Walls, paint and texture?

Some contractors will recommend replacing the sheet rock on the ceiling, it makes less of a mess.

Sheetrock really isn’t that expensive nor is it hard to put up. This may sound scarey but just gut the room and do it over! Have the old stuff down by lunch and the new sheets up by dinner! An average room can be done in a day. It’s easy peasey.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/drywall4.htm

@Tropical_Willie I guess that makes sense.

@DWW25921 I never had fond memories of hanging sheetrock. But it could have just been the people I was helping the dust disorganization and I was usually stuck holding the sheets in place… Strong enough to do the heavy lifting but too much of a girl to be handling power tools. Lol. I should rectify that.

Your link is awesome.

@Unbroken Thanks! People have been giving me a hard time about referring others to crap so I’ve been trying a little harder. It’s not hard but it can be irritatingly monotonous.

You can buy drywall scaffolding that will hold your piece in place so you can put it on the ceiling. It’s pretty ingenious. I’m guessing some place should be able to rent it to you. Not sure what it’s called though.

Popcorn texture is a pain in the ass to deal with. Yes it can be scraped off but your best bet is to scrape it down to a manageable level then put ¼” sheetrock over the entire ceiling and tape, float and texture the new rock. Be sure to use the rock to rock drywall screws to install it.
As for removing the texture, the best thing that I have found is an 8” floor scraper, one of the ones with the replaceable thin blades. And, replace the blades regularly. Also, it will take a little bit of experimentation/practice to be able to remove the texture without cutting the paper but that is just part of it.
Good luck

@rojo Couldn’t you simply scrape it, and then put texture over that?

Really, it depends on the texture you are going back with. Most builders, at least around here, use a light stomp and drag and that ends up with a spotty background. The heavier the texture the less it looks like your ceiling had measles.