Mobile homes have many great advantages. If living within your means or becoming completely debt-free is your goal, an older mobile home should be on the top of your potential housing list. Buying an older mobile home, then building onto it and updating it as your budget allows, is a great way to have a wonderful home at an affordable price.
If you already live in a mobile home, your possibilities are endless! The hardest decision will be where to start. Below are 14 great mobile home exterior makeover ideas to give your home a fresh new look. You certainly don’t have to spend a lot of money to make a big impact so there’s an idea for every budget.
Mobile homes are just like any home when it comes to updating and remodeling. There’s very little difference, if any at all, between a factory-built home and a site-built home, you can read about the top 4 differences here. Basic home updates can make your mobile home look brand new!
14 Great Mobile Home Exterior Makeover Ideas for Every Budget
1. Paint
Paint is every homeowner’s best friend for a reason – nothing else can update a home as quickly and cheaply as paint.
You could paint your home and skirting one solid color and use a second color for trim like the home below. It grounds the home to the land and puts the focus on the upper part of the home, making it seem taller.
2. Install Awnings
Awnings are very popular in the south for good reason – it shades the home and keeps it cooler. There’s also additional privacy and protection from high winds if the awnings are hinged and can completely cover the windows.
3. New Trim Around the Doors and Windows
New trim can give your mobile home a whole new look, especially if you use a contrasting color like the home below. Adding new trim around an older window can help reduce water and air leaks too.
4. Install New Skirting
New skirting can instantly freshen up a mobile home exterior. You don’t have to use the standard vinyl skirting, you can use practically any material you want as long as it can stand up to wind and water.
You can read more about skirting options in Mobile Home Living’s Skirting Guide here.
5. Install New Windows and Doors
If you can only do one update to your older mobile home we recommend new windows and doors. While you’re doing that you should add new insulation in as much of the home as possible. You will instantly update the look of your home for both the interior and exterior and save money on your heating and cooling costs.
6. Install a Bay Window
Bay windows have an uncanny ability to make a room seem larger so they’re great for any room, especially a room on the end of the mobile home.
7. Install Wooden Interior Shades
Wooden louvered shades can add a touch of elegance to your home as well as add privacy and shade.
8. Install a Raised Roof
If your older mobile home needs a new roof consider adding some height. Air circulation is an added benefit of a raised roof. You can build a raised roof directly over the home’s original roof.
9. Add a Porch
Having a porch on your home is as American as apple pie and having extended outdoor living space is always a plus. Just a small porch can add a lot of joy!
Related: See 45 Great Manufactured Home Porch Designs
10. Add Flower Beds
Flowers can add so much beauty to your home for a relatively small cost. You can use bricks, cinder blocks, landscaping timbers, or anything that will hold soil and resist water.Use varying height and colors to add an extra visual element.
You can read more about great landscaping ideas for a mobile home here and here with Landscaping Inspiration for Your Mobile Home
11. Install Shutters
Shutters are a great addition to your home, especially if they are working shutters. We recently wrote about the advantages of shutters for storm safety, you can read it here.
12. Install New Siding
Siding is an expensive mobile home exterior update but it can completely change the look of the home and help with heating and cooling costs.
Related: The Homeowner’s Guide to Mobile Home Siding
13. Install a Carport
Having a carport installed is another fairly expensive mobile home exterior update but the convenience makes it well worth it. Having a covered outdoor space is great and the covered parking isn’t too shabby either.
14. Consider Adding Varied Angles to Your Mobile Home
One of the main differences between a factory-built home and a site-built home is the limited shape that a mobile home can have. A manufactured home is typically limited to rectangular shapes so if you can add some additional dimension the home will have a more visually appealing appearance. The homes above and below are both great examples of using additional angles and dimension.
You can get plenty more ideas and inspiration for a mobile home exterior makeover from all these great photos found on Flickr. All of these beautiful mobile homes are in a Huntington Beach, CA mobile home park.
The home below does a great job of incorporating an older home into a beautiful, modern dwelling.
As always, thank you for reading Mobile and Manufactured Home Living!
These homes are so beautiful. Mobile homes are all so different, especially the older ones. Loved the photos.
I love this publication…Thank you for your good work.
I have a 1969 mobil home that I have been working on for 5 years and it looks almost wonderful. The first thing I did was paint. I t.s.p’d the whole thing first, then painted it white primer, giving a clean slate and allowing my imagination free.
would love to see the inside of these homes.
