Mobile home decorating can be one of the most fun and creative parts of moving into a new manufactured home. Maybe you’ve got a favorite picture that you can’t wait to hang in your bedroom, or perhaps you’ve already created your ideal color scheme for every room of the house.
But mobile home decorating can also require a lot of effort and be potentially stressful for those who have limited time or resources. That’s why it’s important to break down the task of decorating your manufactured home into each of its components and be aware of the challenges that homeowners often face.
In this decorating guide from the manufactured home experts at MHVillage, we’ll talk about the essential decisions a homeowner will need to make when decorating a mobile home. By researching the top manufactured home decorating trends and advice ahead of time, you can be more prepared to tackle the challenges of mobile home decorating and master the interiors of your home.
Painting
Painting your manufactured home’s walls is an excellent way to make the space your own and set the ambiance that you’re looking for. (For more information, see our article on painting vinyl mobile home walls.) However, you’ll want to consider the function and form of your color combinations before beginning to paint.
Cool-colored paint (such as white or blue) can give a space the appearance of being larger. That’s because these colors recede from the human eye, making them handy tools for giving a room a more airy feel. The classic combination of blue wall paint and white ceilings (seen above) looks particularly pleasing and helps manufactured home ceilings (which are typically around 7 or 8 feet) feel taller and airier. Cool pastel and neutral colors are also a popular choice for beach homes, as they suggest the calming feeling that many folks love about the sea.
On the other hand, warm colors can create a cozy and intimate look for your home. Many homeowners use the classic trick of offsetting cooler wall colors with warmer notes from cabinets, accent walls or furniture. In the above example, the single brown wall in this master bedroom offsets the off-white walls around it, enlivening the look while keeping the expansive feel of the cool, neutral-colored paint. The bed and bedspread also mix warmer and neutral colors, creating a balanced look for the room. Learn how to select the right interior colors for your manufactured home.
Furniture
Choosing the right mobile home furniture is a crucial part of creating your perfect home, but it’s important to make sure it’s a good fit for your space. Tall furniture pieces, for example, tend to make low ceilings more prominent, and may even be too tall to enter the home. Thus, many manufactured homeowners choose furniture options (like the living room pieces seen above) that are relatively low to the ground.
Dining rooms can be an exception to this rule, as many manufactured homes include eat-in kitchens. One easy trick to make a dining room space seem roomier is to choose a high dining table set with bar-style chairs to free up more floor space. In the example above, a compact kitchen floor plan becomes roomier through the use of a high table that seats four while occupying a minimal footprint.
In roomier kitchens, larger options with a classic vibe (like the ones above) are also extremely popular. This dining room is a perfect example of the pastoral “country home/farmhouse” style that we’ll discuss later. The faded patterns of the wood laminate flooring create an attractively weathered look, while the charming metalwork rooster piece on the table brings a down-home feeling to the dining room. A wall hanging complements the fowl theme and brings the room together.
The dining room set itself is a bold fusion of the classic and the rustic. The rugged power of the slab wooden table offers a strong counterpoint to the classically elegant design of the chairs, which lend the room a touch of sophistication. When done well, this kind of mix-and-match aesthetic can create a powerful and unique look.
Kitchen
The kitchen is one of the areas that many homeowners put the most effort into decorating. The good news is that it doesn’t take a big renovation project to customize and accessorize your manufactured home kitchen. It can be as easy as executing a few simple visual hacks.
First, think about the elements you’re already working with. Consider the backsplash, cabinets, flooring and other elements that are already present in your kitchen. This kitchen, for example, has Shaker cabinets, a tile backsplash and a weathered flooring finish that exemplify the farmhouse style. This decor scheme uses mid-century modern elements (such as a glass-top table and scoop-shaped chairs) to provide an appealing stylistic contrast.
In the above photos, we see two separate examples of how some carefully chosen decorative pieces can bring a kitchen to life. In each case, note the selection of complementary colors for decorative pieces, the alternation of different colors, and the pieces’ strategic placement throughout the kitchen.
Bathrooms
Bathrooms are another area of a manufactured home that many homeowners choose to customize through smart decorating choices. A home’s bathrooms are a place of privacy and sanctuary, so many homeowners choose decor with an intimate presence and a peaceful look for their bathrooms.
Homeowners can often add beauty and utility to their bathrooms with a few relatively simple touches. In the above photo, a well-chosen bath mat provides just the right exotic note for the bathroom, while a small, tasteful plant offers a touch of color and life.
Here, we see wisely applied color again. The decorator uses touches of red, orange, and yellow to bring excitement and vivacity into this neutral colored bathroom. The decorative power of towel sets is especially key for bathrooms, as a towel set can provide an excellent balance of form and function.
Flooring
Flooring is one of the most important decorative elements in a manufactured home. Wood laminate is among the most popular due to its aesthetically attractive but low-maintenance design.
