{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.
Thanks for stopping by!
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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
Where to start?? We are currently working on bookshelves for our home office. Next…since we have a newly empty nest…we are renovating the beat up rec room into a more grown up area! So many options there. Want wainscoting, paint, carpet and light fixtures!! Can’t wait to get started!!
My kitchen cabinets are soon getting a refinishing/redo. I saw some new knobs and handles at Lowes’s that would make a perfect finishing touch! I’d love the giftcard to help with those.
Time and three dogs have destroyed plastic (looks like wood) blinds in our breakfast area. New ones would really look better and keep the afternoon sun out. Now, we keep them raised.
Your ceiling looks so much brighter now. Good job! I would use a gift card for my daughter who just bought her first home and is on a tight budget. There are a lot of things she wants to do to her home. I think that she would either use it for paint or a new light fixture. Something to make it feel more like home.
I would LOVE a gift card to switch out the 30-yr-old brass boob light in my kitchen!
Love your new home! Beautifully done! I would give the Lowes card to my son & daughter-in-law for some home improvements.
I would love to help my parents with some things around their home.
Congratulations on your new home 🙂
I need an area rug for my living room, would like to repaint the old bathroom cabinet and add new handles, have a piece of funiture I’d like to redo, tons of projects that the gift card could work towards, I’d just have to make the decision of which to start with. Thanks!!
Changing out these tiles sure does make a difference and I know you’ll be happy to have tackled that project sooner than later. I love how your new home is turning out and can’t wait to follow along as you decorate. I’m always so excited to see a new blog post from you. If I won I would use the giftcard toward getting a new vanity for my bathroom or maybe a new rug for my living room.
Like you, Rhoda, I’m always working on some DIY project at my house and I go to Lowes at least a couple of times a week. I would LOVE to win a $100 giftcard!
Can’t wait to see more pictures of your new home now that you are all moved in! Congrats……
Wow, we have so many basic maintenance needs we would love to win this gift card to help with expenses! Thanks for sharing!
We need window coverings and a gift card would help with that! Can’t wait to see the finished house! 🙂
we are building a new home, so there’s lots to do! we need to build a work bench in the garage… we need materials and tools! thanks for the giveaway! paleblueapron at gmail dot com
I would use it to purchase some pine tongue & grove boards to finish off my garden house walls.
What a difference the new tiles made! Looks like a whole new room.
Debbie 🙂
It looks wonderful! I’ve enjoyed watching the transformation of your new home! I love that you are all doing it yourself with your friends/family! It’s a hard decision to decide what needs fixing in my house, since it’s in a half remodeled state since I was laid off my job after 15 years a few years back. The new job can’t touch the pay so the house stays untouched and undone for now! But it would be nice to atleast get a toilet or flooring for the bathroom that has been missing all of that for years now. Let me tell you, the 3/4 bath we’ve been sharing as a family is just a bit cozy to say the least! LOL! Keep up the great work!
We have two sliding glass doors in our home that are very scratched up from the previous owners dogs. We would really like to replace them. The gift card would help cover some of the expense!
I would love a new front door for our home…they say the front door is the first impression people have of your home…and ours is very old an unappealing. 🙂
We need new flooring in our kitchen, could also replace sliding glass doors which are so fogged up and woodwork in our 97 year old house needs painting. Whew! We need a gift card, also need you and your parents but know you three need a much deserved rest.
I’d love to spruce up our master bedroom, paint would be a great start!