me. Names of objects, places, ideas, pets. I saw some patterns and the name lo.key was the initial business name I created. It symbolized a few things:

- Started planting in my basement: lower part of my home

- Affinity for a certain symbol since I was a little kid: skeleton key

- Cat who eats all my flowers and plants, thus fueling my need for low maintenance, hideaway plants: Loki

- Low maintenance plants: low

There, I had it! LoKey, or actually it started out as lo.key

After a while, I realized having punctuation in the name is problematic for lots of random reasons so I changed it to LoKey Designs, which is what it has remained over the past nearly 5 years.

Thinking back on how LoKey Designs got started is the best exercise to get me back on track when I feel like I don't know what to do next. I am at yeat another transitional period and what to share the journey thus far...because it has changed. A. LOT.

Whether you have been following me for a while or just started, I have a whole lot of info and experiences I have never fully shared regarding plants, my journey starting a side business while working full-time, turning that side biz into a full-time gig and everything in between.

So, here we grow.