Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Krauter.
Hi Katie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I normalized calling myself an artist at a fairly young age. I grew up the 5th child of 7 kids in the suburbs of Indianapolis, IN. Shout out to my parents who did a great job raising us but most importantly took special care to foster all of our unique gifts and interests throughout the years. We were (very) homeschooled and grew up playing music together, singing in choirs, playing on worship teams, doing numerous musical theatre productions, various instrument lessons, art classes, forming basement rock bands, filming home sitcoms, and the like. I think back to these formative years of my life that nurtured that early creativity and led me down the path of finding my vocation as an artist and designer. I went on to study fine art at Herron School of Art and Design and loved having an intensive studio practice with peer critique and found myself a double major in ceramics and sculpture for 2 years. Moving into a historic 1890s brick ivy downtown apartment had me pivoting most of my attention and art towards how I could best curate the space to my hearts desires, thus beginning a long term love affair (and another change of major) into the world of interior design.
I worked throughout college as a barista for a family friend owned coffee shop then in the restaurant industry as a hostess. As I studied how to plan commercial spaces and learned the codes and requirements that go into these places, I had real life experience in those service roles and would examine the function that design played in the built environment around me. I think these years played a role in my eventual comfort level of taking on commercial projects early on in my design career.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
One of the biggest risks I took and never looked back on was packing up my life and solo moving to San Diego from Indiana. I had very little clue what my long term plan was but knew in my gut I would be surrounding myself with my biggest design inspirations and going straight to the source of my love for coastal, lived in luxury interior design. It did not come without its challenges in the first few years finding my footing in a new landscape and navigating how to sell my skills as a complete newbie on the scene. After what felt like failure being let go from 2 interior design positions that weren’t the right fit for me, I took it as my next challenge and the universe’s push to go straight for what I wanted most – to own my own design practice- one that honored my energy level and allowed me to grow naturally and pursue projects I cared about. I stumbled into the world of freelance and honed my skillset of sketchup and visualization and began offering clients and other interior designers 3d rendering services and e-design packages. Little by little I shared more of my process and grew confidence in my work until at the right place and right time, I was hired to design one of my proudest projects to date and from there I’ve been steadily growing, taking projects that align with my skillset, stretch me in the right ways and light me up with excitement. I feel privileged now to be in such a position but it was only afforded by years of trial and error and cutting my teeth working for other designers who challenged me and inspired me to pursue my dream.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My main thing is residential design and small boutique hospitality spaces. I love helping business owners and homeowners alike in finding their voice and showing how that translates into design. I utilize a lot of visual building software like sketchup and enscape to capture an entire space virtually and design each detail from a more wholistic point of view. My friends call me the “sketchup queen” so I will gladly embrace that title 😛.
With my past life experiences working in cafes, restaurants, art museums, hostels and what I might deem “third spaces” I felt a pull towards the work of a hospitality commercial designer. Designing spaces made for the public feels deeply meaningful and personal. It’s humbling being hired to carefully consider how people will interact with the space and mindfully distribute someone’s budget to build or enhance an environment that will serve their clientele and add to the cultural landscape that we are tasked to play a role in improving and contributing to. A few of my proudest projects to date would be Hinar- dessert cafe in East Village, Yalla!-childcare and coworking space in Bankers Hill, and most recently Activate House – yoga Pilates studio in Bird Rock. My heart has always been that people would feel better when they enter in the spaces I’ve designed – that even if their world feels heavy, for the moments they’re here they would have every right to exist in a place where they feel welcome, seen, and validated in wanting a beautiful, healthy life.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
My essential qualities would first be heart led – maybe to a fault. If my hearts not in it, there isn’t enough money in the world to motivate me to do my best work but when I find I deeply align with something be it a vision for a home or a business concept, I go all in and commit my life to the success of a project. I think this brings my second essential quality – Authenticity. If you don’t see your life as an opportunity to become the truest version of yourself, you are only doing yourself and others a great disservice. I’ve tried to jam myself into too many square holes until the day I realized how special and powerful we all are when we speak from our hearts, live in our truth, follow that passion to the very end and see where the ride takes us.
Thanks so much Hidden Gems for sharing my story and highlighting myself and other heart-led San Diego entrepreneurs and creatives.
You can find more of Katies story and work at Katiekrauter.com or on socials @katiekrauter.design
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Katiekrauter.com
- Instagram: katiekrauter.design
