For those of you planning to remodel a room, to include the dreaded ceiling, you do have option other than painting. One of those options could be to use regular (flat) wallpaper or textured wallpaper. Textured wallpaper gives the room a sense of depth and sophistication that painting doesn’t always offer. Also, you can use it, if you find that the overhead work (spackling & sanding) are becoming too much or too messy to do.

Almost all of the textured wallpaper on the market comes with preglued backs and in the color white. You’ll be surprised at how simple it is to install.

Simply, wet the material in the bathtub roll it on to your ceiling, and line of the diagrams of the next layer. Let it dry, then paint it the color you want. It really is that simple.

You’ll also find that it isn’t that expensive and the rolls go a long way. They come in several types of designs and patterns.

Also, if you want, you could simply use ordinary wallpaper with the pattern and colors that fit your preference or need.

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The kitchen, to most people, is the hub of the home. It’s where food is cooked, conversations made, guests hosted, and friends gather. Gone are the days, where the kitchen was the woman’s part of the home. Now, both man and woman can share and enjoy the space together or apart. When it comes to home improvements, the kitchen goes to the top of the list when it comes to ideas, preparations, and the amount of money you’ll find yourself spending to get it the way you want.

Below we have gathers some photos to show you what the market has to offer. You’ll find that Oak and Cherry are the two dominating woods in the kitchen market, though there are plenty of exceptions. These two woods offer the beauty and long life, homeowners crave.

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It’s kind of surprising how many people want to do small home improvement projects that require drywall, but pay out big money to have someone else do it. Know how to cut and hang your own drywall (sheetrock) is very gratifying and it will save you a lot of money.

At your local home improvement store, you’ll probably find the drywall is fairly cheap and so are all the tools that come along with it.

There are several ways to cut drywall: saw, dremel tool, razor, knife, and so on.

I prefer to simply use a razor followed by a rasp.

The most important part about cutting is having all your measurements marked correctly. Even if you are using a T-Square. Remember the old advice, check twice, cut once.

Once you’ve marked your drywall and drawn your line for the cut, double check to make sure you have it elevated slightly off the floor. Simply place a 2×4 under the sheetrock. That way, when you get to the end, you don’t accidentally, bring your razor off the sheet and cut into your carpet or hardwoods. (It happens all the time).

You don’t have to cut very deep into the drywall, simply score it with about 1/8 of an inch if the razor.

Once that’s done, bend the drywall at the seam of the cut, you’ll find that it should break along the line rather easily.

After that, finish the cut by running your razor down the seam of the bend on the back side (brown side).

Use your rasp to smooth down the cut sides. Most people tend to want to take their razor to it. You’ll find that it doesn’t work all that well.

If you go to hand the sheet rock and find that a hair needs to be trimmed, use the rasp to help with that. Too much rasping is messy, but it beats bending over to make another cut.

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Considering what your ceiling looks like is just as important as what you want the wall to look like.  Often, the ceiling will add a since of comfort, 3 dimensional design, or formalness depend on how it was done.

When it come time to do your ceiling, there are tons of options, supplies, and techniques.  The most common is for people to simply roll plaster using a textured or stiff roller.  Below are some different ideas and photos for your consideration.

Skip Trowel Application

Apply texture to workable areas with either a roller or trowel. Trowel the textured surface using fan shaped strokes with a dry wall trowel. The finish will resemble stucco when completed.

Combed Finish

Apply texture with a roller or trowel, and then comb with a notched edge trowel to achieve wavy lines. You can then swirl these lines into any desired pattern such as fans, intersecting circles or a combination.

Knock-Down Texture

Roll your texture compound onto the ceiling, working in manageable sections of three to four square feet. Allow the compound to set for 10 to 15 minutes. Use a wide drywall trowel to flatten the high points. This will leave a textured surface that will have flat areas with some roughness in between. This pattern is random.

Brushed Finish

Use stiff brushes similar to the type used to apply wallpaper paste to create patterns in the texture. This technique requires placing the brush into the wet texture and twisting to form overlapping patterns.

Patterned Rollers

Patterned rollers are available to make different patterns on textured ceilings. The roller has a hard surface with raised repetitive patterns carved into the surface. Popular patterns include bark, stipple and woven. The rollers are available from paint stores and home centers.

Orange Peel

Orange peel texture requires specialized equipment to spray the texture onto the ceiling. The spray equipment is available at most rental centers. This application requires thoroughly covering floors, doors and woodwork. This finish must be primed and painted when dry.

Acoustic

Acoustic finishes are sprayed on in three sizes and resemble popcorn texture. This finish has sound-deadening properties and requires priming and painting.

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