Baseboards should be a minimum of 1/2" per 1' of wall height. Can't stand quarter round or shoe base, rooms look so much better without them.

How old is the house? Stained vs. painted woodwork has gone in and out of style, use the style appropriate to the age of the house.

Not knowing ANYTHING about your house (style, height of ceilings, etc), in general, it's a much better (and current) look to choose baseboards at least 5" in height. Mine are 7".

I worked out with my installers that I wanted the gap at the wall small enough that baseboard only would cover it, so that I wouldn't need shoe molding (or quarter round). Shoe and quarter round (imo) are done out of necessity, not because it adds to the look of the house. It looks much cleaner with just a tall baseboard.

If I had white baseboard, I would never cover it up with a floor-toned shoe/quarter round. Does it kill the look? No, not if you paint it to match the baseboard.

100% agree about shoe not looking great, but it might be the only option if the floor boards don't reach the wall and the OP doesn't want to do the work to extend them. It also might depend on how many boards are short. If it's just a few it might be feasible to do a few board replacements and keep the baseboard simple without shoe. If a bunch of boards are short it might be more effort than it's worth. Plus you'd have the issue of matching the finish on any board replacements.

I think the OP needs to decide:

1. What their style preference for baseboard is (taking in consideration the style of the house)

2. How much work they are willing to do to get that look, or if a compromise needs to be made

Either way I stand by my comment that shoe or not, the baseboard as a whole should either be painted, or not. Don't do half painted and half stained.

Thank you on the input on doing one or the other. Small 8 foot ceilings so nothing big. I will most likely go pine painted as the gaps are substantial. I will try and get some pics on here down the road when I am ready to implement. 13x13 rooms. Oak floors, white walls. The trim on the window is pine and I will be doing the window and door trim in pine as well. Preferably stained....but that might change one i get the first one up, we will see how it looks. I am trying to do everything to match as this will be custom trim and I only want to set up the router once.

If you use 1x instead of prefab baseboard you will have better coverage of any gaps. Nice moulding Mrs. S! I have noticed that rooms without shoe/quarter look bigger and another plus is the furniture can be closer to the walls.