When level isn't level...

On this episode of drive you crazy…

I love an old house or hotel with history.

But for the love of installation, a bit of floor prep, planning, and carpentry trickery could have taken the curse off these items. 

When floors or ceilings tilt or sag, getting art, furniture, and window treatments “level” requires a bit of design sorcery.

Here are the best ways to handle old-house flaws.

Symptom 1: Unlevel window treatments  

This image has multiple things working against it. The ceiling has sagged as has the floor, causing an un-level site line at a critical connection. The best way to have taken the curse off here would have been to mount the window treatments to the ceiling. These should still be level to one another so the right side would be shy of hitting the ceiling but the projection of the valence would provide a helpful shadow to distract the eye.

Symptom 2: Unscribed baseboard

Ugh, the bane of my existence. If the baseboard is not installed prior to the floors, the scribing of all baseboard is needed. Not doing so will show bows in the connection or the base. For new construction or full renovation, install the baseboard first. If that’s not an option, install a shoe molding with flex so it can follow the wave in the floor more closely.

 Symptom 3: Unlevel floors

Given the age of the beautiful hotel, I certainly can forgive the rolling floors. If it didn’t catch your eye initially, check out the left window treatment at floor level. We couldn’t place anything on the bistro table without it rolling off to the other side of the room. No good answer here, unless you’re redoing all the floors and can level and shim with the appropriate material. Strategically placed furniture and leveling furniture accordingly are the only quick fixes. With window treatments, measure each panel location in place. Each panel will likely need to be a custom length. In older homes following the above baseboard tips help immensely as well.

House of Dietrich takes no styling or decorating credit for this space. We however did enjoy the weekend getaway.

Watch this for chickens and giggles!