I have no words for this one! (I just meant that figuratively, of course, I have plenty to say!) This is the reason I started Mobile Home Living, to find and share beautiful mobile homes like this amazing mobile home.This single wide mobile home is worthy of any magazine cover.
The talented owner of this beautiful home is Kristy and live in Vancouver. Creativity is in her blood, she owns a successful furniture refurbishing business where she turns older furniture into pieces of art. Her photography is pretty awesome, too. Her blog “4 the love of WOOD” is a wonderful combination of all three.
A Look Inside This Amazing Mobile Home
Bedroom made for dreaming.
This is what the bedroom look liked in 2008 and 2010. What a talent she has!
Before and after painting the bedroom.
Even her closet is gorgeous!
Before and after of the foyer.
A sitting area in a high-priced hotel? NO, it’s a mobile home!
Paula Dean would LOVE cooking in this kitchen.
The corner of the kitchen.
It’s just the smallest changes and minor details that can make the biggest difference.
The dressing room fit for a queen!
Everything you see above is in this mobile home below:
It’s a great example of not judging a book by its cover.
Anything is possible and a little imagination, creativity, and hard work can turn a simple mobile home into a castle.
The back patio is certainly Martha Stewart approved as well:
As always, thanks so much for reading Mobile Home Living. Please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Pinterest and do all the other things you do when you like a blog.
Please check out Kristy’s blog and if you are near Vancouver you’re definitely going to want to buy some of her magnificent pieces of art! They are so beautiful and very reasonably priced, I wish I lived closer!
This romantic shabby chic mobile home is worthy of a chapter in Rachel Ashwell’s next shabby chic decorating book. Rita, today’s featured homeowner, has mastered the shabby chic style that made the interior designer famous.
Rachel Ashwell started her home furnishings brand ‘Shabby Chic’ in 1989 and home decor hasn’t been the same since. She may have not invented the style but Ashwell certainly helped make shabby chic one of the most popular home decorating styles in modern history.
The famous designer describes her style as a “rebellion against perfection.” Mobile home owners definitely know a bit about rebellion so perhaps shabby chic is the most fitting decorating style for us.
Comfort, imperfection, and simple living are the cornerstones of shabby chic decor. It’s as much about rebellion as it is romance. Shabby chic is perfect in its imperfection. It embraces the very things most people want out of their homes: damaged, scratched, dented, and old.
Shabby chic is a mixture of soft natural fabrics and neutral colors paired with weathered and mismatched furniture pieces. Add floral, lace, and ruffles and you get a romantic shabby chic decor style that can be as easy on the eyes as it is the wallet.
Rita Lavoe (@ritalavoe) shares her beautifully romantic shabby chic mobile home with her followers on Instagram.
The light pastel colors work perfectly for a small home.
The Road to Her Romantic Shabby Chic Mobile Home
Rita’s road to this romantic shabby single wide was a long one. She is originally from Brazil and first came to the US in 2007. Soon after, she and her husband had a son.
As life sometimes does the couple hit a rough patch, with a move to Puerto Rico and then a short stay in Brazil before finally moving back to the states where they stumbled upon an inexpensive single wide in California.
Rita Lavoe lives in Corona, CA with her husband and their 9-year old son. There’s a cute little puppy in the family, too. She is originally from Brazil but her husband is an American. After a few years in Puerto Rico and Brazil, the little family needed to find a place to live in Corona but that’s easier said than done. Unfortunately, California has been suffering a serious housing shortage and as a result, the real estate market is vicious.
The family wasn’t able to find a home within their budget within their timeframe. They could rent or they could buy a small single wide mobile home. The little single wide was damaged but fixable and had potential. They paid cash for it but that left little money for remodeling so they had to choose their projects wisely.
Given the affordable cost of the home, the couple’s new single wide needed to be updated. Rita could work with the small size but the dark drab interior had to go.
Fortunately, a pillar of the decorating style is that the home doesn’t matter, only its contents.
The house itself is of little importance than its contents and how those contents reflect the life within.
Rachel Ashwell, Shabby Chic
$1,500 Remodeling Budget
Although a challenge, finding beautiful and original pieces to create her romantic shabby chic look was well worth it. You can always buy shabby chic decor at a retail store but what’s the fun in that? Getting the real deal imperfections at flea markets, second-hand stores, and Goodwill is more fun and much more affordable.
With a budget of less than $1,500, Rita and her husband decided to change the layout of the home. For starters, they removed a wall to expand the small bedroom a bit. Then, they replaced the carpet with an affordable linoleum and added a french door to let light flow through the home better. To complete the canvas, they painted every wall and ceiling white.
