making a mobile home a HOME

I lived in a Mobile home for about 10 years. I remember it was left for 2 years and we bought it from the bank. We painted put in lino and cleaned the carpets. We had a very small budget, but when it allowed we put in new tile in the kitchen and bath. We did paint the paneling and actually pained the ceiling too. You can add curtains, mini blinds, shutters. In truth you can do everything you can do to a house, except on the outside you sometimes have to get permission from the park, to do major changes. I went and planted in from and in back in nice pots just to make it look nice and made it a little patio and sitting area.

I spent a few minute looking at your picture so hopefully I can remember enough to give you some ideas. I don't know what your budget is so I'll just go with the low cost ones I've used myself for trailers. Paint the walls, yes even the fake wood paneling. A solid, bright or light color will look more modern and give the illusion of more space. I would recommend a color on the kitchen walls and white on the cabinets. Depending on the colors you'll end up with a French-country or cottage feel. The one I'm doing is going to use lavender and hints of light blue, green and yellow. It will make the trailer feel light and airy without seeming out of place for the small area. I can't tell what condition your floors are in but if it's in the budget I'd put a wood look flooring through out the large connecting rooms (I'm assuming yours is like most with the kitchen and living room together). Even the cheaper wood look vinyl tiles will give it a more "house like" feel. I'm buying mine from Kmart for $9.99 per 30 square feet. Also if you can replace the counter tops with "real house" ones or cover them in tile it will give a really nice look (trailer counter tops tend to look "cheap"). Then there are tricks you can do with curtains to make the windows look bigger like hanging the curtains high than the window so the bottom of the valance just comes down over the top of the windows. Typical trailer doors look pretty "cheap" too. If you can afford to replace them it would make a huge difference. If not you can always paint them and add trim moldings to make them faux paneled doors. I haven't come up with any "for sure" solutions for ceilings since you can't really lower them much and I wouldn't trust plaster in a trailer since they do tend to shake and move a little in wind storms. That's everything I can think of for now. If you have any specific questions about other rooms or anything I missed, feel free to ask. I just started my second "trailer overhaul" and I have more ideas than my trailer is big enough for!

Myn parents live in a mobile home and it doesn't look like one inside. They used wall paper, and hung pictures and new curtains so it looks more like a house than a factory produced rectangle. Their furniture is the same furniture they used in their 4 bedroom house that they downsized from. I think the important thing is to treat it like a bungalow, not a trailer

Wow I guess I would never be able to liev in the trailer. It is just too small. I love high selings. But I understand that sometimes we just don't have choise. I would bring flowers everyday and put them next to window to make it lokk as home even from oputside. good luck!

Okay, a long,long time ago my grandparents bought a trailer as their first home. Over the years they've made it into a house...by my standards anyhow. They are not wealthy by any means but step by step they've made great improvement! They added porches and decks, replaced carpeting and added hardwood floors (floating floors). They added new countertops and cabinetry as well as windows and doors. Landscapng and gardens have made a huge difference in the outside appearance. Addind several large flowering bushes around the perimeter also helped. I'm not sure if these were the types of suggestions you were looking for but I hope they help in some way!

I would suggest to have them re-paint and make the new design as cool as want to be.t is your trailer anyway, and you have all right of choosing the best design it should be.