hi there
I have an older house and knotty pine paneling in almost all of my rooms. I have painted them. In my laundry room I have a beadboard ceiling

{{!gwi}}

I also had some rooms with just plywood ceilings. I covered one up with this styrofoam ceilings that is made to look like tin ceilings. It took me a little more than an hour to do and everyone loves it. I painted the ceiling with ceiling paint that is purple when wet and dries a matte white (with a lambskin roller to get in all the cracks and crannies) I paid a total of $156 for a 9x14 room. The styrofoam is insulating, cuts with a knife (or scissors) and very easy to do.
{{!gwi}}

Theoretically both would seem to be very busy but they work because of the age of the house. The beadboard works because it is what was up there when the house was built and the styrofoam works because it looks like tin ceilings and that is authentic of the time as well. I like the beadboard ceiling. I put down a vinyl floor that looks like ceramic tile. I could not use ceramic tile because the floor joists would not support it. I have not finished the rooms yet so that is why you only get a shot of the ceiling and a little wall. LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: ceiling tiles

I forgot to mention that the styrofoam goes on popcorn ceilings too

I love your house! What kind of floors do you have? Unfortunately we have wall-to-wall carpet (came with the house), but we hope to gradually change it over to hardwood. Not "groovy" but still more lines...
Shannon

I have pine floors but they were way too much work! I loved the idea of wood floors at first but after having to sweep several times a day it got old fast. I wound up putting textured carpet in my office (the mauve room with the styrofoam ceiling) and the living room.
My office looked like this before the mauve walls and with the plywood ceiling
{{!gwi}}
The room with the beadboard ceiling is the one I was describing above with the vinyl tiles that look like ceramic. It is not the kind that is in Lowes or HD though. these are a beige tile with a dark brown edge. It looks like ceramic tile. I got it from Habitat restore. It was not preglued. I have not been able to find it in any stores. Here is a photo of it. I took this photo because when we first put the tiles down we used the wrong glue and it seep out all the cracks. we had to use a different glue. the tiles look so much better in real life.

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I think I am the only person who has used real color paint on their paneling! In the first photo above I had them put one of the tiles on the machine to make that color. it came out a plain beige very similar to the color that was already there except I changed it from flat to sating finish

In my livingroom I have this color, white ceiling tiles (the kind often used in dropped ceiling) it will be replaced soon and now carpet on this floor
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My kitchen paneling is blue but I think I am going to repaint it a nice gold color
{{!gwi}}

All of my walls looked like this before painting. it was so dark and drab!!
{{!gwi}}

I painted the floors like this (floor paint and a few coats of poly)

{{!gwi}}
can you tell I am a little off the beaten path? LOL!

Thanks for sharing more photos. The paint job definitely brightened the room. I see your original paneling is nicer than the paneling we have. Ours isn't the cheap slick kind (it's all real wood), but it did come in 4'X8' sheets rather than the individual slats like yours appears to be. I'd have a hard time deciding whether or not to paint that kind. But it looks great! I'm going to try to start another thread on this...

yes I do have knotty pine paneling. I know what you mean about the brush providing a better texture. The only way to roll on paint on paneling and for it to look like anything is to use a higher nap roller (I like lambskin rollers) and also priming the walls first. The higher nap roller also adds a little texture to the walls. Primer helps the paint to stick. Brushing looks great but man is it a lot of work!!

Even though my walls look a little shiny in the photos I think eggshell finish looks awesome on the paneling. It is a step above flat paint and less shiny than semigloss.

Do I need to remove the sheetrock panels before attaching beadboard panels to my ceiling. Will the extra weight be to much?

I love the styrofoam ceiling that looks like tin! Also your vinyl floor that mimics ceramic tiles. I hope to put vinyl flooring in much of my remodel, but have it look like wood floors. So much easier to maintain, especially on a farm :)

Love the styrofoam ceiling! I am getting ready to take on painting my daughters basement paneling which is identicle to yours. I considered chalk paint and clear wax but when I saw your results am curious what process you used. Sanding? Primer? Caulk? We have already decided to brush as I agree the brush is a nicer look than a roller. Would love to hear about what worked for you.

do you have a link for the stryo stamped ceiling?

I've seen the original stamped tin/alum & the
vinyl stamped design...but never stryo.

thanks.

Energy_rater_la,

Armstrong says theirs is composed of "mineral fibers" (linked below). My parents used this to replace the ceiling in their house after Rita, and it looks very good. The only problem they had was that when the workers re-installed the crown molding, their hands were apparently dirty. If you look closely, you can see the smudges on those tiles along the edge of the room. They were too worn out w/ the rest of the reno to push the issue.

The "Kensington" style my parents used is still available (online only; used to be available in-store) at Lowe's for $78.54 per pack of 40 12"x12" tiles. Stine's used to carry it as a special order (and may still do), but they were significantly higher in price.

Search results today at lowes.com for "Armstrong tin ceiling" yielded 3 tin-look ceiling tile options:
http://www.lowes.com/Search=armstrong+tin+ceiling?storeId=10151&langId=-1&catalogId=10051&N=0amp;newSearch=true&Ntt=armstrong+tin+ceiling#!

Here is a link that might be useful: Armstrong Tin Look ceiling tile

My page doesn't show any of the pictures ya'll have included in your comments.

:-( How do you get to view the images??