{Giveaway is Closed}
The winner is #164: Lee in Ky! Congrats, Lee!
One of the last things Dad and I did before my move in date, was change out the ceiling tiles in the den. Well, most of them anyway. We still have to fix the ones where the light fixtures are attached and the ceiling vents, so there’s a little more to finish out before they are completely done. But, it’s amazing the transformation of just changing out the saggy old ceiling that was there since probably 1979, when the house was built. It was a mess up there.
Here’s the old, saggy ceiling tiles, which were very yellowed and just plain disgusting. I’m so glad I was able to change them out, they feel so fresh and clean now. Thanks to being part of Lowes Creative Bloggers team this month, we were given a giftcard to do any project we wanted to. Bingo! This was at the top of my list and I’m so grateful that I had enough to cover this. Cost for the ceiling tiles was just under $250.  I think it was worth it to change them out, makes a huge difference.
I did go in and roll white ceiling paint over all the gridlines to freshen them up too.
Then, one by one, I popped out the ceiling tiles. They were very brittle from age and lots of gunk was on top of them. I wore my safety glasses to keep stuff from flying in my eyes.
My dad is a pro at giving directions, as you can imagine. 
I took them down and he toted them out of the house and stacked them up.
Me and my safety glasses.
And pretty soon we had a bare ceiling with all the duct work showing. We left up the light fixtures for now and will get those changed out soon. If the ceiling just had open wood up there, I would have considered painting it, but all the duct work is up there too, so I’d rather keep the drop ceiling for now.
There was so much debris up there that fell out every time I pulled out another one. Lots of vacuuming going on afterward.
And one by one, those ceiling tiles went back up. It’s a matter of just inserting them back into the empty space and letting them settle into place. Not hard, but takes some patience to get them all in place, since there are wires on many of the ends of the grids that you have to work around. And the ceiling tiles are a little bit fragile, so you have to take care of the edges of them.
We went back after all the big tiles went in and cut these smaller pieces. I took out the old ones and drew a template for the new ones from those. We ended up getting out the table saw and it worked well for cutting these partial tiles nice and straight. I popped them all back in one at a time.
And now I have a fresh new ceiling that looks tons better than the old. No more sagging and yellow color.
We will fill in those holes very soon and it will all be finished with clean new tiles. So glad I decided to tackle this one now instead of later. It will feel so much better. You can see the difference in color on that one to the left of the vent where the light fixture is now. Much more drab and dirty.
I love the new clean ceiling that I got with these Armstrong commercial ceiling tiles. These are just regular commercial grade 2×4’ ceiling tiles, #933 if you’re looking at the store. They were $37.00 for 5 boxes or more (contractor pricing). We used 6 boxes to complete this project.
Thanks to Lowes for supplying the giftcard for October for this updating project. It was the perfect finishing touch for my new den furniture. It will feel so much better in there now. I love being a part of Lowe’s Creative Ideas blogger team.
Here’s some great news too! Lowe’s is giving away to ONE of my readers a $100 giftcard, so you can get busy on a project of your own. Just leave a comment telling me what needs doing at your house. I’ll choose one winner at random in a few days.
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Giveaway is sponsored by Lowe’s. U.S. resident addresses only, please.  I received a giftcard for my project, but was not compensated for this post and all ideas and opinions are my own.Â
I would love to strip and refinish some doors in my house with the Lowe’s giftcard. We live in an ~150 year old house and there are always projects to tackle.
We need to paint most of our walls in our house. Plus, we would love to get a storm/screen door for our front and back doors.
We are adding on a guest bedroom/bath as a DIY, and I would LOVE to have this Lowe’s card for things needed for this project! Thanks so much for sponsoring this giveaway, and BTY, your home looks AMAZING now! My gosh, you are so talented 🙂
I’m redoing my kitchen as time and money permits. Been working on it for 8 months so far. Still need lighting ,and also back splash tile would be nice.
I’d love to start on a mud room area in our garage! Bench to take off shoes, with storage underneath. Bead board back wall with lots of hooks for coats and backpacks. Fresh coat of paint on the wall and chalkboard paint on the door going into the house. I think our entrance from the garage should be just as fancy and functional as from the front door. I can just see it now…
I need primer and paint for the den in my parent’s 50 year old house… like, yesterday, lol.
We would buy paint to create a more cohesive look for some of our furniture, LED light bulbs for our light fixtures, and materials to build a bookcase for our office.
I had concrete poured yesterday for a laundry room & will be needing flooring & lighting & everything else. Thanks
We could use the gift card towards our master bath. We need to purchase new tiling for the shower. Always something to do.
Thank you for the opportunity to win! By the way, I have enjoyed your renovating process and wish you all the best. Enjoy your new home!!!
We just finished replacing our ceiling tiles too and I love love love my new ceiling …. we actually used sheets of plywood cut into 8″ strips and it is exactly what I hoped for. Now we have to hang the new light fixtures, purchase a ceiling fan (I’m in South Louisiana and we’ve got to have one) then start on the moulding. I’d use the gift card towards finishing my ceiling!
Would love to see pics of your new ceiling. My den/family room ceiling is stained really bad, from water leaks (which have been fixed) and needs to be replaced, looking for ideas. Anything would look better, but would like something that looks nice and not too expensive—–short on funds and not very talented when it comes to DIY projects.
We’ve lived in this house since 1974 and never had any funds to remodel…don’t even know where to start, but very embarrassed to have people come into our home because the first thing that catches your eye is the horribly stained ceiling. So many things need to be done. Would appreciate a gift card from you & Lowes.
I have by dying to spruce up our bedroom to make it more of a haven space. This gift card would definitely be motivation to get started!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Sharon
[email protected]
My front door is badly in need of being replaced before winter hits! I would use the money as part of the payment for that.
I would use this gift card to buy shelving boards for a hall closet project. Thank you
You and your dad are doing a great job — that’s a big job!
I’ve been following your reno from day one and its been interesting and educational for me. My daughter just closed on Monday on a old/new home and after seeing it completely empty is reminding me a little of your situation. Lots of work needed! So I would give a Lowes gift card to her for one of several fixes she will needing. Enjoy your beautiful home.
Planning to get pavers from Lowes to make a backyard patio to cover up the dirt. Lowes has the nicest pavers we’ve seen and we’d love to get this project started. Thanks!!
We are in serious need of repainting all the bedrooms and ypdating the ceiling fans. Not sure which one I would tackle first, they’re both pretty desperate. And wow, what a difference those ceiling tiles made in your room. Great job!
We are redoing my grandmother’s house so there’s lots of ways to use $100. Maybe a new ceiling fan or some new blinds. Your house is looking great!
I would love to make a cozy window seat/book nook for our basement playroom!
I would love to have the gift card to Lowes for my laundry room. I have no cabinets or shelves in there, and with four children it is not practical. Since this is “my space” I would love for it to be beautiful.