Hello all! We are replacing all of our base moldings, as well as window and door trim, throughout the house (one room at a time).

We have a center entrance colonial with curved crown molding in some rooms on the main floor, and are redoing much of the house ourselves with a lean towards transitional/modern farmhouse. All painted white throughout. When the kitchen is redone they will be simple shaker design. We're having problems finding info on popular/suggested base molding, and window and door trim to go with it.

My questions are:

1. Is there a popular base molding (and trim) you would suggest? We are doing the renovations room by room and over the next 2 or 3 yrs, so we don't want something that we can't get later on.
2. For standard 8' ceiling height, what height base molding would you suggest? What width window and door trim should we do with it?
3. I've seen some suggestions to do a 1x6 painted for cost savings and that it looks identical to regular molding - has anyone done this or would suggest/not suggest it?
4. Finally: any tips/techniques/tools you would suggest for installing (we've checked out several videos and will do a test run)?

Many thanks!