Rolled tin ceilings from the old days are hard to come by these days; if you do find one, it will probably be brittle, making it treacherous to work with. Plus, the price of brand-new tin ceilings is exorbitant. There is an inexpensive way, however, to get the look of a tin ceiling. All you need to do is head to your nearest home-decorating store and break out the wallpaper books.
Instructions
1. Measure the square footage of the ceiling. Purchase rolls of embossed, paintable wallpaper. There are patterns that look just like embossed tin ceilings.
2. Clean the ceiling by dusting it with a terrycloth towel draped over the end of a broom. If there are any paint chippings, scrape them away with a paint scraper.
3. Prime the ceiling with a water-based acrylic primer made especially for hanging wallpaper. Let the paint dry.
4. Turn the electricity off and remove the ceiling light fixture. Take the width of the room, divide by two, and measure in from one side wall; mark the exact middle of the room's full length.
Have someone hold the end of a chalk line-a roll of string encased in blue or rust-red chalk-at one end against the ceiling on one of the middle ceiling marks. Pull the chalk line across the room and, while standing on a ladder, lay the string over another middle ceiling mark. Pull the chalk line taut against the ceiling and snap it to create a chalk line on the ceiling.
5. Divide the width of the embossed wallpaper roll in half. Take that measurement and measure the full length of the room with the chalk line. Lay the chalk line along the marks and snap the line. This will be the first edge that the first strip of embossed wallpaper will be aligned along.
6. Cut all the strips of embossed wallpaper, adding 6 inches extra to each strip to allow for matching up of the embossed pattern.
7. Lay the wallpaper on a table and brush on a clay heavy-duty wallpaper paste. Be sure to work the paste into the embossed areas on the backside of the wallpaper.
8. Fold the wallpaper (paste-side to paste-side) and let it sit for at least 10 minutes to allow the paste to soak into the wallpaper.
9. Start at one end of the room and align the edge of the wallpaper along the second plumb line (the chalk line that was snapped onto the ceiling). Start the end of the wallpaper so 2 to 3 inches of it lies against the wall before pressing it against the ceiling. Do this so the next strip of wallpaper can be matched to the adjoining embossed pattern.
10. Carefully lay the wallpaper along the full length of the ceiling right along the plumb line on the ceiling. Don't pull on the paper to avoid stretching it. Work it into place against the ceiling with a soft brush. Be careful not to dent the embossed paper.
11. Place a straightedge at either end of the strip of wallpaper where the wall meets the ceiling and trim off the excess paper running down the wall. Run a sharp box-cutter along the straightedge.
12. Repeat Steps 5 through 9 until the ceiling is completely wallpapered. When the two outside strips of wallpaper meet the wall, lay the straightedge along the full length of the room and cut off the excess wallpaper.
13. Don't roll the edges of the wallpaper-this will damage the embossing. Wait 24 hours, then come back and finger-paste any lifted edges with the clay wallpaper paste. This doesn't have to be perfect: When the ceiling is painted, any imperfections will be filled in with the paint.
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