Choosing furniture for a mobile home needs more consideration than when you’re choosing furniture for a ‘regular’ home. But when you’re choosing furniture to go in a smaller mobile home it needs extra consideration.

The interior is often the fun bit of decorating a home. You’ll have ideas about how you want it to look. With a smaller mobile home, you need to consider some practicalities.

Size is the biggest factor. That is, the size of your home and the size of the furniture inside it.                 

Size

It goes without saying (obvs, that’s why we’re saying it here…) that small rooms and big furniture don’t go together.

In your mobile home you’ll need space to move, space to live. If you have pets you’ll need more space.

And it’s little things like choosing furniture that doubles up that can really make a difference.

Advances in technology mean that it’s not just chairs that fold these days. You can get, as one example, folding tables that pack neatly away when they’ve been used. A folding mattress is not uncommon nor is a folding bed.

A futon can double as an extra chair when guests come over. It’s also a bed for the same guests and if you choose one that has storage underneath, you can keep other bits and pieces out of the way.

Ottomans are really useful pieces of furniture too. You can put things inside them, you can have them as a coffee table, you could have them as a seat.

The Rules

There are rules. Well aren’t there always? When static caravan and mobile home salespeople come to sell a property, they apply the rules of interior design that create space, or the appearance of space. They know how to make the ceilings look taller; they know how to draw in the eye.

If you apply the same thought processes, you can do the same in your mobile home:

Light – keep it light. That means no furniture blocking windows. Choose light colours. And keep patterns off the walls and furniture. Accessories are great for adding patterns, but patterned walls or big pieces like furniture will overwhelm the space.

Flow – by joining pieces together, such as kitchen units, you create a sense of flow inside your home. Flow gives your home a sense of space, while clutter will make things feel claustrophobic. This is where storage can really help too.

Space – big furniture will make it feel cramped, especially if it’s near doorways and windows. You could break up one bigger space with screens to create focal points and zones. Go tall with some furniture, like bookcases. It will give the appearance of your home being longer.

Go Minimal – by keeping it simple you will naturally create more space in your home. Ask yourself if you really need that piece of furniture. Choose sofa legs over a sofa with a skirt to add to the sense of spaciousness.

If you don’t need a sofa, opt for a loveseat armchair. It will fit two people, but it’ll fit one with plenty of room left over.

The Rule of Threes

In interior design the Rule of Threes (or Thirds) is used to create space, or the illusion of space. The number three provides a centre point for the human brain. You might choose three accessories of different sizes. You might choose three walls for a particular colour, but it’s three that counts. Artists might use the rule of thirds to place objects in their pictures – dividing the canvas into three horizontal sections and three vertical sections.

Apply this to the layout of your mobile home and your place will look like it’s had a professional’s touch.

Finally

With a little thought you can create a peaceful haven of your small mobile home, one that’s uncluttered and one that also feels light and fresh.

Luckily, these days furniture comes in a range of sizes and with a little measuring you can find the perfect combination. Ditch what you really don’t need, invest in what you do need and will use.

It might be a smaller home, but you can still have all the same luxuries as a double wide mobile home. It just takes a little planning.