Tashica Morgan: From the Streets of Southeast DC to the Screens of HGTV
Anyone who lives in the DC area has a reason to tune in to the fourth season of HGTV Design Star on Sunday at 10 p.m. One of the 10 finalists who will battle for his or her own show is the adorable Tashica Morgan of Bowie, MD. A resident designer at Ethan Allen in Arlington, she is working on her master’s degree in interior design at Marymount University.
Courtesy, HGTV
All good credentials for a design show, right? But she has come further to where she is now than perhaps any of her fellow contestants. Tashica grew up in Southeast DC, traveling between relatives’ houses, homeless shelters, and foster homes. Tashica developed a knack for designing, such as it was, when she became the one to unpack the bags at each new place. "I always had to create the space. It was fun for me," she says. Her mother and sisters came to expect that of her. "I had to put it together, get it up and going. I would tell them where to put things."
Tashica’s father was in and out of prison, and her mother "did some hard time on the streets," she says. "I knew that was not going to be me. I just said I was not going to be that."
She was right. Despite the fact that neither parent finished high school, she’s a graduate of the University of Maryland and will soon have a master’s degree. Oh, and she spent several weeks filming HGTV Design Star while staying in a mansion overlooking Los Angeles that was once home to the likes of Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra.
Although she says the grueling design competitions she went through on the show were nothing in comparison to the challenges of her upbringing, Tashica says, "I’ve grown a bigger heart after going through that – the building, the painting, and pushing myself."
In a way, she’s been getting ready to design for a long time. Several years ago when she worked at Pier One, she used her employee discount to purchase things that she loved and then stored them away at her grandmother’s house. After her marriage in 2008 to Al-Wayne Morgan, she was able to resurrect those items, along with other furnishings from Salvation Army, Craig’s List, and friends’ hand-me-downs. "Everything was second-hand. Not one piece of furniture did we buy new," she says. "We’re a young, emerging couple. We’re renting, so I did what I could."
Here’s a glimpse of the talent we might be seeing on the show, through the work she’s done at her own home.
In the living room, Tashica centered the room around her favorite trunk from Pier One. She painted chocolate brown stripes on either side of the sofa to balance the large brown mirror. To lighten the corner, she hung a table runner down the middle of one stripe. And instead of taking up room on the end table with a lamp, she inverted a lamp shade and made it into a pendant.
The dining room furniture came from a friend who was about the throw it all away. She likes the mismatched quality of the seating. "Dining doesn’t always have to have that coordinated feel – that matchy-matchy look," Tashica says. Her glassware pops out from the dark Ikea shelving unit she’s taken everywhere with her since college.
The "backsplash" in Tashica’s kitchen is hand-painted. She taped off small squares on he wall after first designing the pattern on a Microsoft Word document to get the proper scale and measurements.
Tashica used the same computer method with the harlequin pattern on the wall behind her bed.
Although there’s a turquoise-and-brown theme running through the apartment, Tashica uses pops of other colors in each room, such as the red accents in the bedroom.
My favorite space is the Morgans’ deck, where Tashica strategically placed an open copy of Washington Spaces on top of her favorite garden stool.
Good luck, Tashica – we will all be rooting for you on Sunday!
Tashica’s designs are truly inspirational and very cost effective to achieve… Yes I have to admit I am officially a Tashica Groupie!
It’s so good to see someone from around here on that show. Can’t wait to see how Tashica does!
Very nice spread Talko! This girl has some serious skills. It definitely takes PASSION to hand-paint a backsplash! Wow. We’ve come a long way from our Sunday School days at Trinity and high school days at NHS :) I wish u nothing but the best. May God CONTINUE to Bless u.
Great job Tashica…come along way from Cumberland Hall. I will be pulling for you, great to see you going after your dream.
I love you!
What an impressive woman! Go Tashica!
i don’t know who is this Tashica but i can’t wait to see her on the show.
