Drop Ceiling Nightmare

Hey gang

So, I have begun designing the basement tiki room, and I am trying to figure out what do with the ceiling. I have one of those awful 2'x2' grid drop ceilings, and I want to try and make it less boring. Thing is I need access to the space above the drop ceiling.

Any suggestions?

I was thinking of taking out a few of the tiles in random areas, and suspending barrels and glass floats through the ceiling... like the trader huts at Disneyland. I just don't know what to do about the tiles.

Thanks

Remember that paper I told you about?
Just glue that to each one.
Or use bamboo fence glued/wired to each one.
Then take 2 inch bamboo to make a cross beam to hide
drop ceiling grid.
Or hide grid with the paper by leaving extra on the ends.
You could paint it all a dark color then mask with burlap or cloth.
At Trader Vic's and the Mai Kai they use oriental news papers
just glue it to the ceiling then shellac.

That would be my advice too. Work with what's there to disguise the fact that it's a dropped ceiling. It would be much easier and cheaper than trying to replace it.

Here's an idea, made possible by a local restaurant. A night sky made by drilling out some holes in the drop ceiling, painting it black, and mounting a light above it. You could make the stars any colour you want, and even make them multi-colour by using a color wheel.

(follow link below to see the picture)

Any ceiling suggestions for our tiki room?

What is above the ceiling? Can you just remove the drop ceiling all together? Is whatever is above the grid easier to disguise than the tiles?

If you want to keep the tiles, paint is a good idea and easy and cheap.

Or, glue grass matts (or burlap, or even lightweight canvas) to the tiles.

Old newspapers work well.

If you don't mind the work, you can cut thin plywood to replace the tiles. Then you can stain or paint or whatever to the wood.

The star idea is really cool, as is removing some of the tiles to allow 'stuff' to leak in.

I've got the same ceiling...

Paint it dark brown, slap some split bamboo beams up there... hang fish netting... its not going to take a lot of weight hanging from it though if it is the cardboard/paper stuff. You can use screw in cup hooks to hang puffers and floats.

I did have to remove and replace some panels to install lighting... it is a pain in the ass. When the ceiling was put up I imagine they started at one end and ended at the other... everything is tongue and groove.

I used regular interior latex paint... if its white its going to take a few coats. Brush it, roll it, whatever it takes.

YEah, apint brown and wrap in burlap. Burlap is a very cheap and easy to find way to do a ceiling.

Thanks for the great ideas everybody. I am going to try several of them and see which one works out best.

I appreciate the feedback :)

Does anyone know of a good way to hang fishnets from a drop ceiling? I have a white drop ceiling in my home bar. At this point in time I'm not able to paint the ceiling. My plan is to hang fishnets and add starfish and other items in an attempt to subdue the stark white blandness of the whole thing. I have hung a couple of 8" x 10" nets with small Velcro stick on dots to see how it looks. It looks ok and does help cut down the white glare but doesn't seem to be very stable the way it is hung. Has anyone done this and have a good idea for hanging these things? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Trav the grids for those ceilings are usually hung from heavy wires attached to the real structure above. By pushing the tiles up you can see that support. You might tie fishing string to those wires and run them down between tiles.

Trav, you can also use little tiny spring clips and attach the nets to themselves- should look cool as they bunch together.

I also like the idea of the half bamboo strung up over the existing framework (as a grid). The space above the frame work could be filled with all sorts of cool stuff- or remove the entire hanging drop ceiling frame and have a higher ceiling- more room to hang lights, floats, etc.

Good luck and look forward to seeing photos!

Thanks for the tips. I'll looking into both of your ideas.

How bout these Trav?
They would hold up a net, and those tiles most of the time have many small holes in them so new small pin holes will blend in.

PS they can be found at any craft store.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K5V0ACC/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687542&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B003O8M8DW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0H1J8JNE6BH6CJMDQ2QJ

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2015-08-05 18:27 ]