My wooden boards are irregular and I always have some problems to arrange them in the proper way. Under every board I have to fit pieces of cardboard or newspapers to lift them up or down. In this way I get flat and almost equal surface, but they will never be totally aligned. This is the biggest problem I have when arranging the set. All the rest is pure fun and joking with light and shadows!
My props collection is poor (don't say this to Mr. M, he definitively disagree with me!), better to say, I use poor collection of props. Glamor is not my thing, I prefer empty scene and a lot of air all around.