I’ve had our new dining room in my head for months now. I knew I wanted to go bold in this space because if you can’t go bold in the dining room, where can you go bold? and I knew just the thing to do so. Several months before we went under contract for this house, Walls Republic reached out to me about their papers. They have so many beautiful options and while I was intrigued, the idea of a mural is what really got me excited.
The traditionalist in me loves a good mural, and the dining room is the perfect space to execute one. I’ve picked something that feels personal, and I can’t wait to get it up on the wall, but there is a lot to do in the meantime.
This past weekend Micah and I scrapped the popcorn off the ceiling. I had heard such mixed thoughts about doing this ourselves, so I was concerned, but boy was it easy! Messy, but easy. The prep and clean up are definitely the worst part. The scrapping is actually kind of fun (reminder: I’m not normal, so fun to me probably isn’t to most).
First, we taped off the floor with plastic to keep it from falling on the hardwoods. The perks of being married to a contractor are fancy things like rolling scaffolding. We set this up and Micah went to watch football oh, playoffs while I sprayed and scraped. First, take a fertilizer sprayer and fill it with warm water. Soak an area of the ceiling with the sprayer and let it sit a minute or two. I worked in about 3’x3′ sections, using a small but thick blade. You can buy much bigger ones, but I liked the control I had with this the best. The more you wet it down, the easier it comes off. We even had layers of paint on the ceiling and it just peeled right off! Here’s a bad iPhone video to give you an idea.
The good thing about laying the plastic is you just roll it up after you’re done and throw it all away. We’ll be prepping the walls to paint, so we didn’t have to worry too much about it getting on the walls, but if you’re not painting you may want to work down one side of the ceiling and wipe off the wall below right afterwards.
Most of what I’ve read about this process seemed to stop at this point. I didn’t really understand what people did after this. Turns out you probably need to float out the ceiling (mudding and sanding) afterwards for a smooth finish. While this is something we could do, for a few hundred dollars we can have someone come in and do it. We’re opting to pay someone for this step because we know they’ll do a much better job then we could, and we thought the money was worth our sanity. I have to say, I think it looks better already, and I know we’ll never regret the time or money we’re investing in this step to un-date our home.
Did you choose to go bold in your dining room?
Julia Konya says
Love the mural idea and the details of your ceiling.
Haley says
Wow, it already looks so much better. I didn't realize it was so easy to scrape off popcorn ceiling. I can't wait to see what type of mural you picked. I love the idea!
katie gavigan says
So excited about this. LOVE a good mural, and have several of the above images saved in my files. Can't wait to see how you execute!
Bethany DeVore says
I agree, some things are worth the money to hire out! I can't wait to see the mural you chose.
Brittany Cramer says
I can't wait to see what you do in this room! I have to prepare myself, because you're for sure going to blow our minds.
themakerista@gmail.com says
You're sweet. I think Micah's head might explode, if that counts. ๐
Albertina M. Cisneros says
I love Walls Republic! ANd can't wait another minute to see what you chose! This is going to be so amazing! So gald the popcorn ceiling was easy to take off. Your dining room has fabulous bones!
Sherri says
Good job!! so much better. You know what would look awesome? A mural on that fabulous ceiling of yours.
themakerista@gmail.com says
Ha, Sherri, that would look pretty fabulous on the ceiling, wouldn't it? ๐
Ruthie - Refashionably Late says
It looks great! In a previous post you mentioned that your ceilings may have been painted before which would make it harder to scrape off the popcorn. We've been thinking about doing it but our ceilings have been painted recently.
themakerista@gmail.com says
Ours had been painted recently too, and it just scraped right off! The key is lots of water and letting it set a minute or two. It makes a world of a difference!
Ruthie - Refashionably Late says
Good to know if we decide to tackle it!! Thanks Gwen!
Julie, Creative Little House says
I felt like my ceilings looked higher after I did mine. Don't know if you noticed anything like that afterwards. They look great, it's sooooo worth it! I love love the mural idea!
Jennifer@The Chronicles of Home says
Wow, I had no idea it was that easy to get the popcorn off! We have that unpleasant kind of swirled, half circle, raised finish on the walls leading down to the finished basement – I wonder if it's the same process. They make me cringe. WHY did anyone ever do those finishes on walls and ceilings?? I went very neutral on my dining room walls, but only because my chairs are hot pink ๐
Elizabeth @ The Little Black Door says
So glad it was a fairly easy process. Now I can't wait to see your mural!
Allison says
We did this exact thing in our house: Scraped ourselves, and then hired people to come in and finish it off. It was the best of both worlds- we felt like we saved money/had the pride of doing it ourselves, but the quality finish of someone who knew what they were doing do the finish work:)
Shavonda Gardner says
I never woulda thought mural but boy is it a FAB idea. And youre just the gal the pull it off. Its gonna be beautiful. Especially paired with those dark walls! I totally wouldve hired out that step too.
Caroline McKell says
This post comes at the perfect time as we are contemplating if we should hire out scraping our popcorn ceilings or doing it ourselves in our 2000 sq ft home. How long did it take you to scrape down the ceilings in just your dining room? Would you do it all yourself for an entire 2000 sq ft? Any advice would be helpful! Love your mural ideas and can't wait to see what you choose!
themakerista@gmail.com says
We're planning to do our entire house! It took an hour or two to do this room, I would say take it a room at a time (it's super messy and best to move everything out) but totally worth it!