LIVING SMALL by Laura Fenton

Articles

Small things that make life feel rich

2 weeks ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

During the last year, I’ve been thinking a lot about what is enough and how to cultivate a feeling of abundance without over-consuming. It’s a balancing act trying to discover where contentment lies. I’m always having to remind myself that even though our apartment is small, it is enough–that a bigger one (probably) wouldn’t make us happier. One thing that has been helpful in my quest for contentment is to identify what makes me feel like my cup is full—like I have “enough” and a little more.
When sustainability and budgets collide

3 weeks ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

If you’ve been reading Living Small for a while, you’ve probably heard me sing the praises of maintenance, mending, and repair. I believe in taking care of our belongings so that they can live a long and useful life. I’ll almost always try to fix something before buying a replacement. This ethos is easy to embrace when the stakes are low: Getting shoes resoled and buffed up at the cobbler is a no-brainer. Things get more complicated when the cost of repair increases.
Why even bother decluttering?

1 month ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

Last week while trying to wedge something onto the top shelf of our entryway closet I dislodged a brick of compressed potting soil, which hit me square on the forehead. I saw stars, endured a headache for the rest of the day, and then I sported a bruise for several days afterwards. It was inglorious. And it felt like the universe was telling me it was time to declutter—again.
Small Takes with Tyler Moore, the Tidy Dad

1 month ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

Wishing everyone a Happy May Day (aka International Workers Day). In Small Takes, I ask people who are living small how they make it work. When I asked Tyler Moore, a public school teacher who moonlights as the (@tidydad), if he would answer my questionnaire, I had no idea we were practically neighbors. He and his wife Emily and their three daughters live right near me in Queens. I was also surprised to learn that we had similar experiences with real estate.
A home makeover without buying anything new?

1 month ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

No new things. These three words were the name Ashlee Piper gave her personal challenge to shop only secondhand back in 2013. She ended up spending a year and a half not buying anything new. These three words became a wildly popular social media challenge #nonewthings and are now the title of Ashlee’s new book No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity.
Q&A: What upgrades should I make now that I own?

1 month ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

New for 2025, Q&A is an advice column of sorts for paid subscribers. Once a month, I answer a reader’s question about living small and invite the community to weigh in with ideas too. Q: After renting our apartment for three years, we recently had the extreme privilege of buying our unit. I had been a lifelong renter. The type who never put holes in walls to hang a thing because I didn’t want to deal with the arguments over security deposits.
My own Small Takes

2 months ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton |Katie Gatti Tassin

This newsletter’s two-year anniversary slipped by without me noticing. Maybe that’s because other milestones were on my mind. My husband and I just marked ten years of living in our apartment. My book baby is five years old next week. The Little Book of Living Smallcame out on April 7, 2020, which is, of course, tied up in my mind with those scary, early days of the Covid lockdowns (a less happy anniversary).
Q&A: How to Entertain in a Small Space

2 months ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

New for 2025, Q&A is an advice column of sorts for paid subscribers. Once a month, I answer a reader’s question about living small and invite the community to weigh in with ideas too. Q: Do you have any advice for how to entertain in a small space with a family? Our place is small, so it’s especially hard to figure out how to have friends over without displacing my spouse and child. A: I wanted to answer this question because it’s something I have struggled with too.
How to declutter when you're overwhelmed

2 months ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

Last week’s Google Trends report indicated that search interest in “decluttering” hit a five year high in 2025, and “minimalism” was a top-trending related search. The trendcasters at Google also noted that “how to start decluttering when overwhelmed” searches rose 800% in the previous week. I was not surprised. However, I was curious about that phrase “decluttering when overwhelmed.” Were these searchers merely being overwhelmed by the clutter?
20+ No-Buy Ways to Update Your Home

2 months ago | laurafenton.substack.com | Laura Fenton

With all the talk of “no buy” challenges lately, I decided to compile a list of my favorite ways to improve a small space without buying a thing (or buying very little). Because even if you don't want to buy things this year, you may still want to make your home more beautiful and functional. Part of the secret to reducing your consumption (and changing your habits) is to find other ways to bring you that same satisfaction of a new purchase.