Mobile Home Interior Door Makeover

One of the biggest complaints of mobile homeowners is the laminated interior doors and cabinets found in a majority of homes. They are typically made of some kind of laminated fake ‘wood’ product with a shiny finish that can be bought for $59 at most mobile home parts stores. Yes, they are cheap but they have a lot of potential!

Minor details can make all the difference in a home. It’s amazing how much of a difference a little ingenuity can give your whole home. Here’s one creative homeowner’s idea for a mobile home interior door makeover. You’ll be amazed at the difference!

An Imgur user, cmcase, shared their step-by-step process for updating a standard interior door of her double wide. It’s a great way to give a door a whole new look at an affordable price!

Mobile Home Interior Door Makeover

Step 1: Clean, Clean, Clean

As with any painting project, the first step is to clean the entire area so that the paint and adhesive will bond tightly to the surface.  Some suggest cleaning laminated surfaces such as interior doors with a Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) solution but you can use anything as long it cuts grease and oil.

Step 2: Attach Paintable Wallpaper 

Attach 2 equal-sized rectangles of a heavy-duty paintable wallpaper. The homeowner used Allen + Roth White Strippable Non-Woven Prepasted Paintable Wallpaper.

Of course, you can get creative and make the wallpaper any size you want but it should be square or rectangle so that the next step will be easy.

The homeowner used 17 1/4″ x 34 3/4″ sized panels with 3 1/4″ around each panel but keep in mind that wallpaper has a tendency to shrink a bit once it dries completely. She goes on to explain how she installed the wallpaper:

The wallpaper I used was pre-pasted, so I put it in the bathtub with a bit of water for 30 seconds, took it out, concertina folded it (fold the ends in paste side to paste side) and let it sit for 5 minutes (per the directions on the packaging). Then I unfolded the wallpaper, lined it up with my marks on the door, and smoothed it out. I used a plastic wallpaper smoother tool that I bought at Lowes to make sure all of the air bubbles were out, and I left it to dry for a few hours.

Step 3: Add Trim Around the Wallpaper

You can use any type of trim you want! The homeowner used a half inch wide trim that came in 8-foot lengths and cut them at the same sized lengths of the wallpaper using a 45-degree angle on each end.  Sand the wood to a smooth finish then use a brad nailer with 3/4″ brads to tack the trim into place (or just a handy hammer but its hard to hammer into these doors because they aren’t solid, so keep that in mind).

Once the trim is up, use wood filler to cover the nail holes and smooth out any cracks.

Step 4: Paint

Use sandpaper to smooth down any dried wood filler first and then paint the door, trim, and wallpaper in any color you want.  White is great for the popular cottage look. Primer plus paint is always a favorite for those of us that have painted mobile home interior doors and cabinets because it covers well and lasts a while.

You can complete the interior mobile home door makeover by painting the hinges with a metal spray paint and adding a wider trim around the entire door. In all, you will have spent less than $30 (if you use leftover paint) to give your room a completely new look!

Please keep in mind that its details like the laminated mobile home interior door that make manufactured homes so affordable. Buying an affordable home and updating the minor issues is a great way to have the home of your dreams without drowning in debt. Plus, you’re adding your own touches and style to a home and enjoying the fruits of your labor is a great feeling. Have fun!

Related:  Using Duct Tape to Update Your Mobile Home Closet.

As always, thank you for reading Mobile Home Living!