{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!
- Follow Lowe’s on Twitter
- Become a Fan of Lowe’s on Facebook
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
Your new ceiling looks wonderful! I need to do some painting around here. My woodwork is in sore need of a do-over!!!!
We have so many irons in the fire, and each one screaming Pick Me! Pick Me! We are remodeling/rehabing a fixer upper and I found some cute tile at Lowes for one of the bathrooms that I would love to purchase with the gift card! Thanks Rhoda and Lowes!
I am in desperate need of a new counter top for my master bath. I hate for visitors to see have bad it looks, shoot I hate to look at it myself.
Hi Rhoda,
What a huge transformation. I have so enjoyed following the renovation of your new home. I would use the gift card to help convert a room in my home to a sewing room.
Thanks,
Tina
I would love to add some beadboard to my bath – new paint too!
Smiles, Rhoda — I’m a new blogger up here in the mountains in good ole Blairsville, GA, and having a ball. You will laugh out loud when I tell you I’ve been renting the same property for nearly 8 years because I can’t find anything I like more than I LOVE Dove Cottage (go to my blog at Blairsvillager.com and click on Dove Cottage, and you’ll see why). The owners are wonderful native Blairsvillagers, and I adore them, but they see no need to replace the old florescent light in the kitchen with two or three nice pendants, and I’ve been looking at that ugly thing for 8 years, and I’m not gonna take it anymore, LOL. So put my name in the hat, dear heart. Love you lots — have a great day! ~Jo
I would use the Lowe’s gift card towards a brand new front door. My dark little foyer needs some bright morning sunshine!
Hi Rhoda,
Congratulations on your new ceiling. It looks great! I’m so happy for you and your new home! You deserve all the best this world has to offer.
I’m so happy for you to be on the receiving end of so many wonderful blogging blessings to renovate your home. We love Lowes’s and really need privacy curtains on a open set of windows facing our street. We’ve had several tragic and frightening events in our community the last few weeks and I’d feel more comfortable with covered windows.
Thanks for offering the giveaway. Paula Romer
I would use the gift card to help me buy a new kitchen sink.
I think i would totally use them to replace our ceiling tiles, as well. They are DISGUSTING!
We need shelves in our garage!
Your house really looks good, I know your glad to be moved in. I would use a Lowes gift card to replace the floor in my living room. Thank you.
I just can’t believe the transformation! You have done a great job through the whole house.
I would use the gift card to buy fixtures for our half bath down stairs.
We need some new lighting inside and out.
Hi Rhoda. You are my inspiration. I love all you have accomplished. I am a widow and try to get things done by myself so I am learning a lot following your blog. My outside house lights have a short in the wire and are very old so they all need replacing. If I won the Lowes gift card I would tackle that project because I cannot afford it with everything else and it would go a long way to make me feel safer. Thank you and Lowes for the opportunity.
I would get a new wall mounted mailbox, door mat and paint for the front door!
Wow a gift card from Lowe’s would help replace my warped ceiling fan!
Would love to win the Lowe’s giftcard to add beadboard to my laundryroom!
Thanks for the opportunity to enter your giveaway.
Paint our daughter’s bedroom!
We’re redoing our guest bathroom. I’d use it toward a new vanity purchase. Thanks!