(1) so I guess you are not supporting matching the stain cover-up to the existing ceiling color?

(2) I have some BIN shellac based primer on hand in a can. (used it for knotty pine priming). Is that okay to use for this?

the wiping down each wall area immediately after rolling sounds hard logistically with 1 person. rolling a ceiling (in a room with furniture stuck in the middle) is hard enough as it is.

I'm leaning more towards going for the match. I suppose it can't hurt to try...

You could test the painter's tape on the wallpaper in an inconspicuous area. Most wallpaper is fairly durable. But rolling slowly and being prepared to wipe off any spills immediately is an easier way to go about it. I recently painted two of my ceilings without major spotting on the walls - it can be done. And I am not an expert painter.

If you cover the massive furniture with plastic and use a roller on a pole, you may not have to move the furniture. I strongly suggest you use a 7 inch roller in place of the 9 inch. It is lighter and easier to control when it is at the other end of a pole. You will have to buy a 7 inch roller frame - it won't fit on the standard 9 inch frame.

I assume you will paint the perimeter of the room with a brush and then use a roller (called cutting in). Best painting tip I ever received: paint the perimeter with the brush and let it dry completely according to the paint can recommendations. Then use the roller. It lets you work slowly and carefully with the brush and avoids "hatbanding."

It's funny that you posted this today. I was looking at my bathroom ceiling today, having painted it a couple weeks ago, and thought how good it looked and why did I wait so long to do it.

Maybe this is just because I am a pro, but painting a ceiling that has wallpaper on the walls is not that hard. Because of gravity, roller spatter falls down. In order to actually get roller spatter on the wallpaper you would have to roll fast towards the wallpaper and then allow the roller to spin freely...of course, don't do this. Just roll very slowly when you are rolling up tight to the wallpaper, and don't use cheap paint. The thicker flat paints designed for ceilings hardly spatter at all. You can try to touch up the ceilings (yes BIN will also work to kill stains) but ceilings are difficult for touching up even when you know the exact color because that is where all the light goes.

Thanks for the tips. The cutting in with the furniture in place could be really hard. I have to do cutting in real close to see well. Ditto just for even putting up blue tape. When I am doing that task on walls, I can only go about 4' at a time with my stepladder flush to the wall.

How about this idea? If I use a thin 6" roller (on extension pole) along the perimeter do you think I could avoid cutting in altogether? Those skinny rollers can get darn close. Maybe that will be good enough if my final color is close to current color.

Those rollers don't hold a lot of paint, but I would just use it for the perimeter.

I also have some leftover wallpaper still in partial rolls. I can use that to experiment with a pretend spill to see how it wipes up, if I am fast enough.

I think even the experts cut in with a brush.

of course.... I'm just speculating on how it might be if I don't cut in.

It is not the way I would do it, but , try it, if it works, great, if not, you have to cut it in properly. It is only paint

follow up:

I see why spray sealer was suggested. The non-spray is very thin. I had to be really careful about drips. The spray might have been an issue too close to the wallpaper though.

color matching:

Is it conceivable that builders (circa mid-80's) would prime a ceiling and NOT paint it? The primer color is an incredible color match. Its still drying a bit more, but it is amazingly good so far.