December 5, 2017

Meet Drina Nikola of DWELLING Spaces + Places in Evanston, IL

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Drina Nikola.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Interior design had been an interest of mine starting in high school where I took art and woodworking classes. Much of my career as an interior designer was spent working on designing functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces in various Chicagoland hospitals and healthcare facilities. Working within these realms helped me to develop an understanding of what is needed for safety, accessibility, and comfort of clients whose physical needs change with aging.

It was during my time as a director of interior design for a national developer of upscale continuing care retirement communities that I saw firsthand the demand for aging in place and the benefits it offered. Surveying the senior services market, I realized there was an opportunity for me to continue with my passion for interior design and leverage my expertise with healthcare facilities by assisting older adults in making informed decisions for comfortable living and stress-free moves. That’s when I decided to start my own company, DWELLING Spaces + Places.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It takes a lot of time and energy to start and grow a business. You have to go out every day, meet new people, and continue to tell your story. Often times there are a lot of “no’s” before you hear a “yes” and it all falls on you as the entrepreneur to ensure that this business gets off the ground. Although that has been a challenge, I am really happy with how far the business has come since it started back in June of 2015 The business continues to grow and March 1, we opened an office at our brick-and-mortar location on Central Street in Evanston, IL. Most importantly, we have seen just how important these services are to older adults making living transitions and we are happy to be the ones to help.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
a. A change in environment can be stressful and time-consuming for anyone. At DWELLING Spaces + Places we provide interior design and senior move management support to older adults and their families looking to create a new living space. We can help remodel, reconfigure, and modify existing rooms, as well as space planning for a future dwelling and help identify what to keep, replace, discard, or pass along.

We help you and your loved ones envision the optimal home, what I like to call “opti-sizing.” It isn’t so much downsizing or simplifying as it is reconfiguring belongings and space without sacrificing design. We are a unique business in that we are able to offer both design and move management services, whereas most companies offer one or the other.

We are in constant contact with various service providers, such as administrators at local senior living residence, realtors, and home care providers, and can act as a resource for other services our clients may be seeking.

I am also active in our community and serve on the housing committee for the Age Friendly Evanston! task force, which is a World Health Organization initiative to provide a system to educate, encourage, promote, and recognize improvements that will make the city more user-friendly for residents of all ages. I am also a member of the National Association for Senior Move Managers having earned the NASMM@HOME Specialist designation.

What were you like growing up?
I was born in Cleveland, the oldest child of Croatian immigrants. It was a hardworking and creative environment. My father was a painter, commercial artist for American Greetings and an incurable handyman at home, teaching us that we can learn to do anything. My mother, a teacher had all 4 of us girls involved with projects a variety of after school activities

As a family, we were constantly creating things from scratch, such as intricate paper snowflakes for the front windows for the holidays. I took an interest in art, sewing, gardening, playing the guitar, and pretty much anything else that allowed me to create something new and beautiful.

I was involved in the girl scouts, 4H club and took art and woodworking class in high school. Unknowingly at the time, each of these activities would help to lay the foundation of my creativity, project management and organizational skills that I continue to use and build upon today in the everyday interactions at DWELLING Spaces + Places.

Contact Info: