Dining Room Project: Remove Popcorn Ceiling

Back when we started our dining room makeover we only had in mind to repaint. Like a lot of projects it turned into a bear.
One lovely morning we had the thought to remove the popcorn ceiling before painting. If you get thoughts like this, ignore them.
Seriously though after watching a few YouTube videos it seemed easy enough.


I said: Let's just try a spot and see. Me: Why did I say that out loud?


That is my husband doing most of the popcorn ceiling work.


Fill a spray bottle with water. Saturate an area on the ceiling and let it sit for a few minutes.


Don’t be impatient and let the water do the work for you. The YouTube videos did not stress this, we found out by trial and error. Grab an easy to hold wide drywall scraper and the layers of popcorn paint just scrape off.


Have a plastic tarp underneath the area you are working on for easy clean up. Wear a mask. Close off the room from the rest of the house with plastic.


Preparation and clean up was almost as time-consuming as removing the popcorn paint.
I called them our "dreadlocks" of popcorn paint hanging off the ceiling. It really was not that hard to scrape the layer of popcorn ceiling paint.
This is why you want to lay down a seperate piece of plastic to catch the debris. I was slightly mad at this point of the project.


After removing the popcorn ceiling it needed to be patched and sanded.


Before painting the walls, we sanded a few spots and then removed the dust from the walls and ceiling and washed the walls with TSP.
After doing all this prep work I almost forgot what paint color I picked. This is Benajmin Moore Palladian Blue that reportedly changes colors depending on the light. I don't know, do all paint colors do that? Palladian Blue is in the designer gray family.


See my blog post at the link below the rest of this project and my inspiration ideas for this dining room project like Our DIY Transom Window Entryway Our DIY Transom Window Entryway
Popcorn Ceiling After
It is hard to take after photos of the white ceiling and palladian blue walls. I hope these photos and the one below of our dining room project progress will give you inspiration for your own projects.


Removing the popcorn ceiling was one of the best updates we have done.
One thing about Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue is that it is a blue that goes well with wood trim.


Thank you so much.


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Sue @ Housekaboodle
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Puppymom Puppymom on Oct 20, 2016
    Is this a popcorn ceiling that has not been painted?
  • Brayjo12 Brayjo12 on Oct 23, 2016
    Beautiful outcome and thanks for sharing. I've been looking for a rug like Your's in that color. Do you mind sharing where you found it
  • Christine Christine on Jan 23, 2017
    Is a popcorn ceiling another name for a stippled ceiling? I live in Canada, maybe it's just a terminology thing.
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  • Cherie Cherie on Dec 03, 2018

    I love the way ceilings look after scrapping off popcorn. I have done this before. My problem is the popcorn has been painted and doesn't absorb the water.

  • Kev Lar Kev Lar on Jan 28, 2019

    Hope you had it tested for asbestos, any home pre 1986 even should have it tested for asbestos in the drywall compound and in the stipple/popcorn ceilings.

    You'd be surprised by the calls we get as a Hazmat company after it’s been done.

    Whole house contaminated with dust and debris from a ceiling scrape.

    spend the $ to get an assessment instead of $$$$$$$$$ to get it cleaned!!!!

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