Tashica!! I am sooooooooo Proud of you and know that you deserve all of the many blessings God has in store for you. Love you much and so fortunate to call you a friend :)
I’m soooooooooo jealous! You look like you belong on TV. Can’t wait to see the show. Good Luck!
Hey Lady!!! Your work is phenomenal and Joe and I are too proud. We’re cheering for you all the way!
AHS
Wonderfully done Talko!! You are exceptionally talented and innovative. Good luck!
I was honored to meet Tashica a short time ago and was very impressed with this young lady and her passion for interior design. I did not know her family history but after reading this story I have NO doubt in my mind that this young lady is a true survivor and the WORLD will someday know her name! Best of luck!
so I guess she wins the designer challenge show?
YAY! Talko! I am very proud of you! You are definitely ‘going places and changing spaces’ :-) Enjoy the journey that is tailor-made for you. Many blessings, Jai.
T- You had Daniel and I from day one! Wishing you all the best with this and whatever else He has waiting for you.
Regardless of how this ends, consider yourself a winner. Can’t wait to watch the show. I hope I am the first on your list for a full makeover. “Talko style!” GO GIRL❤
❤Hey girl Hey! I can’t believe you are going to be on tv! Yeah… I am still stuck on that! I am so happy for you!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep going ‘til you reach the sky! Well you are almost there anyway! I am talking TOO much! I BE LOVIN’ YOU! SMOOCHES ❤ GO TALKO
I am so proud of you! I knew your talents would take you places you have only dreamed about. I can’t wait to see the show on Sunday. There is no limit to what God has in store for you!
You can bet we at the magazine will be watching, and we’ll continue blogging as the show (and Tashica, hopefully) progresses…
Tashica definitely is GREAT at what she does. Her designs are on point! Good luck
I am thrilled, honestly. Good luck Tashica,Norma, Alisha and I do wish you the very best in your future endeavor.
I love Mrs. Morgan’s designs and once I purchase my first place she will be the first and only one I call to help me design and not just decorate my space! We love you Tashica and are behind you 1,000,000,000,000,000 %! Good luck and you will always be the best to me!
Talko! I am so proud of you. Good Luck and Best Wishes! This is the type of talent the world needs to see:-)
Tashica!I can’t belive that you are on Design Star. I know that you will win. Love you sis -alisha ♥
*believe haha
Tashica, words cannot express how proud I am of you-although, it is not surprising that you are doing so well. Good Luck - Mums
You impressed us with your style and amazing, warm personality from this very first moment we met you at Ethan Allen. You are already a Design Star! All the Best!
I love your design sense. I will be cheering you on! You go girl!
What a beautiful photo of you, Tashika. You obviously belong on TV! Your customer service since I’ve been working with you at Ethan Allen has been exemplary….even though I’m not a ‘big-time spender’. My needs have been unusual and you have been patient and supportive with an always-present smiling attitude. Your background has built character and determination that is taking you far! The best of luck to you with your HGTV adventure….I firmly believe you’ll make it!
I’m so excited for Tashica! I’m sure she will make D.C. proud!
Love the trunk in the living room. Congratulations on your upcoming debut, Tashica. I will be staying tuned every Sunday.
Great story! Go Tashica, go..
i dont like her designs, oh she gonna get sympathy now sit down
Talko! Wow! Long time! I was watching HGTV last night and thought I saw you and kept rewinding and pausing to make sure it was you. Congratulations! You deserve it!
I’m so proud to be a Terp right now! Go Talko! Haters get on your job!
Dear Ms. Taschica, I am hoping you can assist me. I love your work so far on Design Star and I need your help. I have been trying to design my dinning room with a home I purchased with my twin sister 3 years ago. Due to my health issues I have been in/out of the hospital for the last 2 years. My sister has been trying to complete it by taking care of me has consumed all of her free time. I would love to complete this project for her to repay her for her tiredless and selfish lifestlye by devoting it to me. Can you help? I am willing to pay your fee but my budget is only $1000.00. If not can you just respond either way.
