Seems to just be a random post with no return? Scrub it!. We have all lived, well at least i have, in rentals when young. Scrub and scrub. A degreaser with lots of rinsing with water and scrub again. Your friends are hanging in the kitchen because that is where the booze is, lol. A nice thrift store bar cart parked just outside the kitchen in the living room might help social flow. Does your landlord know about the ceiling? Is another tenant upstairs? Or is your bathroom upstairs? A slow leak needs to be fixed. A scrape and paint is just a 'bandaid' solution hiding the festering disease. It could be a simple tub caulking with a bad shower curtain above. And like mentioned could be a serious heath hazard. I would not spend much money. Some landlords will chip in with paint purchase if you do the work. Just ask. It does need scrubbing first. Even the best primer might struggle with all the grease buildup. Visit sites like retro-renovation and apartment therapy for easy low cost ideas. You do not need to spend lots of cash to have an adorable kitchen. Clean, un-cluttered, a fresh batch of solid towels, pale blue, red, orange. Maybe your rent is low but don't be afraid to ask. Or let them know about a leak. If they don't care, just scrape the ceiling and make do with cleaning. Save your money to move on...asap. Move the microwave to the booze counter next to the fridge. Invest in a few things that you can take with you. A nice big cutting board, next to stove. Bon Ami and Bar Keepers Friend are good powder cleaners that do not scratch surfaces. It is such a cute kitchen and tons of storage. And the fridge opens in the correct direction! (so rare, lol) Take a very wet sponge and soak the wallpaper border a few times over a few hours. (in a small test spot). It might just peal off easy, especially if the paint is an old hard glossy oil. And do not paint without telling your landlord. He just might have paint from other projects that he is willing to give for nothing. If your cabinets and walls are greasy and old oil paint, they need proper prep. Primer before an inexperienced latex application. It will peel and be a bigger mess. Relationships and friends are so much more important. Embrace what you have...but at least scrub it! (should take about 4-6 hours.)

Where exists a lawn/landscape where a large tree or shrub does not block something behind it, if one happens to stand where those two elements and the eye are in direct line with one another? I know of nowhere! While having a view to something blocked might seem funny in a picture (because one has no other choice than to view it exactly as the picture presents it) but this is not how one experiences the landscape in real life. There, one is moving through it, where things in view are constantly being blocked and then reappearing. It's not a disconcerting thing unless the objects are close to each other, and one of them obviously shouldn't be there. In this particular case, The Bradfords seem no closer to the small trees than 25', so there doesn't seem to be a conflict. These are just trees in the lawn, separate from the house and they don't mean that you can't have other trees in other places. However, it is clear from the picture that someone doesn't think canopies of trees need to be "lifted" as the tree grows. Tree canopies represent ceilings, not walls. Here, the bottom of the Bradfords block the upper half of the first floor behind them. It is time to trim off the lower half of all the branches. This maintenance chores continues throughout a tree's life and eventually, the bottom of the tree is over the top of the house. The height of the eaves, would be a good guide to the minimum height of the clear space below a tree. One caveat about Bradfords, they are notorious for being short lived so I wouldn't base any design decisions on their existence. At about the age yours are, they are prone to splitting in half during a windstorm and that is the end of their life. You can probably find innumerable posts about this and a general consensus of dislike for their bad habits among landscape designers. Meanwhile, while they live and are beautiful, enjoy them. They're not going to hurt anything where they are.

I agree with Creative Design. A local small business cabinet maker will usually provide you with better service and quality. People also tend to think that these smaller custom shops are more expensive. While this can be true often they are more expensive simply because people ask for more elaborate work than they would from a stock cabinet supplier. Often I've found in our area when you look at an apples to apples quote from a stock cabinet supplier and a custom cabinet maker the prices are very close. So long as you don't get carried away with the extra options available to you, you can work within a budget.

Spring is for planting!!!! Plant the grass now. Don't buy grass seed from bags in a big box store. Much of what's in them is weeds. Well they're weeds in your climate. In other climates the seed you need would also be weeds for them. But your not only paying for seed you don't need but you're planting seed that'll haunt you forever. I'm talking Bermuda grass. My neighbor planted about a 1/3 of an acre with the stuff. It's all over the beds, A 3 foot wall of brown grass all winter in the vacant lawn on the other side of me. It's invaded the deep woods in back. And it sends runners all through my gardens. Find a place that sells grass seed from a large container with a scoop and a scale. Find a mix with perennial rye, fescue and Kentucky Blue grass. Here they sell a mix called Penn State Mix, maybe they sell the same mix as Mass Mix, I don't know. What I've always used is from Pennington Seed. They're getting bashed on the Internet, but I've never had problems with it. They used to recommend 3 pounds per 1000 Sq Ft. Now they say 4 pounds. I've always applied grass seed thick. Maybe 6 pounds per 1000 Sq Ft. I'd suggest you cover it with bulk Mushroom Compost which doesn't smell as bad as manure. When it rains on it or you water it most of the smell is gone. On either product. Spread the seed and then the mushroom compost about an inch thick. Throw the shovels full or rock the shovel so it falls off the sides as you rock. The depth isn't a science project. Two inches won't stop the seed from sprouting or keep the old grass from coming up thru it. But 2 inches costs twice as much as an inch. As far as the crab grass it's too late for this year. It's already sprouted. 2nd or 3rd week of April is about it to keep it from sprouting with pre-emergent. Weed killer won't kill it as it's a grass. As far as watering don't over do it. If it rains don't water. If it rains this evening don't water tomorrow, unless it gets to 90 or so. Remember one of the advantages of the mushroom compost is it keeps moisture in and under it. After it sprouts you'll see off grass sprouting. It has a different lighter green color. Pull it, it should come out easy. Walking on the grass won't hurt it. Mow it when it needs it. Waiting till you can't get the mower thru it or can't pick up the clippings won't make it worth putting off mowing. You can use a weed killer a month after the seed germinates. But remember; the fescue and Kentucky Blue grass takes 3 weeks to germinate. So wait at least 6 weeks to apply weed killer. This fall over seed with the same grass seed or spot seed as needed. Next spring apply the Pre-emergent for the crab grass.