Once the paint dried Rita could start creating that gorgeous romantic shabby chic bedroom she had dreamed of since she was a little girl in Brazil.
Rita explains, “When I came in here, I decided that such an insignificant space was going to be transformed into a cozy place. My family deserved this of me. Then I had the challenge of decorating a romantic shabby chic mobile home, with no money for it. I started attending flea markets, Salvation Army, Goodwill, garage sales.”
Their little romantic shabby chic mobile home was completely decorated with second-hand objects.
Gorgeous Romantic Shabby Chic Mobile Home Bedroom
Rita tells us that while growing up in Brazil she dreamed of having a romantic shabby chic bedroom. She was always pulled toward the fresh florals prints and cozy bedding, “When I spent my childhood in Brazil, I always liked to decorate my room and I always had a dream of having a beautiful bed with floral bedding. Today my favorite environment is my bedroom.”
“I love my house because it is a creation totally mine. Even with no money, this house has taken a very beautiful course and everyone says that there is great harmony here.”
Rita
Rita is such a fan of Rachel Ashwell and Simply Shabby Chic that she collects anything she can find from the designer.
I asked Rita if she had any favorite products she could recommend and she had two favorites, “I have some favorite products that I always make a point of buying and I never regret it. Bedding, curtains, and pillows brand I like are Simply Shabby Chic and Rachel Ashwell. I also attend Flea Markets and Thrift Stores.’
Target sells the Simply Shabby Chic bedding. This blue set is $80.99:
Click the bed to go to Target.com (affiliate link).
Couldn’t Leave out the Comfy Puppy!
Real Homes. Real People. Real Budgets. Real Beauty.
This is real life and as I mentioned in my recent article, Editorial: When to Buy a Mobile Home, things aren’t always easy. We all struggle with something.
Rita and her husband paid a fair price for the older mobile home because it had not been maintained very well. Unfortunately, they have suffered the consequences of poor maintenance.
Soon after they moved in and had spent their meager remodeling budget they experienced a short and lost power in 80% of the house. It took them almost 4 months before they could hire an electrician.
This shabby yet elegant look is ‘”a marriage between the laid-back , breezy easy of Los Angeles beach life and the romantic prettiness of English Country life at its most casual.”
Rachel Ashwell
A Beautiful Home and Attitude
Unfortunately, Rita has experienced her fair share of judgment and rudeness about her home. Even though she may be considered ‘poor’ to some, she is rich in many things. This is just the first home in her new country and she’s made this first step absolutely beautiful – I can only imagine how gorgeous the next step will be.
Rita also offers some thoughts on her romantic shabby chic mobile home, “Sometimes I think if I had money would I live in a house? Yes, I would, but also living in a mobile home and accepting our difficulties have made me appreciate what we have every day. Now our mobile home shines like gold because that’s how much it’s worth to me.
While they will need to figure out a better bedroom situation for her son, Rita is very happy living her simple life.
Rita says it doesn’t matter if they don’t have a big house. For now, this little romantic shabby chic mobile home has impressed them very much. It’s not what she first thought a mobile home would be like and she enjoys her mobile home very much. It’s a simple home and its age lends to a truly authentic shabby chic decor that she always dreamed of.
Rita’s Instagram is absolutely gorgeous which is how I found her. I didn’t realize it was a mobile home until I started reading the hashtags.
The family has worked hard for a dignified place to call home and it is beautiful. Thank you, Rita, for letting me share your romantic shabby chic mobile home and your story. You are an inspiration!
Jeff and Felicia French are no strangers to remodeling. As owners of a construction company in Southeast Louisiana, they’ve done many home improvements for others but this was the first time they’d conquered their own mobile home renovation.
Their experience shows in this mobile home renovation. Every room in the French’s 1997 Buccaneer single wide is gorgeous!
The handy couple bought the single wide in July and quickly got to work. The first step in the French’s mobile home renovation was to paint the walls in Sea Salt from Sherwin Williams.
Felicia and Jeff created their gorgeous French cottage mobile home without spending a fortune.
It’s so cozy and so inviting!
Fabulous French Country Cottage Decor.
Secondhand finds and smart buys have helped the French’s create this fabulous French Cottage style home.
Felicia told us that one of her favorite rooms is the living room and it’s easy to see why.
The brand new slipcovered sofa was found on Facebook’s marketplace. Most of Felicia’s decor items come from places like Hobby Lobby, Target, and T.J. Maxx.
