The kitchen is fitted out with glossy white subway tiles, a chunky wooden worktop, a double butler’s sink. Open shelves are lined with blue and white enamel dishes and mason jars filled with rice, grains, coffee, spices. Cast- iron pans and olive wood ladles hang from a wall- mounted steel bar. Out on display on the worktop are a brushed steel kettle, a Japanese teapot and a bright red blender."
-- Narration (Present paragraph NA)

Importance: This description of the kitchen in Anna and Tom’s apartment symbolizes the aspirational, curated lifestyle they project. The items, which are pristine and aesthetically pleasing, are symbols of a certain image of domesticity, associated with a perfect, polished life. The careful arrangement of objects suggests a life constructed for visual appeal, not genuine emotional fulfillment, mirroring the larger theme of appearance versus reality in the novel. It hints at the couple's desire to be seen a certain way...