Want to buy a bay window for my kitchen window but don’t know where to get it
Hi Shirl,
You can but a bay window from Lowe’s, Home Depot, or your local window supply (window world is a popular one in WV). Just measure your opening and order it. Make sure you have the proper framing needed to hold the additional weight of the window and you should be good to go. Best of luck!
We want to paint the trim on an older mobile home, especially the top trim. The rest of the paint on the home is in great shape but the trim has faded. We have been told to use high quality paint and to be sure to clean it good prior to painting. Do you have any suggestions or tips for us?
Whether you are speaking about interior or exterior trim the best advice I can give is to clean the surface. The trick to good adhesion is to have a smooth clean surface for the paint to stick to.
Best of luck!
Just completed a new metal roof over on my single wide. Luv the green roof and am now painting the suding a black green so it looks more like a large cabin. The home sits on a wooded acre i just love it..
I bet its gorgeous! Would love to see photos!
I love this! I have always said that mobile homes are a feasible home for single moms raising kids and low maintenance.. My Mom re-did two mobile homes in the 80’s when we were kids – too bad blogging wasn’t a thing back then… LOL Awesome site!
Hi Becky! Thanks so much!
Hello, just reading your post. We have a 85 Oakwood that we have taken good care of on the inside; however we need some updates on the outside. My husband & I are both retired and he just come through chemo. However, we had someone give us a bid for adding a house type roof and the amount he quoted would be a down payment on a house! My husband is not able to do anything now. So my question is can an awning-top be added over the complete mobile home for much less? Where do we go to find someone that could do it? I’m not sure where to begin looking.
Thanks. I enjoyed the pictures of all the updated mobile homes.
Hi Dee!
You may want to look into a metal roof. They are much more affordable and can be installed directly over your roof so it costs much less. You can also frame it in just about any form you want (pitch or lean-to shape). A typical install only takes a couple of days too.
Google your location along with the words metal roofing install (so for me it would be “southern WV metal roof install”) and that should get you a good list to start with.
Best of luck to you! Glad your husband is out of chemo and thanks so much for reading MHL!!
Love your page!! We’re fixing to redo our living room and I was wanting to redo our front door without buying a new door, any ideas? Thanks so much
Hi Kristi! I’ve always loved the idea of adding trim onto a door to give it some dimension. Here’s an article about it for an interior door but you can do the same for an exterior (just seal it).
Thanks so much for reading MHL!
My husband and I are looking for a used home on its own lot. We don’t want to pay lot rent, can you let me know what parks are around Bradenton, Florida
And I think it would be great for a remodel of Mobile homes Magazine.
Hi Debbie! Typically parks in FL are either rent or lease only though some of the 55+ parks sell have an option to buy the land along with the home. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of resources to find things that a mobile or manufactured homeowner made need, like contractors or plumbers willing to work on our homes or parks in a certain area. I did just find one website that looks new but seems to have a lot of potential, it’s called Mobile Home Service at https://www.mobilehomeservice.com/.
I Google searched mobile home parks in Bradenton, FL that sells the land and here’s the results. I’d click on each one and see what you can find: https://www.google.com/search?q=Bradenton+FL+mobile+home+parks+that+sell+the+land&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS589US589&oq=Bradenton+FL+mobile+home+parks+that+sell+the+land&aqs=chrome..69i57.9444j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=0&ie=UTF-8
Thanks so much for reading MMHL!
I love that you actually have answered this person’s question Crystal. So many bloggers just say “look it up yourself” but you took the time to help this person. You have a good heart.
Thanks JudyMae!
I appreciate the compliment! I may take a few days to get to them but I do my best to answer everyone. I appreciate you reading (and commenting!).
Thank you!
We are buying an older mobile in the fall. Very anxious to make it our own and comfy! Ours will be a single wide more of a challenge. Winter in mobile, RV in the summer.
Hi Annette! That sounds awesome! I’d love to live like that!
nice ideas! keep them coming
I have done some door updates on two double wides made in the 90’s.
One purchased at auction is gutted and now I can rebuild the interior space to
my taste. Basically a good structure except plumbing pipes were at the time of manufacture the grey type which now leak and have to be replaced. Other house has white pipes and is slighter newer.
Great to hear from you Pam! Please take lots of photos so we can feature your new home when you get finished!
Nice ideas.