We are fortunate to live in the current times of spectacular technological advancement.
For the first time in the history of humankind, you can live in an assembled manufactured home and store your files in the cloud.
The internet has also eased our reliance on such things as magazines, journals, and any other kind of printed work.
Better yet, the essential devices we use for our daily activities have just got smaller.
This combination can improve your productivity quite considerably – you can work from anywhere, and you still don’t need bulky cabinets in your office.
Related: How To Set Up A Smart Manufactured Home
Here is the ultimate guide regarding how to set up a home office in a manufactured home.
Twenty Three Manufactured Home Office Ideas
1) The Wall Office concept
The Wall Office approach is the simplest one you could ever try.
This sleek option consists of two or three simple shelves on the wall (to hold your stuff) and with no desk.
It is the perfect manufactured home office idea if you are severely deprived of space – you just need to occupy the space of about 2 m by 2m in one of the corners of your home.
2) Ultra-minimalist
Passion for a simple living could be the reason why you are in a manufactured home in the first place.
If that’s the case then this Ultra-Minimalist concept if just the right approach for you.
It’s as simple as it sounds: two shelves are hammered on either wall of the hallway (yes, the walkway) complete with a stool below them.
You can add a tiny table to accompany the stool if you feel like it, or add another low-lying shelf close to your knee position – it will serve as a table and a cabinet.
If you consider the walkway office to be unorthodox, you can try the concept in your bedroom.
3) Black niche
This is yet another minimalistic yet stylish home office concept.
It is very much like the Ultra-Minimalist concept above except that the wall with the shelves is painted matte black to absorb the bright light reflected from the walls behind you.
Another thing: an ergonomic chair needs to be included.
4) Creative storage
Do you have an odd corner in your manufactured home?
If you don’t have a home office already then that’s where it should be.
Turn the nook into a stunning office by adding creative storage designs such as these.
For a starter, simple storage options such as glass jars baskets can be a great beginning.
It is recommended that you place this office close to your bedroom closets so that you can take full advantage of the vertical office.
5) Frame a window
The space below the window is seldom used, whether a home is mobile or site-built. Because you’ve run out of space in your manufactured home, this may be the right time to put it to use.
- Start by adding a simple desk below the window.
- Then add shelves on either frame of the window (the vertical frames).
- Now sit there and work on your project as the breeze flows in.
6) The corner office
This concept of the home office is great for those homeowners whose only remaining free space is a 1 m X 1.5 m X 1 m triangle in any extreme corner of the house.
Place a triangular table (or a simple triangular plank of wood) into the corner and add similarly triangular shelves above it.
Yes – just that and you have an office!
7) Office in a cabinet
Perhaps the cutest concept on this list. The cabinet office is made from a full-size closet-like cabinet placed anywhere in your manufactured home. Storage shelves are added at the bottom and top parts.
You can choose to add a corkboard in the middle, but don’t forget to add a flat drawer at the knee level to serve as a desk.
Install this multipurpose drawer in such a way that it can be hidden when closing the office. Finish the set-up by adding wheels on the cabinet so that you can move it to any location in the home – flexibility is always better.
8) Rustic Industrial
The Rustic Industrial concept is suitable for homeowners with an extended blank wall in one of their spacious rooms.
The approach is to line the big part, or the entire wall, with wooden shelves (you know how library shelves look like?
Yes. That way, except that the shelves won’t be double-sided).
You will end up with floating wooden shelves that provide unlimited storage surface for your office equipment. Don’t forget to add another shelf at the knee level that will serve as a desk, and a chair.
9) Hallway office
Create a compact office on your home’s hallway by adding closet-like cabinets on one part of one of the walls that make the hallway. Let the walls retain the original color.
Do not fill the shelves with tons of décor and clutter.
Be sure to extend the knee-level shelf so that it can serve as a desk.
10) The Ladder Desk
The ladder desk concept is a clever way of creating extra space from nowhere.
Two long rectangular ladders are joined together by several shelves, with one shelf serving as an extended office desk.
You can keep your office equipment on topmost shelves and place a chair behind the desk.
11) The Bed Office
Another interesting concept – this office is located under the bed.
How?
- Firstly, you need to design your bed in such a way that the underside permits retractable shelves to fold and fit inside.
- Secondly, the trunk of the bed should be able to lift and reveal the hidden shelves (see the illustrations). The shelves should have rubber bands to hold your books and equipment together when folding.
The bed office may be a bit intricate to set up but it’s worth it if you consider the amount of space it saves.
12) Home cubicle
Instead of trying to squeeze an office in every nook in your home, consider creating a cubicle (about 1.5m L X 1m W x 3m H) with shelves on one end and another extended shelf at knee-level to serve as a desk.
13) The floating farmhouse styles
Give your home office a farmhouse look by ditching wooden shelves altogether.
Instead, buy a rack of wire mesh baskets, and hammer them on the wall – they look stylish, occupy less space, holds more stuff compared to wooden shelves.
In addition to the rack, add a working desk with or without drawers (as you wish) and add an old-school reading lamp on it.
14) A yellow corner
There is a strong chance one of the corners of your living room is unutilized.
Even if it is utilized, it’s about time you put there a cute yellow home office that serves a much better purpose than keeping a pile of books and stuff.
Here is how to go about it:
- Buy a yellow or orange paint and paint the walls 1 meter and 2 meters outward from the corner towards each sideway wall (Note that you’re not putting up a new wall).
- Then paint the floor area enclosed by the dimension created by the painted walls.
A simple table and a plastic chair are all that is remaining to complete this enticing workspace.
