planked ceilings

Yesterday, I posted about our bad ceilings and how I am debating whether to try to repair or lay over them. Today, at least, I am leaning towards laying over them. I have done some searching and I really like the character a beadboard or tongue and groove planked ceiling adds to a space. It also seems like the more doable option without as much maintenance required but I also could be totally off base on that. If we decided to do this treatment, I would want to repeat it in a few different spaces so it doesn't feel out of place or specific just to the stairs. I am thinking I could do it in the walk in closet area of the project room as that ceiling is in bad shape and is an eye sore on our otherwise complete room. Also I am liking the idea of doing it in the future mud room as it currently has a popcorn ceiling that definitely has to go. Additionally, there is a tiny pass through space between the family room and kitchen that still has ceiling tiles we are going to need to address at some point.  Anyone ever installed a beadboard or tongue and groove planked ceiling before? 

from top left - via Pellmell Creations - via Elle Decor - home of Patricia Fischer via HomeDit - home of Amanda Peet via Vogue - via House Beautiful - source unknown

our bad ceilings

I didn't get any real house projects accomplished this past weekend but I did gather my supplies and do a little prepping to paint our stair landing. The transformation won't seemingly be huge as the walls and trim are already white(ish) but a fresh coat of paint can really work wonders to freshen a space. The only problem is the ceiling...

One of things, I have learned is that while ceilings are attempting to ignore they do make a big impact on the feel of a room. A smooth, straight bright white ceiling lifts the eye and makes the room feel larger. While a cracked, poorly finished and dirty white ceiling instantly makes a room feel old and dated. We have already tackled refinishing two ceilings in our house - the master bedroom and the office.

When we bought the house they looked like this...

Bad adhered acoustic tiles that Jeff ripped down on our first work weekend. Once the tiles came down, the ceilings looked like this...

We then handed over the job to professionals who put up new drywall and did an incredible job of making it extra smooth and level. This is what the master bedroom looked like on paint day/the day before we moved in as I rushed to finish the job.

This is how the two ceilings look now.

Pretty exciting stuff for us but for most everyone else I understand that they are just ceilings. But see what a difference it makes! We still have to replace the air vent and get a light in the office. And in the master, we have to caulk the gap between the cove molding and ceiling but at 95% of the way there I call the project complete. 

So now that we are spoiled with two fresh, new drywall ceilings we have to decide what to do about the stair landing. It doesn't have ceiling tiles but it is cracked, patched with different color whites and just overall quite ugly. The photos don't do a great job of conveying its shabbiness. 

In addition, the ceiling over the stairs is in even worse shape.

Ideally, it would be great to have our skilled professionals come back and put up new drywall in these two areas but I don't think its in the cards for us. So I am considering either trying to skim coat/repair them or maybe overlaying bead board or tongue and groove planks. Any readers have experience with old plaster ceilings?