DWELLING Spaces + Places LLC

About Us

Creative adventurer Drina Nikola is embarking on a new mid-career direction. Seeing up close the evolving demand for aging in place, she is seizing the opportunity to shift her professional focus from corporate healthcare institutions to individual senior living environments.

After 3-plus decades in commercial design and project management with major Chicago-based firms, Drina’s skills transition seamlessly to this emerging market. A licensed interior designer, she has already left her distinctive design mark on top-level projects for Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the University of Chicago Medical Center and Advocate Health Care. More recently, as director of interior design for a national developer of upscale continuing care retirement communities, Drina has been recognized for her expertise in design details that enhance quality of life at different stages. She has consulted, and will continue to consult, on the planning, design and architecture of senior living projects with owners, operators and developers.

Using her network of resources and contacts collected over the years, Drina orchestrates the next iteration of dwelling place – whether modifying for accessibility, remodeling or relocating – for the boomer-and-beyond set. She and her ensemble guide clients through the often difficult and time-consuming process of assessing what to keep, replace, pass along or discard. It isn’t so much downsizing as simplifying, explains Drina, when you’re able to help people reconfigure their personal possessions without sacrificing design.