We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kate Swanson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kate thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

For me, design has always been about more than aesthetics — it’s about relationships. Nurture by Nature was born from the idea that the spaces we live, gather, and work in should feel deeply human, and that the objects we surround ourselves with should carry the imprint of the maker’s hand.

After years working in luxury interior design, I realized that the moments that felt most meaningful were the ones where designers, makers, and clients came together to create something that couldn’t exist without each of them. That collaboration, that ecosystem of trust – is really at the heart of what I do.

When I moved back to Vermont, I wanted to bring that ethos home with me. The mission behind both the design studio and now the gallery is to nurture connection: between people and their environments, between makers and their communities, and between Vermont and the broader design world.

It’s meaningful because it’s personal. As a fourth-generation Vermonter, I know how important belonging feels here. Through design and craft, I want to create spaces and moments that spark that same sense of belonging, places where people recognize themselves, even in something brand new.

Kate, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Kate Swanson, the founder and creative director of Nurture by Nature, an interior and architectural design studio, and more recently, a design gallery – based in Burlington, Vermont. My background is in luxury residential and hospitality design, where I spent years working on projects that were polished and ambitious, but what always stood out to me was the human side of the process: the collaboration between clients, builders, and makers, and the way a space could change how people felt in it.

That perspective inspired me to create Nurture by Nature. Our studio specializes in both residential and commercial interiors, and I think of our work as creating sanctuaries, spaces that support living, gathering, respite, and ritual. Every project is an opportunity to shape not just how a space looks, but how it feels. We bring in bespoke and handcrafted pieces early and always because I believe craft carries the human touch in a way that makes a room come alive.

What sets Nurture by Nature apart is our ethos: design as a collaborative, deeply human process. It’s not just about achieving a “look” – it’s about building spaces and relationships that reflect the people who inhabit them. Our clients often come to us because they want a home or workplace that feels personal, warm, and enduring rather than like something out of a showroom.

This same philosophy inspired the launch of Gallery Nurture by Nature. The gallery celebrates the makers I see as my closest collaborators, giving their work a platform and sparking conversations between designers, makers, and the community. Our debut exhibition, Unknown Friends, brings together Northeast makers whose work evokes familiarity and recognition, even when the pieces themselves are brand new.

What I’m most proud of is creating environments — whether interiors or exhibitions — where people feel a sense of connection. I want potential clients and collaborators to know that Nurture by Nature is more than a design studio. It’s a space where ideas are nurtured, where makers and clients meet, and where design is approached as an opportunity to foster belonging, beauty, and meaning.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

One of the biggest pivots in my life was moving back to Vermont after more than a decade working in luxury design out West. I had built a career I was proud of in Jackson Hole, managing high-end residential and hospitality projects, but after years of working at that pace, I realized I wanted something different. I wanted to slow down, to reconnect with my roots, and to work in a way that felt more personal and collaborative.

That return to Vermont was both a leap and a reset. It gave me the chance to start Nurture by Nature with a fresh perspective, bringing everything I had learned from luxury design, but grounding it in a more human, craft-driven approach. It was less about chasing scale and more about building meaningful relationships, both with clients and with the community around me.

A second pivot came more recently, when I expanded from interiors into launching Gallery Nurture by Nature. For years, I’d been collaborating with incredible makers whose work brought depth and soul to my design projects. The gallery grew out of the realization that those collaborations could become something bigger, a space where makers, designers, and community could meet, and where individual pieces could be celebrated as works of art in their own right.

Both pivots came from the same place: trusting that design is at its best when it’s about connection. Shifting directions wasn’t always easy, but each change brought me closer to the work I feel called to do.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A big lesson I had to unlearn was the idea that there’s a “right” way to design, or that good design should follow what’s trending. Early in my career, working in luxury interiors, it was easy to get swept up in the constant stream of influence — what was in, what was next, what clients thought they should want. Somewhere along the way, my own instincts and tastes got buried under all that noise.

The turning point came when I moved back to Vermont. For the first time in years, I had the space to slow down and reconnect with what I actually love — materials that feel alive, objects that carry a maker’s hand, and spaces that invite you to exhale. I had to unlearn the reflex to look outward first, and relearn how to trust my own perspective.

That shift not only changed how I design, but also how I curate. With both the studio and the gallery, I’m guided less by “what’s in” and more by what feels resonant, human, and enduring. It’s been freeing to move away from design as performance and toward design as connection.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://n-by-n.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__nurturebynature__/

Image Credits

Charlie Schuck