16 Exterior Mobile Home Siding Ideas

exterior mobile home siding ideas

Max Shafer

March 10,2023

Max Shafer, a distinguished BPA Advisor specializing in Roofing & Exterior Finishes, is passionate about sharing his extensive knowledge and expertise. Max's impactful work as a writer is prominently featured throughout Building Product Advisor. With a specific focus on roofing and exterior finishes, Max contributes valuable insights that shape discussions on cutting-edge construction practices and materials in these crucial areas.

When people think of mobile homes, they tend to assume that the house in question is going to look like something out of Trailer Park Boys. This doesn’t have to be the case at all. In fact, the new line of mobile homes hitting the market proves that mobile homes can be quite luxurious.

One of the big differences between the new and old vanguard is how the siding looks. Want to give your place an update? Take a look at these exterior mobile home siding ideas to understand how to turn a drab home to a fab home.

1. Boxcar Chic

Few mobile home siding options have become as popular as “boxcar chic.” This uses a freight carrier or shipping container that is repurposed into a part of the manufactured home’s exterior siding. It gives your home a brushed metal look that’s often punctuated by the use of large floor-to-ceiling windows.

2. Stucco And Metal

If you want to have a more rustic take on “Boxcar Chic,” you might want to get exterior mobile home siding that looks like stucco textures to lay over the shipping container exterior. The sandy stucco can help give your home an earthy look that still feels modern, and perhaps a bit Mad Max.

3. Pulldown Privacy

One of the most difficult aspects of mobile home design is working with floor to ceiling windows while also keeping the siding modern. This designer chose to use pulldown slats that look like they’re part of the regular siding to give the home an air of privacy that it otherwise wouldn’t have.

4. Grey Geometry

Modern mobile home siding ideas don’t try to turn a trailer into a typical home with wooden shiplap siding. They actually lean into the boxy and brushed look of a modern home. It makes sense, then, that the paneling should match that energy.

Take a look at this home, outfitted with crisp gray rectangle panels. It offers a clean and understated elegance that works beautifully with the contrast of the warm lighting inside the home.

5. An Office Exterior

If you are trying to repurpose a mobile home as an office, you may want to stick to siding ideas that help make the house look like an office. Large, flat, matte gray panels are great for this concept. It offers the crisp and official appearance of a small business without the need for expensive brushed stucco or cement siding.

6. Homesteading 101

A lot of blowback has come from seeing mobile homes with classic lap siding, but sometimes, this is a much-maligned choice. Despite the stigma, regular lap siding can offer a homey and inviting glow. To make it work well, choose a warm color that hides rust well. Then, pair your exterior mobile home siding with light kids that add more warmth to the house.

7. Retro-Chic

Another way to use traditional metal lap siding for a mobile home’s exterior is to use it in a classic way. In many parts of the country, people are starting to see “old school” mobile home designs as a nostalgic slice of life.

As a result, many Airbnb owners are starting to emphasize retro colors like robin’s egg blue on mobile home exterior siding. It helps sell the “retro” look.

8. Textured Vertical Metal Siding

Modern exterior mobile home siding is all about adding texture over color. Most HOAs and upscale trailer parks love the idea of keeping a neutral palette, but want to get more texture. Here, we see metal siding that elevated a typical mobile house into a bold office space.

9. Neo-Outdoorsman

Wood paneling has become one of the hottest mobile home siding ideas of the decade thanks to new advancements in wood-look exteriors. This home shows beautiful wood paneling that enhances the house’s cozy ambiance and also makes it look one with nature. Developers love this for “glamping” setups, but it can look just as at-home anywhere you go.

10. Tech Meets Wood

This mobile home is a prefabricated model that used reclaimed wood on top of wood-look paneling for the sides of the home. Then, they fitted the rest of the exterior with a matte black metal outlay that is almost entirely seamless. The end result is a house that looks elegant, homey, and just a little bit sci-fi.

11. Sunroom Vibes

Is there anything more relaxing than hanging out in a sunroom? Designers apparently don’t think so. Wide panels and a floor-to-ceiling home side gave this mobile home a sunroom look that is perfect for a place like Florida or the Jersey Shore. Wide vertical lap paneling in a clean color palette makes it work.

12. Siding? What Siding?

If you are looking for an edgy way to make your mobile home look great, consider taking a cue from this daring developer. This mobile building uses floor to ceiling windows for the majority of their siding. The part that isn’t window-covered is simply part of the bus’s material.

13. Sculpted Siding

Sometimes, it’s not the siding that matters as much as it is what you choose to do with it. This ultra-modern mobile home uses plain white siding to emphasize the unusual shape of the house. The siding here is geometric and white, making it easy to see all the different angles that have been added to the home’s architecture.

14. Just A Mini-House

Sometimes the easiest thing you can do is stick to exterior mobile home siding that mimics a typical contemporary home in your area. This emphasizes that you actually live there and that it’s meant to be a welcoming, warm place to stay.

15. Stay Stark

Note: if you want to keep things simple, going without house-like siding is fine. This is actually smarter if you’re on the go.

16. Old With New

This uses repurposed retro siding and glass for a unique take on things. A green option if ever there was one, it’s easy to see why this elegant setup works well. It’s exceptionally modern and adds value to the property.

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