Painting the interior of a home is one of the biggest home improvement projects that can be done practically year-round, and the same holds true for manufactured homes. For many, however, it can be tough to figure out where to even start with painting a manufactured home.
If you’re planning ahead for your next big painting project, here are 12 painting ideas for manufactured homes that will spark some creativity:
Find your theme
Any color can spark an emotional response, or otherwise hold a connection to some kind of feeling. When painting your mobile home, consider finding a theme when painting a room, two rooms, or even your entire house. Do you want to paint your mobile home with different shades of green on the inside, or make each room a different color based on what that room means to you?
Don’t be afraid to project yourself onto a painting project and find different ways to connect rooms by their color.
Go for an accent wall
You don’t have to paint all four walls of a room the same color. An increasingly popular trend is dedicating one wall in a room to an “accent color,” which serves to complement the color of the rest of the room. For example, you could paint a living room a light green, but have a darker green serve as your accent wall. These are a great way to add flair to the interior of your manufactured home.
Find seasonal inspiration for your colors
The time of year can have an impact on how you decide to paint your home. If you’re painting in the winter, for example, you may want to lean more warmer, or more neutral colors for your mobile home painting project. In the summertime, you may find yellows, greens, and pinks calling to you more. For example, you could use 2022’s Color of the Year, Very Peri, for a calming springtime shade.
No matter your mood during any season of the year, paint to it if you so desire! Paint to what your mood says you should paint towards. And if you decide to re-paint down the line – no problem!
Have fun with lines and patterns
There are many tutorials and how-to videos online for using painters tape to apply lines and patterns to paint over. If you’re going to paint your manufactured home and want to add some extra flair, this is a great way to go. You can use painters tape to apply straight lines, or purchase pre-cut patterns to use before you paint.
Paint both the exterior and interior
Some manufactured homeowners may choose to paint the exterior of their home. Depending on whether you’re able to (some manufactured home communities may have rules that regulate painting the outside of a manufactured home), it may be worth exploring painting both the exterior and the interior of your manufactured home at the same time.
There are some things to keep in mind if you go this route. For one, you won’t be able to use the same paint – exterior paint is graded differently for use so it can stand up to weather conditions, unlike interior paint. The painting process itself will likely also differ quite a bit, depending on the type or brand of paint you use and how you go about applying it.
Paint for the nighttime
When painting your manufactured home, you may use swatches to decide which color you’d like to use to paint. Don’t forget to do this process during the nighttime, too, so that you have an idea of what certain colors might look like when the sun is down. Who knows – you may even find a color you like more at night!
Take advantage of dividing walls
If your manufactured home has a dividing wall, you have even more opportunity to get zany with painting. Want to paint the dividing wall a different color from the rest of the room that it’s in? You can do that. Or maybe you want to paint a dividing wall in a room that has a painted pattern, like we talked about earlier – no problem! You can either paint it without that pattern, replicate the pattern, or give it a new pattern altogether.
Ceiling? Why not?
It’s not quite as hard to paint a ceiling as you might think. In your manufactured home, consider whether a room might benefit from having a painted ceiling. This could include a baby’s bedroom, or a home office.
There are a few tips to keep in mind when painting the ceiling in your manufactured home. For one, you should use paint specifically designated for ceiling use, as well as a stain-blocking primer if your home had previous water damage that left stains on your ceiling.
Paint for your mood
Are you painting an office or a studio? If so, don’t be afraid to treat those rooms in your manufactured home with some creativity. Find a color for your home office, such as a blue or a green, that inspires productivity and creativity. And if you have an art studio inside a spare bedroom, make your walls just as artful with a splash of colors or perhaps even a mural.
Get your kids involved
Painting your mobile home, both the exterior and interior, can be a great project for the kids to get involved in. While your kids can take a paint roller to the walls, you can fill in corners and apply painters tape, making a paint job more efficient. Just make sure that you teach proper painting safety, including proper ventilation and wearing old clothing in case of paint stains.
Consider temperature control
It’s a well-known fact that many colors of paint can affect the temperature of your home – especially when it comes to exterior paint. When painting your manufactured home, keep in mind that lighter colors will reflect rays of sunlight – thus making a colder home more likely. The opposite happens with darker-colored homes, as they absorb the sun’s rays and can cause warmth.
Keep it Simple
Sometimes, you might just want to paint a room as simply as possible – and that’s okay! Don’t feel like you must follow any of the above tips if they don’t personally call to you. If you’d rather paint the interior of your manufactured home with just a simple color for each room, then paint that room just one color! It’s all about what makes your manufactured home, your manufactured home.
If you’re getting ready to paint your manufactured home, don’t forget to check out these other tips on selecting interior and exterior paints for your manufactured home as well as how to paint vinyl mobile home walls.
