Open Storey
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Interior Designer · Founder

Swatika UpendranDesigning between two worlds

Swatika is the founder of Open Storey, a San Francisco Bay Area interior design studio creating residential, retail and hospitality spaces where South Indian material richness meets contemporary California calm.

Swatika Upendran, founder and interior designer at Open Storey
Swatika Upendran · San Francisco Bay Area
Layered Bay Area living room designed by Open Storey
Residential interiors · Open Storey

A global perspective,
grounded in place

Educated in Chennai, Barcelona and San Francisco, Swatika brings a cross-cultural point of view to every commission. Her work is attentive to natural light, movement, proportion and the emotional character of materials.

Her experience spans luxury residences, cinemas, boutique retail, hospitality and large-scale corporate interiors for brands including Cisco Systems, Target and Intuit. At Open Storey, that breadth becomes a deeply personal process: each space is composed around the people who will inhabit it.

“Design is not decoration — it is the art of making space feel inhabited before you arrive.”

Thoughtful design,
at every scale

Open Storey is based in California and welcomes selected projects in the Bay Area, across the United States and internationally.

01

Residential Interiors

Full homes and focused rooms shaped around daily rituals, comfort and enduring character.

02

Retail & Hospitality

Boutique environments with clear movement, memorable atmosphere and a strong sense of place.

03

Space & Material

Planning, finishes, lighting and object curation brought together as one coherent interior.

04

Vastu Consultation

Vastu-informed guidance interpreted with sensitivity for contemporary homes and lifestyles.

One design language

Each place added a distinct lens: material intelligence in Chennai, international visual culture in Barcelona, and the quiet clarity of Northern California. The result is work that feels layered without feeling crowded.

Origin

Chennai

Craft, color, hospitality and a tactile understanding of how culture lives through a space.

Expansion

Barcelona

Global references, visual composition and confidence in translating between design traditions.

Studio

San Francisco

Contemporary restraint, natural light and a practice shaped for California and the wider world.

Spaces made to be remembered

Swatika’s work crosses residential, workplace, retail and hospitality settings, from intimate material moments to multi-floor environments.

Tell us about
your space

Share your location, goals and timeline in a complimentary 15-minute consultation. Open Storey welcomes residential and boutique commercial enquiries from the Bay Area and beyond.