I need cheap ideas for replacing a dropped kitchen ceiling.

Depending on what the dropped ceiling is hiding, You might be able to just remove them and paint. If you run into a warren of pipes and wires, you may be able to corral them into a pvc pipe or box them into a tin or wood cover that you screw to the ceiling. If you just cannot face what that dropped ceiling is hiding, you might want to remove the ceiling and drape fabric over several curtain rods as a temporary fix until you can afford a more permanent fix of your choice. If it is a dropped ceiling with an aluminum framework you can just use that framework to hold your fabric and change the fabric by "tile" or by row.

You can take the tiles down - carefully - and paint and stencil them. Below is a lattice stencil that would work for any decor. You'll have it easy because you can stencil the tiles on the ground. Paint the hangers the same color as the lattice and you will have a very lovely ceiling. This stencil is at etsy.com. Oh, and use a good primer on both the tiles and the hanger. Good luck.

p.s. If you break a corner of a tile, use construction glue to glue it back together. Nothing lost!

There a faux tin ceiling tiles... some available online for under $5 each... most are a foam composite or plastic... and can be painted any way you want.... they look like the old tin ceiling tiles

They are not that expensive to replace.

We removed ours and there was funky plaster ceiling, not terrible. We loved the new height of our ceilings because the kitchen looked bigger and brighter. Not large, so we were able to hire s

Someone to wallboard the ceiling. But if it’s just staining, seal it and paint if it’s nasty, cover with bead board or faux-tin. Do not be intimidated, and take your time and research and get/borrow a tall ladder. Have fun with this. And take your time.

I would shine a flashlight up there, and if there's no pipes or electrical conduit, I would take it down and repaint the ceiling and walls. If there is pipe and electrical up there..... I would take each tile down and repaint it, or paper them with something interesting like a tin ceiling look. Get a roll of anaglypta wallpaper, glue it to each tile and then paint like a tin ceiling with a metallic paint or just plain white, and rub the design with some metallic to make it look aged.