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Design Dilemma Flooring

New Baseboards Old Casings Height Difference

last year

We are renovating our floors in a late 1970s ranch and are replacing the baseboards throughout the house because we are changing from a dark parquet to a warmer lvp. The baseboards all have a shoe on them that won’t match the new floors and I would rather not sand and stain them hence the new baseboards. Our current baseboards are 3 1/4 with no detailing and I would love to get 4 1/4 with a slight colonial detail but I’m nervous as this won’t match the casings in the rest of the house. I can’t afford/fit backhand on many of the doors/windows. My question is, should I stick with the thin baseboards so as to have a cohesive look throughout the house, or should I go for the thicker ones knowing one day I’ll replace all these old windows and casings anyway? Picture of what we have right now. Thanks internet for the help!

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Comments (10)

millworkman
last year
I personally would not mix Colonial Base with a Clamshell Casing but that is up to you.
Chandler Klein
Original Author
last year
What if I did clamshell with 4 1/4” instead of the 3 1/4” I agree with you I’m hesitant to mix the two
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millworkman
last year
last modified: last year
If you can get a 4 1/4" or even 5" tall clamshell base go for it.
kandrewspa
last year
What is your style? Some '70's ranch homes were styled colonial with divided pane windows and some colonial detailing. It doesn't look like yours was, but if your style is more traditional and you're eventually going to change the window casing to something traditional then you could install a colonial baseboard. There are plenty of people who don't change everything in their houses at the same time. However, if you have other elements in the home that are modern would you be opening a big can of worms by starting to move in a more traditional direction? What does the outside of the house look like? What do the kitchen and bathrooms look like?
Chandler Klein
Original Author
last year
I’m very traditional in style. We are redoing our kitchen with white cabinets warm brown lvp, and a warm white/gold quartz. The whole house is painted repose grey and is decorated in a traditional manner. We will definitely be changing the window casings down the road (probably another 5 years but we are here to stay). Here’s a picture of the living room where you can see we actually built the columns and faux beam and used colonial trim around those, so definitely not opening a can of worms there. Some of the doors I’ve noticed now that I’m looking more actually have the smaller colonial casings. It isn’t very noticeable though because they aren’t next to our giant wall of windows which is what worries me the most.
PRO
Beth H. :
last year
remove the shoe and get the newer molding. I blended mine w/some of the older door casing. when you get around to it, change out the casing.
PRO
HALLETT & Co.
last year
Stick with the clamshell, don't mix styles on something attached to the house (mix furniture all day long...)
JP L
last year
last modified: last year
Pro tip: be sure to review where your existing outlets are currently - sometimes, if they are placed right above the baseboards, opting for a taller base molding can then require moving the outlet to accommodate. I've seen bad flips where they lazily cut into the baseboards to make it work, and you definitely don't want that. Just a head's up. Yours look pretty high in the one photo, but it's worth looking around at all of them just in case.
Chandler Klein
Original Author
last year
Thank you everyone! I decided to stick with clamshell and when I replace these windows (5 or so years out) I can replace the baseboards and door casings throughout the house then. Somewhat wasteful, but in the grand scheme of replacing windows, probably a drop in the bucket. I’ll post pictures of the replacement!
palimpsest
last year
I would stick with clamshell and I think I would stick with the smaller size as well. Clamshell, since it has no detail, really starts to look like a blob in the larger sizes in my opinion.

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