1950s houses tended to have simpler skirtings and architraves than eatlier (say 1920s) houses, so appropriate skirtings would probably be thumbnail round (1/4 to 1/2in or 6 to 13mm radius) skirtings, skirtings with a long shallow chamfer (possibly with a radiused top edge), modern (squared as opposed to radiused return beliw the "bump") torus, etc. Skirting height was lower after WWIi due to shortage of materials, but i think that 4 to 6in (100 to 150mm) skirtings look better than lower ones. Architraves would normally be a tad narrower or wider than the slirtings to provide s bit of differentiation
As to ease of installation, all i can say is avoid any mouldings with a very thin top (e.g a Grecian ogee) as they need a combination of scribe and mitre on inside corners. Other than that there are plenty of instructions on the net on how to scribe inside corners (some of it actually correct!). Main thing is to start with s mitre cut, highlight the edge with a pencil line, use a decent coping saw and blades (Eclipse, Irwin, etc), make sure you add a back clearance to the cut and get your scribe done and working before attempting to cut the mitre at the other end (if that is what's required). Also try to avoid having a scribe at both ends of a piece - they are tricky
