Hi Robin!

I live in a tiny MHP, just 38 homes, all set in a row on one side of a very long street. The "end," or short side, of all our homes face the street. The ones I like best have done wonders with decks/porches that wrap around from either the front or back door to the end of the short side. Landscaping can make or break the curb appeal as well. But the best advice I can give you is to google "images manufactured mobile home exteriors" and look at the bazillions of photos. They are inspiring! :-)

Sincerely,

Debbie

Yes, a wrap around deck from your current front door to the side facing the road. Make the deck about 8 to 10 feet deep on the gable end & put a nice railing on it. Make the deck a contrasting color to your home. Then place some nice shrubs like rhododendrons in front of the new deck and maybe some flower boxes on the railing.

Then down the road as money permits, change out your "front door" to the deck side.

Thank you so much for answering. Unfortunately, it sounds like I put the wrap around deck on the wrong sides of my house :( It is on the driveway side (starting behind the porch) and wraps to the back. I have googled many times, but can't find "it".

Although...I could do wrap around landscaping!

Hi Robin,

I like your optimism! You'll find "it," just keep looking.

I was looking at pictures of Craftsman homes earlier this evening after watching an episode of "House Hunters: Renovation." (I get lots of inspiration from HGTV!") If you can't do a wrap-around, would it be possible to do a deck/porch just on the end? If you did that, and put a pitched roof that is lower than the main roof over it and put pillars to hold it up, the house would look less boxy and could evoke the feel of a Craftsman. I'm thinking of doing that myself, down the road. It's a little hard to see from your picture (I have very poor eyesight), but it looks like that's kind of what you did on the driveway side.

So that would be good because what makes Craftsman houses so beautiful and cool to look at, imho, are two or more pitched roofs of varying heights. And, of course, that also happens to be one remedy for making an MH look less like a rectangular box.

Other MHs I like do sort of the opposite--they play up the shape of the MH by getting creative with the siding. For example, I've seen a couple of MHs that have used faux logs siding to make their house look like a log cabin. The possibilities are endless.

I don't know what your budget would be, but landscaping could really do the trick at possibly a much lower price. Varying heights of plants, flowers, and shrubs (I wouldn't plant a tree that close to the house) could really improve the curb appeal! I like Christopher's suggestion of rhododendrons (as long as you don't have toddlers), and you could use his suggestion of flower boxes, but put them underneath your windows.

Sincerely,

Debbie

Upload a pic into one of the paint websites and test out painting trim around the windows and staining the blocks. The blocks are the first thing I see when I look at your picture ( probably because an underwriting committee said the cement blocks made our modular look like a mobile home, and they also look pinkish on my monitor).

I think if you stained them a darker grey to match the roof and maybe changed out the storm door and painted the front door it would make a huge difference.

For longer term ideas, google images for "Fixer Upper Ranch homes". I don't know which one of the ranch homes she has transformed is my favorite.. so many great ideas for porches and porticos.

It took me a minute to realize you do have siding going in different directions. That looks really nice. I think you have a lovely home also.

Debbie B, thank you. I love this home, just not the siding :) The red shutters aren't done, but I simply painted the old ones. I will adjust the height of the front shutters because they hang 1" too low and it drives me crazy, lol.

Sunnysmom, I agree on the blocks. They are plain ole cinder blocks (aka ugly). They will definitely be covered. You like the two sidings? I have been thinking that was one of the modular looks. Maybe I need to relax a bit about making it look stick built.

My parents have a home in a MHP in Florida. Some of the residents have stucco'd over their siding to make their houses look less MH.

You can do a lot of things to make it look less like a rectangular box. But, unless you build additions onto it, it will never look exactly like a stick built, because it isn't. But that's OK! There are a lot of options for skirting to cover up the cinder blocks. I'm going to do a faux river rock. fauxpanels.com has some great choices, whether you want rock, brick, or wood. Or you can do a more traditional skirting.

But I think the goal perhaps is to make it the most attractive MH it can be, not to try to make it so people can't tell it's not stick built. JMHO. :-)

Can't wait to see the finished results! I hope you post pics!