Popcorn

This stuff is terrible. I understand the initial advantages behind popcorn ceiling texture; easy application, acoustic deadening of a room, effective hiding of imperfections. The bad part is, it is eons out of style, difficult to paint, real ugly, and as I’m learning, difficult to remove. Oh, sure, we could just leave it there, but whatever would we do with our weekends and weeknights and lunches and … well you get the idea.
So, the removal goes something like this:

1. unroll el cheapo plastic sheets
2. apply $6 roll of tape to edge of sheets
3. try to forget that the rolls of tape cost $6 each
4. hang plastic sheets from top edge of walls
5. tape those sheets to the floor sheets (realize the futility of that plan later)
6. scrape and sand
7. chuckle as you recall the trailer home fight scene from Raising Arizona
8. remove plastic crapola
9. vacuum and dust nonstop for three days
10. repeat

One suggestion I read for popcorn texture removal was to buy drywall and just attach it to the existing ceiling. Obviously, whoever wrote that suggestion wasn’t nearly as smart as us.
So, we still have to scrape the two bathroom ceilings and the stairway. Following that is prepping, priming, and drag texturing. There might be too much relief in the ceiling to do the drag texture properly, at which point we may decide to do something creative. Any suggestions? Celestial map? Jelly Belly mosaic?