diy

One reality of frugal living is that few of us live in photo shoot-ready spaces. Our homes are are frequently smaller, dimmer or more awkward than we would like. The occasional ‘living well with and without’ series outlines problems and solutions to common decor woes. Today’s conundrum: dealing with the dreaded popcorn or textured ceiling.

Got popcorn problems, solutions or questions? Please share them below.

Toss the popcorn safely.
Do not just spray some solvent and get to scraping. Particularly if your popcorn was sprayed before 1979, it likely contains asbestos. Even if it postdates this time, you may have toxic lead paint lurking underneath. Be safe and have the appropriate testing done before you begin. Check out this complete tutorial from an experienced DIYer at JasonGraphix.

Cover the texture with ceiling tiles.
These Talissa Decor fire-retardant polystyrene ceiling panels are meant to mimic costlier metal tiles and can be adhered directly to the popcorn texture with glue. They also can be painted with either water-based acrylic or latex. If you want to install an actual metal tile ceiling, be sure to have the ceiling tested for asbestos because nails will pierce the popcorn texture. [UPDATE: Thanks to the company rep who clarified that these tiles are not fire-retardent.]

Paint the popcorn and limit contrast between the wall color and the ceiling and crown moulding.
Painting a textured ceiling is no fun but it’s an effective technique for improving its appearance. When the the fifth wall is a textured white cap sitting on top of a, say, a pale green room, its all the more noticeable by contrast and makes the entire room can read as unfinished, unsophisticated and a little cheap. Painting it 3 shades lighter than the wall color makes it blend seamlessly. Monochrome crown moulding likewise is sophisticated and modern but doesn’t draw too much attention to the textured ceiling the way contrasted white moulding would. Ready to paint? Check out this DIY Network tutorial.

Add details to the baseboards and other areas near the floor.
Yes, you will always know that ceiling texture is lurking somewhere above you but drawing the eye downward instead of upward will take the emphasis away from the ceiling. Make sure that your baseboard decoration–whether it is a simple painted stripe detail, a beefy traditional baseboard or a global tile treatment– is in scale with your room size and ceiling height. The smaller the room and the lower the ceiling, the smaller the detail should be.

Avoid torchieres and other up-lights.
There’s no reason to spotlight what you hate so don’t shine a light directly on an unattractive ceiling. Floor lamps are okay but their light should be diffused and optimally, directed more downwards than upwards.

Try canopy camouflage.
A bedroom is perhaps the worst place for a cottage cheese-textured ceiling because you will inevitably end up on your back, staring directly up at it. Even if you don’t drape the entire ceiling, spare yourself the pain by installing simple, sail-style canopies that partially block the view of the texture and pull your eye across the fabric, rather than to a single point in the middle of the ceiling, like mosquito net style canopies.

Opt for lower furnishings where possible.
Again, by creating interest near the floor, the focus will be taken away from the ceiling. Low furnishings like Moroccan poufs, low coffee tables, colorful or interesting rugs, accessories like stacked firewood, etc., create a very subtle emphasis in the lower third of the room, much more than the typical Western room.

Paint the ceiling a dark, cool, natural color.
It takes a lot of moxie and very high ceilings to make a black, grey or navy ceiling work, but work it can. A very dark, matte color can make the ceiling recede and make the texture less visible. The key is to start the darker color on the wall, several inches lower than the ceiling and then bring it up. If you feel the r0om becoming more cave-like than spacious, stop and reassess.

Embrace the 70′s aesthetic and popcorn pride.
There was a time when the textured ceiling made a lot of sense to a lot of people. That time was the ’70′s. Before you denude your home of all of its wooden panelling, avocado bathrooms and textured ceilings, consider embracing the moment in an updated way. Chrome, lucite, lacquer, melamine and Saarinen-like shapes all reference the era and are still relevant today pared with contemporary pieces and you can use the original ceiling as an accent rather than an embarrassment. Look to sites like Retro Renovation for some of the most interesting period spaces and click on the below Design Sponge photo for a retro-inspired room.

Tagged as: ceilings, decorating solutions, living well with or without series, making it livable

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