Our Super Easy, DIY Faux Tin Ceiling

Catherine
by Catherine
3 Materials
$400
4-8 Hours
Easy
As a part of our 1920 house restoration, our electricians had to cut holes into our living room and dining room ceilings in order to update the wiring. This is what we were left with.
What to do? Drywall over the entire ceiling? Try to patch it? Cover it somehow? If you’ve ever drywalled a ceiling, you know it is anything but fun, so that was our last choice. And, because the existing ceiling was textured, it would have been challenging to try to patch the hole and then recreate the same texture.
So, weighing heavily the time/effort factors, we landed on option C: cover it up. We put up some of our drywall scraps up to cover the hole, and started our search for our new ceiling. In poking around online, I found these perfect foam ceiling tiles on Amazon (see the blog for the link!). For our living room and dining room (about 420 sq ft), we ordered 4 boxes of 40 tiles. We had about 10 leftover after all was said and done.


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I wasn’t sure what to expect when ordering them – how thick they would be, how heavy, etc. When I got the box in the mail, I was pleasantly surprised. They felt like Styrofoam, and were super thin and lightweight, but appeared to be sturdy and realistic.
These tiles were so easy to work with. All we did was put adhesive on the back of each one and pressed it onto the ceiling. I’ll admit, we didn’t follow the instructions on how to ensure the tiles stay square with the wall, but it turned out fine. We started with one square in the middle where our light fixture was, and cut a hole out inside the circle, which actually lined up perfectly with the pattern of the tile. We used standard scissors to cut the tiles as needed.
We finished off the ceiling with some crown molding, which we found at Lowe’s for $9 per 16 ft piece. This one particular kind was way cheaper than the rest, but it got the job done!
This weekend, after eating lots of turkey and mashed potatoes, we’re hoping to uncover our floors and take our furniture out of storage. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to start decorating for Christmas.


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We’ll be back soon with more updates on the reno. In the meantime, check out the blog for more photos and product information.


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Happy Thanksgiving, All!
Catherine
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Mary Russell Mary Russell on Mar 10, 2018

    Speaking of fire hazard,some of this type material's real deadly danger is the toxic vapor given off if it ever does burn.Some vapors are s deadly that even small amounts will incapacitate.

  • Laurie Laurie on Mar 12, 2018

    Great idea! We have water damage from a tree and insurance won't pay for any of the damage. This is affordable and we can do it ourselves

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