Thank you for taking the time to read my email. Deitra
She is not good. But that sofa was nice. I don’t understand how she is still there.
My Letter to HGTV:
Tonight’s episode of design star was embarrassing. The judges broke their own rule to punish the young black woman who was no less competent than the others competing. The season is poor and I suspect there will be a little cheating to keep viewers from revolting. However, I am angry and disappointed at the racist overtone that has permeated the entire program. It is truly horrendous that this season’s judges, though of poor quality (should not the panel member who joined the staff been excluded rather than the other way around?), joined in on the orgy instead of trying to stay above the fray. I have spent the last fifteen years referring your channel to my relatives and friends but especially to my clients. I stuck with you through no black hosts, to black hosts who were circumscribed and so on and so forth. I will spend the next fifteen years asking them to boycott HGTV, one by one. What was so bad about Tashica’s presentation(s) to earn her the embarrassment of being eliminated without consultation from the judges? Why this ugly distinction. I have seen the pretend designers (such as the woman who wears the push-up bra (?) and others. This young woman did not deserve to be picked-on, ignored by the others and other obvious snubs she endured. The brazenness of it takes my breath away. I will also bring the matter to the attention of our local black organization. This is your channel, you are allowed to pick and choose who you select or not. However, it is unacceptable to join in the defilement of an innocent. She is just a young hopeful; that is who you claim you want! Shame on you all.
Tashica, you were very noble to have survived such a show for that long. Since the show DS aired you seemed to have been ostracized from the very beginning. You had no peers of your own ethnicity to bond with. Yany and you were outnumbered ten to two. Your elimination and the manner in which you were eliminated is a reflection of where we are today. What are the chances of more than one minority ever having a show of their own with odds like that. I have learned a lot about the characters of the judges based on last night’s show. I would choose you as a Designer over them any day! Your character alone has spoken well of you. In closing, I thought that the “Garden of Eden” was delightful and exciting!
ok, I feel Taschica had been marginalized from the start. She was never listened to, paid lip service, ignored and pushed out by her teams. Was it racist?, maybe. Cutlural, definitely.
I feel like Taschica didn’t “fit” what the ‘blond haired white women’ and oh so cooler than thou gay boys wanted as a team mate or co-worker. It was so pathetically sorority homecoming queen politics in action, and I’m left disgusted. There are alot of faults with this group, but it seems like everyone went after Taschica because of her nervous energy and her genuinely wanting to help.
To her fault, she was not forceful enough, or demanding. Perhaps is she had been a ghetto girl, they would have fauned over her as a token, but because she is not ghetto, maybe it was threatening for the others to deal with a minority who is truly an equal, if not more so.
P.S. I made this post to HGTV Facebook, and it wrankled a few. Let me clarify, this is my opinion and view, oh, and by the way, I’m a white blond gay boy!”
good luck in the future Tashica. I also thought you were a target since the first show. I believe you are better than what HGTV gave you credit for. I know that this is only a bump in the road for you. People now know your name and face, and someone out there is willing to give you a second chance. I have a feeling that you will be the Vanessa Williams of the design world. We all remember what became of her.
Tashica, I pray that you read this. First and foremost, I concur with most if not all of the earlier posts about the events that resulted in you being removed from the show. I too felt you were black-balled from the beginning, however, I’m sure that as an audience, we were not able to see the full picture. I truly hope the picture did not resemble the way it was painted; although, whether it was or not I would like to commend you for representing yourself in a positive way. Despite the challenges, you repeatedly put your best foot forward, not many people could and/or would have done that. Although I admonish you that in your future endeavors in the field of interior design to make yourself be heard. Speak up for yourself and do not allow others to bully you. Yes you may be against the odds, but do not allow that to stop you from standing up for yourself and showing what great talent you have. If at any point in the future you feel that you are not being heard, you speak louder and try as hard as you can to respectfully force others to hear you. Don’t be a push over. Remember one can only make you feel inferior with your consent. I’ll be looking for your future projects. God bless.