re: Will the popcorn ceiling make a comeback?

It would work it comes off easier if it is moistened or they also make a remover which can be found at Lowes. It is some manual labor to get done but it can be done.

We only had it in our downstairs bathroom, which we renovated into a laundry room. I had thought about scraping it off, but decided 2-3 sheets of drywall put up fresh would be easier, so I just tore it down. It probably made about as much of a mess as scraping, and the new went back up quickly. If the room isn't that large, just lay down some tarp and rip it down and put new up.

I removed it in 4 bedrooms and a large hallway upstairs, and just moved downstairs last week. It's not that hard IF the ceiling has not been painted (over the popcorn). If it's been painted, you're better off leaving it. If it hasn't been painted, it's fairly simple once you get some practice and realize how to angle your scraper so you don't gouge the shite out of the sheetrock.

Wood paneling and shades of blue ceramics ARE making a comeback.

The difference is the paneling these days can fool you at 2-3 inches instead of 20-30 feet.

No.

It stayed popular longer down here b/c we lacked skilled finish people.

It's just fast, cheap way to cover up crappy work.

Its a cheap way to improve the look of your home if you do it yourself. I did about 3/4 of a house we used to own and its time consuming, but pretty easy if you've done any of this kind of work before. Biggest problem is the mess it makes (not too bad on the front end scraping, but real bad on the back end when you sand the sheetrock mud prior to final paint). Use a sprayer like most folks use for chemicals in their yards to wet it down. There's a fine line of getting it too wet or not wet enough...you'll figure this out pretty quick. Too wet is worse because you'll scrape the drywall paper off with the texture which will add to what you end up mudding prior to paint...not wet enough and it won't come off. To do it right, you'll likely need to mud all nail/screw dimples because they didn't final finish them prior to putting the texture up. I recommend sanding all of the mudded locations after you scrape and then prime paint it with one coat. This will show all the locations that you need to mud and you won't have to guess...once this step is complete you can do final sanding and final coats of paint. Make sure to use the right paint...flat is the best and something with a lot of sheen is the worst because it will show all the imperfections.

Another thing you can do is just install new 1/4" drywall over the top of the existing and have a brand new ceiling, but that assumes you know how to hang/tape/finish drywall correctly.

Lastly piece of advice: don't do a half-arse job. You'll never get back around to fixing it and it will stand out like a sore thumb when you go to sell it at some point in the future.