AMHERST — Deborah Noyes likens herself to that of a magpie of a crow, collecting a variety of pretty, and occasionally shiny, items ranging from furniture and pottery to decor and lighting.

The California-born entrepreneur’s love of collecting tchotchkes and bric-a-brac of all kinds is in part one of the reasons Noyes decided to open a store of her own, Botanica Home, which features “playfully curated gifts, gallery and home goods.”

Located at 191 North Pleasant St. in Amherst, the store sells glass and barware, linens, lamps, artwork, jewelry, candles and live and fake plants. Prices range from $2 for an air plant to $1,300 for a handcrafted artisan teak and woven cord rocking chair from Nicaragua.

“I want to have things that students can walk in and grab pieces for their dorm like a mug or a lamp, but also have pieces that will allow people to turn to my shop if they’re redecorating an entire space and are looking for custom pieces,” she said.

Botanica Home was originally launched as an online business selling cyanotypes created by Noyes while she lived in Maine. Cyanotype photography is a camera-less technique and one of the oldest photographic printing processes in history that involves laying an object on paper coated with a solution of iron salts before exposing it to ultraviolet light that results in a rather distinctive white and blue print.

Though the company is still offering cyanotypes, it has since sprouted a new downtown home following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the end of September. Prior to Botanica Home, the site previously housed The Blue Marble gift shop for more than a decade.

Having been familiar with the bustling downtown area, Noyes said she was attracted to the possibilities that a brick-and-mortar location in Amherst could bring.

“I love the Valley and the way it’s nestled here. There’s a lot of vitality between all the different schools and people flowing through — it just feels like there’s a lot of room to start a new enterprise and not be stepping on anybody’s toes,” she said.

A novel idea

Before starting a new chapter in her career, Noyes has been deeply invested into the pages of the world of publishing, working as an editor, author and photographer for more than two decades. Her nonfiction and fiction for children and adults includes “Encyclopedia of the End: Mysterious Death in Fact, Fancy, Folklore, and More;” “One Kingdom: Our Lives with Animals;” “Red Butterfly;” and “Ten Days a Madwoman.”

Her reviews and works of short fiction have appeared in several publications, such as The Boston Sunday Globe, The Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Her photographic work has been featured in The Vermont Center for Photography and the Boston Art Commission’s Public Art Walk brochure and website as well as several of her books.

Noyes has also been on the faculty of the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts and has taught writing and literature at Emerson College and Western New England College.

Throughout her career, she’s maintained a number of “side hustles” to support her writing, including bartending and zookeeping. Most recently, Noyes indulged in her creative side while working for an interior design business in Maine. Her first foray into retail allowed her the opportunity to consider how she could share one of her other passions — collecting.

“I’m always collecting … everything,” she said. “These days I have more of a minimalist lifestyle, but my store allows me to sort of channel my collecting into a venue where I can let somebody else have them.”

In fact, among the unique items featured at Botanica Home are printed kimonos. In the event that the garment doesn’t sell, Noyes says there’s at least one going home with her.

Botanica Home is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.