The studio
Studio Yulan
A Johannesburg interior design studio for high-end residential interiors and bespoke joinery, founded by Nicole Sen in 2026.
Design work that begins with people: how they move through a room, what they keep, what they avoid, and what they have quietly put up with for years.
Nicole studied interior design at the Greenside Design Center, where the work moved between workplace, retail, residential and conceptual briefs — each resolved to plan, section and detail rather than left at mood.
Two years followed as Designer / Consultant at The Kitchen Studio (April 2023 – February 2025): client consultations, space planning, presentation renders and finish selection at one end; shop drawings for factory production, site measurement, installation oversight and final quality checks at the other.
Design, drawing, manufacture
Design thinking, technical documentation and manufacturing knowledge are one continuous process here, not three departments handing work along.
A concept is tested against how it will be set out, machined, delivered and hung before it is presented. That is why the drawings hold: they are reconciled against what the factory can deliver, and against the tolerances a real wall will give.
The studio stays deliberately hands-on. Senior involvement runs from the first brief through to site installation.
Capabilities
Spatial planning
Circulation, zoning and daily use resolved before finishes are considered.
Conceptual thinking
A spatial idea that holds through documentation rather than dissolving at detail stage.
Material sensitivity
Timber, stone and finish selected for how they age, wear and take light.
Cabinetry knowledge
Joinery configured, detailed and specified for factory production.
Technical resolution
Plans, elevations, sections and shop drawings prepared for build.
Implementation
Site measurement, factory liaison, installation oversight and snagging to handover.
Nicole Sen — background
Experience
Founder, Studio Yulan
Interior Designer, Harveys Design Studio
Designer / Consultant, The Kitchen Studio
Education
BA Interior Design
IEB Matric, two distinctions
Recognition
Winner, PG Bison Doodle Competition
Top 5, KSA Competition
Skills & software
Hand drawing — conceptual and architectural
Space planning · Design thinking · Empathy mapping
AutoCAD · ArtiCAD · Revit · SketchUp · Twinmotion
Illustrator · InDesign · Photoshop
Contact
Enquiries are welcome, including early ones.