Brooke Michelsen is an interior designer and the founder of Brooke Michelsen Design, based in Vermont. Born and raised in southern Vermont, she grew up in Manchester and later Dorset, where she spent her childhood immersed in the outdoors. She is the third of four children, with two older sisters and a younger brother. Her early life was shaped by a strong connection to nature, including cross country skiing, hiking, maple sugaring, and long days spent exploring the woods around her family home.

Brooke was exposed to building and design at a young age through her father, who worked as a builder before becoming a full time artist. She spent much of her childhood around active construction sites and evolving homes, an experience that laid an early foundation for her understanding of space, materials, and process. In school, she gravitated toward art, shop class, and athletics, participating in sports such as field hockey, softball, and soccer, while developing a strong interest in hands on creative work.

After high school, Brooke pursued a nontraditional path that included studying art in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she focused on pottery, weaving, oil painting, and Spanish. She later completed a month long National Outdoor Leadership School course in the Absaroka Range of Wyoming, gaining extensive wilderness and leadership training. Following time spent living and snowboarding in California, she completed general education coursework at community colleges before earning a degree in interior design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.

After graduating at the top of her class, Brooke began her professional career working with an architecture and development firm, relocating from Los Angeles to Park City, Utah to focus on high end residential projects. She later returned to Vermont as an adult, where she established her own interior design practice.

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