Cozy French Cottage Comfort!
Fabulous French Cottage: $1500 Mobile Home Kitchen Renovation
Felicia saved a ton of money by shopping for home improvement items on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. The kitchen backsplash was purchased from the Facebook marketplace. She found 300 pieces of subway tile for $50.
The before and after shows just how many changes the French’s made in the kitchen. Remarkably, this total mobile home kitchen remodel cost just $1500. To put that in perspective, the average kitchen remodel in the US is $22, 885 (per HomeAdvisor.com)! Mobile Home Improvement Projects You Can Do Yourself
The French’S $1500 Kitchen Remodel Is Remarkable!
This looks like a $15,000 remodel, not a $1,500 one.
Here’s the before and after images of the French’s $1500 kitchen remodel:
The Top Half Is The Mobile Home Kitchen Before French’S Remodel. The Bottom Is After.
They gutted the lower cabinetry in the kitchen and installed new pre-made cabinetry and hardware from Home Depot.
They also replaced the countertops with a solid surface prefabbed laminate. New appliances and a custom island complete the mobile home kitchen remodel.
The couple saved money during the mobile home renovation in a couple different ways. Buying home improvement products from big box stores is often cheaper than buying mobile home specific products. Buying bathtubs and faucets from Lowe’s or Home Depot often require retrofitting.
Another challenge during the couple’s remodel was with the plumbing under the kitchen sink and the two vanities in the bathroom. They were used to plumbing in site-built homes where pipes are tucked into the walls and not just up through the floors like a mobile home.
$550 Total Mobile Home Bathroom Remodel
The master bathroom got its own affordable transformation. They ripped out both vanities and replaced them with vanities from Home Depot.
It’s amazing what paint and new vanity can do for a bathroom.
The Left Side Is The Bathroom Before, The Right Side After The Remodel.
Paint, new cabinets, and the right decor freshened up the bathroom without costing too much.
Before And After Images Of The $500 Mobile Home Bathroom Remodel.
They also installed barn doors to close off the master bathroom from the bedroom. When we asked Felicia what her proudest DIY moment was she had a hard time choosing but ultimately chose the barn door project in her master suite. It lends perfectly to the modern farmhouse style that she has mastered so well in this single wide.
Felicia’S Favorite Diy Project Is The Barn Doors In The Master Suite.
The barn doors separate the bathroom from this cozy bedroom.
Cozy French Cottage Bedroom In A Single Wide Mobile Home. I’D Never Want To Leave!
Stylish Second Bedroom
The second bedroom is just as cozy and stylish as the rest of the home.
Felicia’s Interview with Mobile Home Living
We like to ask all our featured homeowners a few questions about their experiences buying, living in, and remodeling a mobile home. Felicia kindly answered every question.
Her first tip is to ensure the mobile home is as level as possible before you begin your own mobile home remodel. Even with a water level, you’ll likely encounter issues where the home may not be completely square.
She stresses the importance of taking your time and being patient with the mobile home renovation process.
We asked the French’s if they had any advice for people considering buying a mobile home. She warns those that aren’t familiar with mobile homes to keep an open mind and not underestimate the possibilities, you can create a gorgeous home from any house.
Louisiana Heat
Living in a mobile home is different from living in a site-built home and it can take a little getting used too. Every issue has a fix though.
Of course, the couple has several more home improvement projects planned. It hasn’t been all fun and games for this creative couple. Living in a mobile home has proved particularly challenging in the Lousiana summer. It gets quite hot! To combat the heat they have several plans but for now, they’ve installed bamboo roll shades and light filtering drapes over the windows. A portable air unit runs for the hottest part of the house.
Reflecting on her Instagram photo, Felicia writes, “I was on the phone with a friend and we started talking about homes and places that we have lived and I told her that we had moved out of our brick home and bought some land and a mobile home…We got to talking about how it doesn’t matter where you lay your head at night as long as you wake up in the morning feeling at peace. That was the jest of our conversation, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a brick home, apartment, or mobile home. It’s what you make of it. It’s the love that fills the four walls that matters.”
We couldn’t agree more!
Felicia shares her home on her gorgeous Instagram account which is how we found her. I’m sure she was a bit suspicious when I messaged her asking if I could feature her home on Mobile Home Living. I’m so glad she decided to reply! Thank you, Felicia! You have a gorgeous home that proves we can live stylishly in a more affordable home.
As always, thank you for reading for reading Mobile Home Living!
