nance matt

Matt Collins, an interior design student from Mendon, Michigan, was lead designer for the new MJ Home store in downtown Kalamazoo.

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—A new business has sprouted up in downtown Kalamazoo, and a Western Michigan University student helped to cultivate its aesthetic.

“We want people to come in and feel peaceful and take a moment to breathe and relax, and to just really… feel warm and cozy,” says Dianna Nance, owner of the new boutique home store MJ Home—sister store to Mason Jar Plant Shop. She tapped Matt Collins, a first-year interior design student, to help her make that vision a reality.

The seeds of the partnership were planted on social media. Collins worked in a restaurant next door to the plant shop and would often wander over on his breaks.

Collins designed displays to make shoppers feel at home.

“It was my little escape to go in there and be surrounded by all the plants,” he says. One day he bought a plant and posted a picture of it on Instagram. “Dianna noticed it and said, ‘I really like your living space, your style, how you stage things. I’m looking to open up a furniture and home decor shop, and I noticed you’re an interior design student. I was wondering if you could help me design a concept for it.'”

Collins cracked open his textbooks and got to work, inspired by bohemian style. He also tapped into some of his connections from class and contacted two designers in Sweden to go over his ideas. Everything from color schemes to customer circulation and customer movement played a part in his design.

“He’s brought a lot to the store,” says Nance. “He’s been great to work with, and he actually helped