Do you lack closet space?
If so, you may have hidden space somewhere in your home like we did!
Storage and closet space are a huge plus in any home, especially in small houses like mobile homes. There’s usually a tiny closet in each smaller bedroom, or built-in drawers and closets in older mobile homes. Often, master bedrooms have a walk-in closet with wire shelving (we hate that!!). So, whenever we do a remodeling project, we make sure to find some way to increase storage in some way and make it more accessible for when we’re older getting around less easily.
How We Increased Our Storage Space During This Remodel
We created a new bedroom suite, in which we took the two smaller bedrooms in our double wide and tore down the wall between them to make one large master suite. If you do this, be sure the wall you are tearing down is not load bearing. We were sure that the stretch between the two walls in the room was not going to exceed 8 feet and we maintained the end walls and reinforced them to be sure to strengthen the center.
To increase our storage space during this remodel, we purchased a large king bed with lots of drawers to increase our storage space and make up for taking out the closets that were in between the two smaller bedrooms we created this suite in. The bed has many drawers where we stored shoes and clothes.
Since our kids have completed college and moved to the Big City, we don’t really have a need for 3 bedrooms any longer. Plus, we’ve always wanted a king sized bed, and when we bought one, it would not fit in our original master bedroom at the other end of the house that we used for the last 20 years! Since we always go big or go home, rather than buying a smaller bed, we opted to tear down a wall and completely renovate one end of our house. But, I must say, we do love the bed and it is a beautiful room!
While the storage bed was a great choice, we also had a stroke of luck and decided to use a unique spot that ended up not being used anymore after we combined the bedrooms for a new storage space.
Hidden Closet
Just one more lovely little creations we got out of this project was this little closet for supplies such as toilet paper/paper towels, batteries, vitamins, shampoos, you name it, if it fits, we are storing it in there! It is really tiny, but surprisingly loaded with space and we haven’t even filled it yet.
The new suite is comprised of two rooms, and we really only need one door, so we had this space that was the width, height, and depth of a doorway from the unused entry that we were going to have to close up and cover. Fortunately, we had a brilliant idea!
Why not back it with luan, put shelves in it, paint it and put a nice door on it? Well, that’s just what we did. The back side of the closet is now the wall in the new suite, and it’s covered with shiplap, so it’s sturdy and doesn’t indicate at all that there is a closet on the other side.
(We’ve built another closet out of hidden space in our home too- Check it out here!
Using Materials and Space Efficiently
This closet gave us a great opportunity to add a little rustic flair to this area of the house. We are always looking for efficient ways to use left over materials, and this project gave us a way to use some of the left over pine plywood flooring planks we didn’t need for the floor in the suite. Using up these materials made this whole project more efficient and that always gives us a great feeling!
The door to the closet is made of 1/2″ plywood strips ripped at 6 inch width. It was so easy to do that one afternoon I came home from work and the Mr. had already built it and hung it. He had only been home an hour before me! (He’s talented like that :-))
We didn’t even use the Kreg Jig on this small project, although we do on almost every other project and recommend anyone who is building anything with wood in their home do the same. We (Mr. McGee) built straight wood shelves for this closet and put ’em up. Done.
The mirror on the closet door was an added touch I couldn’t resist. I love how it contrasts with the rich stain on the wood door. The mirror is a Better Homes and Garden’s product I found at Walmart, but I don’t think it’s still available. I know you can find something similar though.
BTW, the stain is American Walnut. The product I’ve shared here is great for smaller projects. But when we did our floor and other large projects, we always use Minwax Water Based Stain in American Walnut. It looks fantastic on the bedroom floor, plus, it doesn’t smell terrible and dries quickly. So rich and earthy. We use this color in so many things we build that it’s kind of the running theme in the house.
Have you found hidden space in your mobile home? How did you use it? Share in the comments!
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This post was updated 12/2022
That is a really great idea, the blue mirror is a lovely touch and contrasts very well with the door – good work!
Many times, the crown molding is just a cheap paper board with a glued on "skin" that looks like wood. You can sand this a bit to scuff it up and then paint with a paint that has a primer in it. Since it's up at the top of the wall, it won't see a lot of action so it isn't likely to peel or scratch. But if you find that it does, you can use a Glidden product called Gripper first and this will help adhere the paint much better.
This website has been such a great help!! Thank you for this! It seems that the questions that I have about manufactured homes and mobile homes can be found right here. Thank you for all of your time and efforts. Your home is beautiful.
Thank you!
Hey! I have a question and wasn't sure where to post it :)
I noticed that you have crown molding in your doublewide as well. Have you tried removing it? I'm wondering if it's possible as ours is an ugly dark oak color. I've considered painting it but it'd be extremely time intensive and I think it'd look nicer if I just took it all off. Wasn't sure if there's an issue with what's underneath. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Lauren.
Thanks so much for visiting and commenting. We have removed the crown molding in most rooms. You will likely find gaps at the top of the walls that really are embarrassing "craftsmanship"- if you can call it that. At least in our case. We have replaced or resurfaced the walls in nearly every room. In each of these rooms, we've edged the top of the walls with a simple, flat 1 and 1/2 inch trip piece that is about 1/4 inch thick. In the only room and bathroom we've kept the same walls, we've kept the crown molding. We have painted it white. Since the ceiling is white, it isn't too difficult to keep it neat and make it look good. There is a great type of paintbrush at Lowes and at Home Depot. It's a rubbery handle and the edge of the bristles is shaped as a cutting brush. It works really well for painting straight edges without taping. You may have luck with this.
Many times, the crown molding is just a cheap paper board with a glued on "skin" that looks like wood. You can sand this a bit to scuff it up and then paint with a paint that has a primer in it. Since it's up at the top of the wall, it won't see a lot of action so it isn't likely to peel or scratch. But if you find that it does, you can use a Glidden product called Gripper first and this will help adhere the paint much better.
Good luck with your project!