Chris Curcuru and Ron Kvale have created a manufactured home interior design masterpiece with a 1988 Skyline double wide!
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Chris and Ron have been in real estate for over 26 years. Chris started out as an agent and quickly developed a talent for staging homes. A well staged home will sell faster and at a higher price. A decade ago, they united and formed Color Me Sold Staging, now one of the largest home staging companies in Los Angeles.
Check out Color Me Sold’s amazing decor on their Facebook page here!
The couple wanted a place to unwind and recharge on the weekends so they set out to find a vacation home near the beach.
They chose the 1988 Skyline double wide because of the great location and price. The home sits in a popular beach side community in Carpinteria, California. The double wide was 100% factory original when they purchased it in July 2015.
The 1988 Skyline Double Wide Before the Remodel:
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After only 6 months, Chris and Ron completely transformed their manufactured home. It’s an amazing example of the potential in manufactured home interior design.
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Ron and Chris focused their attention on the shell of the home first.
Factory-built homes have limited ceiling height due to transporting restrictions. Most 1988 model manufactured homes offered only eight foot side walls often paired with cathedral ceilings in the living, dining and kitchen areas.
Look past the stigma and concentrate on the “bones” of the home.
The couple remedied the lower ceilings and enclosed layout by removing the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. The single wall opened up the living and dining areas as well as the kitchen.
Once the ceiling was raised and the island was installed the couple updated the surfaces of the kitchen. They opted to break from the traditional materials used in manufactured homes and used real Italia Carrera marble counter tops and subway tile for the back splash.
Just to give you an idea of the immense transformation, here is what the kitchen looked like when Chris and Ron first bought the home:
The dining area:
Living Room
They also stripped the paneled fireplace and resurfaced it in stacked stone.
The fireplace and living room before the amazing manufactured home remodel:
Master Bedroom
The master bedroom before:
Master Bathroom
The master bathroom is an impressive space, especially if you see the before and after photos together. Here is what the room looked like before:
and after:
They used an over-sized tile in the master shower to pump up the sophistication level (OXO LINE BLANCO PV 12″X35″).
Guest Bedroom
The headboard made of colorful oars is awesome!
The guest bedroom before:
Guest Bathroom
The guest bathroom is perfect!
The guest bathroom before:
As long as you have the vision, you can create a multi-million dollar look!
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We can learn a lot from interior design and staging professionals like Chris and Ron. When professional designers tackle a manufactured home interior design project we need to pay special attention.
Chris and Ron focused their efforts on creating an open floor plan that was light and airy. We asked Chris what his favorite home decor and design tips were and he answered, “Keep your home light and bright. Do not paint your walls dark colors. Have as many windows as possible.”
Light and Bright
Chris’s first tip for manufactured home interior design is to keep your home light and bright. Sunlight paired with light neutral wall colors are a perfect marriage in just about any space. The pairing is a well-known design application and works perfectly in manufactured home interior design projects to make the home feel larger.
Be Careful When Choosing Dark Colors in Small Spaces
When choosing a wall color be attentive to the way light interacts with it. Make sure to test it out throughout the day so that you can see how the sunlight affects the color. Dark colors tend to absorb light and that can make a small space seem even smaller.
Related: Choosing Colors for a Small Room
Windows for the Win!
Chris’s last manufactured home interior design tip evolves around light. Windows can absolutely change a space. Installing a window adds an ever-changing visual element that baths a room in sunlight.
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The new deck is one of Chris’s favorite areas of the home.
When we asked Chris what his favorite DIY project he said it was the outdoor surfboard shower, “Living so close to the beach with two beautiful fluffy dogs, the shower really comes in handy to rinse off the sand.”
Manufactured home remodels are rarely featured in main stream media so it’s important that we document these beautiful transformations. A huge thank you to Chris and Ron for letting us see this amazing manufactured home remodel!
Thank you for reading Mobile and Manufactured Home Living!
Photographer: Thom Hartwick / Hartwick Home Imaging / (818) 720-0866
Oh my gosh! What a fabulous makeover! I am so very happy to have found your site. I was looking at pictures of the Tradewinds model and clicked on another photo I saw in Google images and it bought me right to you! (Thank you Google) I have been considering buying a mobile home well two actually because I wanted to put them together to make one large home. These remodels give me hope! Honestly I never considered buying a used mobile home but now, well I have seen some really nice older models that are just begging to be redone.
Thank you so much Crystal for starting this, it is going to be such a great help. I consider mobile home living a smart choice. Mortgage free living I’m coming for you!
Glad you found us, Raedell (love the name!),
There’s a lot of great benefits to buying an older mobile home and remodeling it. Just make sure you have a home with good bones. Look forward to hearing from you again!
Do you have any information about the floors?
Hi Carolyn,
I do not. I’m sorry!
What did they do with the batten walls? What did they use to where they gaps used to be?
Thanks
Hi Jan,
The following article will help you! You can remove the battens and either use caulk or drywall mud to fill them in. It’s not a quick and easy project but it is possible! Here ya go: https://mobilehomeliving.org/how-to-update-vinyl-coated-drywall-in-mobile-homes/
What was the budget on this remodel
If I had to guess I’d say at least $75,000 but I’m just guessing.
In Cali, I’m sure it was at least that much! LOL
Beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing!
How would you begin to make the ceiling higher?
Hi Marty,
This was likely a very labor intensive project. Load bearing walls appear to have been modified with a central beam modification. An engineer and architect was probably there while it was being done to ensure the homes structural integrity stayed intact.
Thanks so much for reading MHL!
The beginning of the article says: “Factory-built homes have limited ceiling height due to transporting restrictions. Most 1988 model manufactured homes offered only eight foot side walls often paired with cathedral ceilings in the living, dining and kitchen areas.
The couple remedied the lower ceilings and enclosed layout by removing the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room. The single wall opened up the living and dining areas as well as the kitchen.” I have a ’98 Fleetwood with what I call pitched ceilings which look very similar to theirs. On newer model MH’s there are no load bearing walls. Not sure if ’88 is considered newer. Essentially they are two single wides smooshed together.
Absolutely stunning home! Wish I could wiggle my nose and mine would look almost the same. I think I would need a pop of colour on a wall or two, but other than that, it’s perfect. I understand the light thing for sure, it does make a difference, the space definitely looks bigger, but I love colour too. :) Thank you for sharing this one for sure!
What a beautiful remodel!
Beautiful! Taking out the walls made the difference!