Polished, honed, brushed, and what each one does.
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Honed when the floor is walked on wet or when a polished surface would show every scratch. Honed is matte, it hides wear and it is the right choice for a wet room or a busy corridor. Polished when the room wants depth of colour and the floor is not walked on wet.
When the floor will be walked on wet, when grit is tracked in, or when the client wants a floor that does not show every mark. On a straight-grained stone the visual difference between the two finishes is smaller than on a dramatic figure, which makes honed the safer default for commercial work.
Polished is a mirror finish and it deepens the colour and shows every scratch. Honed is a matte finish and it reads flatter, hides wear and is what a wet room or a grit-tracked floor wants. They are the same stone with a different surface.
A brushed finish takes the polish off and leaves a directional texture, so the stone feels different under the hand and it hides a mark that a polished face would show. It is a wall and furniture finish rather than a floor one.
Darker and glossier than it will be in service. A polished stone darkens slightly as it is handled and as a film of the cleaning regime builds on it, and a honed surface goes slightly paler. Neither change is dramatic and neither is damage.
Because the skirting is a different stone from the wall, and a skirting is where the material meets the floor. A black skirting under a pale wall makes the wall look taller and it hides the junction where the two materials meet.
Ordered by how many questions each one holds.