Ann Nager & Jennifer Stodghill | DZN Studio + Home

Meet Ann Nager and her mother, Jennifer Stodghill — owners of DZN Studio + Home.

After 22 years in Atlanta, Ann decided to make the move to Greenville from Atlanta in 2010. This year she decided she was ready for a change in her career spending 30 years in commercial design and corporate real estate working for a large commercial brokerage firm and owning a boutique design firm in Atlanta servicing corporate tenants, focused on office environments, and design. This exciting change allowed Ann and her mother Jennifer to get to work together.

Before moving here, Ann thought Greenville was just a blip on 85. After meeting her husband and moving here, she fell in love with the city of Greenville. Despite that, she and her husband have traveled a lot for work. And, even though she’d been here for 9 years, she hadn’t felt like part of the community. Now, she views DZN as an opportunity to really join the community and put down roots instead of spending time on Delta.

Her corporate interiors and workplace strategy background, along with owning three houses here in Greenville that had her running down back and forth to Atlanta for furniture, is what birthed DZN Studio + Home. Ann knew it was time for a change. She and Jennifer had always talked about doing something together.

“Making the leap to this was not as scary as you would think,” she told me. Ann transitioned a lot in here career, and because of that she was never really risk averse. She views this as a new challenge that she can grab. “The most nerve wracking thing was the idea of opening a retail store, since I’ve never done that before. Commitment to the space and signing a 5 year lease is a big deal! Then there is the question of ’is the market going to have the same desire and vision that I do?’ So far we have been so excited at the positive reaction from the community.”

DZN Studio + Home has a beautiful space that showcases modern home furnishings. Their mission is to “provide a platform that makes it easy for people to visualize and furnish their home.” They range from higher end to very moderately pricedfurniture with a contemporary, modern, and mid-century design. “It’s easy for me to go find the expensive stuff, but the challenge is to find things that look just as good, are inspired by those classic designers, but are approachable in price. We bring that approachability in price and add a personal touch by helping guide you. We want to make your house feel like home, and that’s the inspiration for this whole store.”

From the beginning, Ann and Jennifer have been vocal about using technology to make the buying process easier for customers. They offer 3D virtual staging and a plan to implement a life size 3D virtual reality studio in the first quarter of 2020. “We have it narrowed down to a couple programs,” Ann told me. “The goal in the design studio is to be able have a library of the apartments/condos around Greenville so someone could say ‘I”m moving into so-and-so apartment,’ and we can pull it up for them to start decorating. We are blending the virtual world with physical world.”

Ann and Jennifer have been intentional from day one about including local makers. Right now they offer pottery from a local potter, plants from Savereign, and constantly have local artists on display. “There’s so much great talent and we love to work with everyone we can.” Ann and Jennifer also brought awareness to Homes for Hope as part of their grand opening, with a desire to give back to the community right out of the gate. “We want to give to people who need help getting back on their feet, home is important for that sense of stability.”

DZN Studio + Home is located on 23 Falls Park Drive in downtown Greenville. Be sure stop by and check out their showroom!