15) Kitchen office
You actually can have a tiny office in the kitchen without incurring extra costs trying to remodel it.
It can be any sizable space between the cabinet and the floor; between the fridge and the walls; between cabinets and similar kitchen furniture and equipment can be converted into an office.
It can take any form, but we recommend starting with a couple of shelves on the wall, power outlets, a stool, and a simple desk.
The reason why you should opt for a stool is the fluidity it adds to the office – you can take one stool from the dining set.
Related: Is It Worth It to Homeschool Your Kids?
16) Table and Chair
The Table and Chair concept is the lowest you can ever go.
It’s as basic as it sounds:
- a simple table is placed anywhere spacious,
- a mesh or plastic chair is added,
- a study lamp,
- then two simple trays to hold your files.
That’s all.
17) White and Bright
The White and Bright concept is not a real small office design, but a way of tricking your perception.
The reason why white is the preferred color for the interiors is its tendency to create an illusion of space – limited spaces appear large when the walls and the roof are painted white.
You can employ this trick by painting your home office – however small it may be – with bright paint and adding ambient lighting.
Of course, you can break the monotony by adding potted plants on the shelf or a black accent.
18) Under the stairs
If you are fortunate enough to own a storied manufactured home but unfortunate to spare an extra space for a home office, the space under the stairs can be of great value.
You could cram under this space is a miniature home office complete with spacious shelves or desk with cabinets and a comfortable chair.
You can opt for floating shelves and a utilitarian shelf (see the image below).
19) Stand or sit workstation
Resting your bum on the chair or stool the entire day has been confirmed to be unhealthy. So, this DIY corner office can be a healthy alternative for you.
Basically, this approach takes advantage of the cheap wood you may have access to, and equally affordable shelf brackets that can transform the untapped wall into a stand-up office.
And if you can’t bear it anymore, just pull up the stool and keep on grinding on your project.
20) Balcony office
If your manufactured home came with a temporary balcony, or if you added one yourself, you can convert the part or whole of it into a small home office and still not feel bad about it.
Think of it as a place of catching a breeze as you complete your project on the laptop.
It is never complicated – just a small desk and few shelves on the wall would do.
21) Room divider curtain
There are those spaces you can’t divide with a plywood wall.
For whichever reason, you’d object to divide the room permanently, consider carving out a sizable section with a fabric curtain.
Now use one of the sections as a home office. It sounds like a great idea for spacious living, doesn’t it?
22) Wall-mounted desk
Now imagine a miniature office designed that way – terrific. It’s a mounted box with a side that can be flipped up and down to function as a desk.
The Wall-Mounted Desk concept is especially suitable for those whose floor spaces don’t come with a square meter.
23) Hall in a wall
This concept may be impractical in some manufactured homes – manufactured homes are seldom produced with think walls nowadays. For those that still do come with thick sections on some parts of the wall, by any chance, you can hire an expert to dig.
Seven Ways to establish a tiny yet stylish small office in your manufactured home
Don’t think you’ve got the extra space for a small home office in your already crammed manufactured home?
Odds are that you have more space.
All it would take to free it is a bit of creativity. Here is how to go about it:
1. Switch the layout of your living room
The most plausible thing about manufactured homes is their flexibility to floor adjustment – you can change the layout of your floor to fit your desires quickly.
Better yet, you can switch the arrangement of furniture or reposition them.
A nice start would be to reposition your sofa against the longer wall and then place a desk in front of your living room window. You can free a big deal of space.
2. Small office furniture
One of the things that might hold you back in the quest to create a small home office is your choice of furniture.
- The furniture of such an office needs to be few and small.
- Also, avoid leggy furniture at all costs (except when creating a stand-up home office mentioned earlier).
3. Wall-mounted furniture
Most home office designs typically utilize the wall in one way or another.
But because your case is different – you don’t have a lot of space for comfort – you will need to make maximum use of walls.
Hence, much of your stuff will be stored on shelves or wall cabinets instead of ground-based or desk-based storage units.
4. Colorful office
Honestly speaking, a riot of colors all over the place isn’t a kids-only thing.
I love colors, they add the vibrancy you need in the office when struggling to focus on work.
That’s why I’d recommend you to add life in your tiny home office by adding colorful wallpaper and several colored decorations all over the shelves and desk.
5. Hidden files
We all understand how important office files are. Some could even be confidential. Here, we are trying to utilize every unused nook in a manufactured home and ensure the safety of important documents at the same time.
What if you made a custom-built file cabinet or safe for the purpose?
Even better yet, you can dig a hole on the floor (you’ll ask an expert to do it) and give it the features of a safe – remote or code lock-unlock system and a strong door – then conceal it by giving it the same color scheme as the rest of the floor.
6. Use trash bags instead of trash bins
The best thing about trash bags is their flexibility.
They can be hung on the wall, kept in a corner, or hung on a window.
Trash bags turn out to be more versatile as well and are easily recyclable. They are the best trash management tool for your tiny office.
7. Charging drawer
Charging drawers are a smart idea to control cable misplacement and clutter.
A charging drawer server as a charging hub where all your small electronics are charged. The best part is that you don’t need a lot of money to but the construction materials.
You will, however, need the assistance of a qualified electrician to set up the whole hub for you.
Conclusion
Who needs a large home office if you can stash your files in the cloud?
The same technology that made manufactured homes a reality has shrunk the devices we need in the home office by a large factor.
Still, you need a much smaller home office if you own a manufactured home because space is never enough in such homes.
With some creativity, you can recover considerable space in such areas below the stairs (if your manufactured home is storied), hallway, corners, and even dividing a room you think is too big for a specific function.
