How hard is it to scrape off popcorn ceilings?

Google popcorn ceilings. Messy and hard on knecks. Am thinking of covering with attractive surface and placing mdf or wood trim at edges.

https://www.hometalk.com/diy/repair/how-to-remove-popcorn-ceiling-23379673?r=1

We have done this, and it is a mess but so worth it. First, if the ceiling has been painted it is 10 times more work and difficult, probably not worth it! Our popcorn was never painted so all we had to do was get it wet. We used a garden sprayer to get the popcorn damp, it needs to be wet but not drippy. We then used a wide taping trowel to scrape off the popcorn. It looked like it snowed in the room, the wet stuff stuck to everything. once the popcorn was gone we cleaned up the mess and used joint compound to fix any nicks in the Sheetrock. Once the ceiling was sanded we were ready for paint. One coat of killz II and the two coats of paint. We loved the new ceiling so much we did the whole house. Yes, we are crazy!

Its super messy and you want to make sure the reason for the popcorn isn't to hide flaws in the ceiling. Ours was textured because whoever redid the ceiling (to lower and put noise barrier between the floors during a time when my 1910 2 story house was turned into a multi-family residence) did a lousy job. Then they painted over it with a high gloss paint. We decided not to remove the popcorn, but will be going over it when we figure out the look we like enough to do the entire house, because they did the high gloss paint and popcorn in every room