About Squirrel!

Squirrel! is a Brooklyn based home design and organization studio, with a focus on the unique challenges of homemaking for people with ADHD brains.

Karen Vellensky is the brains behind the… uh, acorns. It’s hard to write about oneself in the third person, so let’s switch narrators!

Hi! I’m Karen, an eco-conscious, social justice oriented, DIY enthusiast with a soft spot for furniture left at the curb. My personal decor style is ‘second hand eclectic' — a mish-mash of craigslist scores and freebies, accented by a smattering of newness. This trash picker isn’t opposed to an IKEA product here or there — but I will nudge you toward the solid wood or metal framed pieces.

Like many other women, I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until adulthood, during a particularly low point in my career. Since then, I have been working with an amazing coach (shout out to Lisa at ADHD Freedom), who has filled my figurative toolbox with insights and skills that have transformed my life. Learning to work with the ADHD traits that used to hold me back helped me turn my lifelong hobby of interior design and furniture restoration into a career.

Coincidentally, my first few clients all had ADHD as well, so we focused on the points of friction in their living spaces, triggered by their ADHD brains, that could be smoothed over with some thoughtful design. Seeing how helpful approaching design and organization through a neurodivergent lens could be, I created Squirrel! to reach clients who weren’t benefitting from neurotypical design and organization advice.