Do you have ugly popcorn ceilings in your house? Ever thought about scraping them, spackling them or covering them up somehow?

When we moved into our super 90’s house we had to get creative with what we wanted to do with our popcorn ceilings. Scraping sounded like a messy mess, spackling and creating our own knockdown sounded like a messy mess. So we decided to cover them up!

We made a trip to our local home improvement store and started the search for what we were going to cover the ceilings with. We decided on beadboard, 1X4s and some crown molding.

After measuring our master bedroom ceiling more than once, we were confident in the amount of lumber and bead boarding that had to be purchased. The sheets of beadboard were super affordable and the 1X4s were pretty cheap, the crown molding was a bit on the expensive side but that only trims out the room, so cost was minimal.  After picking up everything we needed, we headed to the checkout and (pro tip!) made sure to use any discounts that they had offered! 

We loaded everything into the SUV and headed back to our house to get started. We did zero prep to the ceiling because it was just going to be covered up anyway, so we were able to get to work right away. 

 We started by placing the first row of beadboard in the far corner and working our way down, row by row. This eliminated lots of cutting. We essentially let the original size of each sheet lead us to the end grid pattern. We secured the sheets of beadboard onto the ceiling using our air compressor and brad nails.

After all of the beadboarding was secured to the ceiling, we proceeded to create the grid using the 1X4s. The beadboard panels were already creating a grid of their own so we simply covered the edges of the beadboards. We placed 1X4s along the seams of each beadboard and secured them to the ceiling using the brad nails.

Side note, you will need a partner to hold up the beadboards while the other one nails them in place!

 Then it was time for crown molding! This really brought the entire coffered ceiling together. We measured and cut all of the crown molding first, fit all the joints together and then began to nail it in place. We made all of the cuts using a miter saw.

 Next, it was time for the finishing touches, which, in my opinion, is the most important part.

 We started by filling all of the nail holes and joints of all of the woodworking with paintable caulk and wood filler. After this process was completed, we moved on to using a paint sprayer to paint the ceiling in a bright white color with a satin finish. 

 Time to step back and enjoy our work!

 The entire project took about two weeks of working on it very part-time and cost us less then $300.

Materials used:

• Beadboard sheets (3X5)
• 1X4s
• Crown molding
• Air compressor
• Nail gun & nails
• Miter saw
• Paintable caulk
• Spackle or wood filler
• Paint

I’d love to help you troubleshoot troublesome projects in your own home. I also love to help clients figure out simple fixes that will increase the value of a house while house hunting. I’d love to chat, so reach out if you have any questions!