The wood laminate flooring in the dining room above is a beautiful example of what the patterns in wood laminate flooring can do for a room’s vibe and spirit. Here, the semi-faded look of the flooring provides just enough visual interest for the dining room, and the art chosen for the walls complements it well.
Carpet is also another popular flooring option, and it can give your home a comfortable and cozy vibe. Try to select a shade of carpet that complements the paint on your walls and the other decor of the carpeted rooms. Notice the contrasts in this room design—the matching black and white wall prints create a duality and tension, while a soothing pattern and dark blue color on the bedspread creates a deep feeling for the bed that invites you to fall right in.
Lighting
Adding pleasant lighting to your manufactured home will provide an excellent complement to your other decorative choices. First of all, don’t overlook the importance of natural light.
The furniture in this living room has been arranged in a way that emphasizes the abundant natural light that the windows provide for daily activities. Folks enjoying the comforts of the living room likely won’t have to turn on any lights during the day, and at night, there’s a tasteful table lamp that’s perfect for watching TV or reading.
This room is a great example of the benefits of adding multiple light sources to a room. In addition to overhead lighting, we can see attractive modern table lamps, a wall sconce, and natural light from the windows. It’s easy to customize the look of the lighting in this room by turning on or off one or more of the light sources, providing just the right accent and level of brightness.
Southwestern Mobile Home Decorating
Manufactured housing is popular in the Southwestern U.S., and many buyers of mobile homes in Texas, mobile homes in Arizona, and mobile homes in New Mexico seek out a distinctly Southwestern vibe in their decor.
The Southwestern decorating motif is typically associated with warm, earthy colors such as browns, oranges and some reds and yellows. As previously noted, warm colors don’t give the same airy feel that cooler colors do, so consider using a mix-and-match strategy (such as the above) to create contrasts that draw the eye toward the vertical plane.
This room is a great example of how a few decorative touches can create a “cowboy” style that’s ideal for a Southwestern manufactured home. The wooden sign complements the wood-grain wainscoting panels, while the shiplap wall creates another rustic accent that matches the wicker pieces on the coffee table and the plaid on the pillows.
Using local flora in your decorations can also be an excellent option for giving your decor some regional character. In the above example, the decorator has used a native Southwestern plant to harmonize the manufactured home’s character with the local environment.
Coastal Mobile Home Decorating
Homeowners who have mobile homes in Florida, mobile homes in South Carolina, mobile homes in California or any of several other coastal states often choose to go with a coastal motif for their mobile home decorating. Anchors, waves, seabirds, seashells, and other tokens of the sea are all popular themes in this decorating style.
The coastal look typically features soft pastel colors such as baby blues, sea greens and whites that call to mind the beauty and grandeur of the ocean. In this example, we also see the importance of light in playing up these qualities. This style is perfect for a manufactured home that gets plenty of natural light.
The natural beauty of coral and seashell shapes is another classic element of the coastal decorating style. The bedroom above features not just gorgeous coral-themed decor, but a stark, minimalistic contrast in the picture frames above the bed that makes the room look simultaneously lived-in and contemporary.
Even seemingly small touches, such as the fish vase and anchor-pattern shower curtain above, can be highly effective in creating a seafaring atmosphere. A few such accessories in each room go a long way toward a unified look for your manufactured home.
Mountain Mobile Home Decorating
Looking for a rustic ambiance in your manufactured home in the mountains? Mobile homes in California, mobile homes in Colorado, and mobile homes in North Carolina (among others) are often outfitted with a rural look.
Rustic decorating can go in several different directions. Above, you’ll see some decorative elements that exemplify the “country home” or “farmhouse” style, with spacious decorating and a pastoral theme. Country home decorating typically includes simple but timeless designs (such as the cabinet above) and wall hangings with peaceful, rural scenes (such as the gorgeous cow painting you see here).
In this example, you’ll find two more key aspects of the style: shiplap accents (seen in the shelves) and abundant greenery. Put together, these elements call to mind a weathered and verdant look, like an inviting mountainside barn, which offers an appealing contrast with the clean and modern look of the room above. Such rustic touches work even better in homes that feature exposed wood beam ceilings such as the above example.
Sliding barn doors are another popular element of this bucolic style of decoration. A sliding barn door can be used in a wide variety of contexts–from the door to a master bathroom to a protective covering for a TV. The addition of a digital fireplace also makes the room more cozy and homey—just the atmosphere that many homeowners want in a manufactured home with country-style decor.
Mountain-style ambiance can also be a great look for your bathroom. In this example, a single shiplap wall, soaker tub, and hanging lantern-style vases combine for an almost mystical ambiance that immerses the occupant in the glory of the natural world.
Looking for more tips on mobile home maintenance and improvement, or more inspiration for decorating your manufactured home? See more from our section about living in a mobile home, where you’ll find romantic decoration ideas, examples of modern style mobile homes, tips for staging your mobile home to sell and much more.
