The kitchen is the room that I'm least satisfied with for obvious reasons. The floor is in terrible shape after 20 years. It wasn't new when we moved in. In fact, it had several scars and stains on it but nothing serious. The dark spots near the off-white rug in front of the sink are not dirt or stains. They are areas where the linoleum is so thin that rust from the nails in the underlyng boards has made its way up through and stained the surface. It doesn't help that the floor covering is about as thick as two pieces of paper. Anyway, the entire floor is being replaced in a few weeks so I won't have to look at it anymore. The wall behind the oven and toaster oven isn't dirty either. It's been heat-damaged by both ovens and the water heater box hanging on the wall (there used to be a bigger box -the one there now is newer and smaller. Sometimes gas leaks out through the top of the water heater and a largish, scary fireball comes out when you activate it. That toaster oven is so old, all the paint has burned off the top from the heat but it still works fine! The multitude of trash cans (there are 5 under the table) is to sort trash according to Tokyo's regulations. There's actually a 6th one under the sink which seals up and contains kitchen scraps. It's a huge pain sorting it all out but it's worthwhile to recycle as much as possible.