Flooring and skirting (baseboards) are like shoes and trousers – they meet in a visible line, so they need to work together. Different flooring types have different thicknesses and expansion needs. Tiles, wood, laminate, vinyl – each behaves differently at the edges.
If you fix skirting designs and heights before locking in the floor choice, you may end up with awkward joins, visible gaps, or skirting that sits at a strange level once the final floor goes in. Some floors look best with taller, chunkier skirting; others suit slimmer, modern profiles.
Certain skirting styles also hide expansion gaps better, which is important for wood and laminate. Deciding the floor first lets you choose skirting that covers edges properly and matches the overall style and proportion of the room.
So, floor first, then skirting, gives a much cleaner and more professional finished look.