Replacing Drop Down Ceiling Tiles

Here’s How I Swapped out my Drop Down Ceiling Tiles

Let’s be honest, these drop-down ceilings are not pretty. Plus, they are DIRTY! All those crevice’s that you can’t properly clean or wipe down. I had first wanted to rip down this entire ceiling but quickly realized how much drywall work that would be to repair the ceiling. Instead, I found a great easy solution from Ceilume to just replace these ceiling tiles!

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Supply List

Ceilume Ceiling Tiles
Grid Covers or Spray Paint
Measuring Tape
Metal Cutting Shears
Pencil
Straight Edge or Level

Step Summary

Paint Ceiling Grids or Buy grid covers
Install Ceilume Ceiling Tiles
Cut Edge Ceiling Tiles to fit

Detailed Steps

Paint Ceiling Grids (or buy grid covers)

I fell in love with this beautiful bronze color, but unfortunately Ceilume doesn’t make grid covers in bronze. They do make other colors to compliment it, like black, but I wanted mine to match. I looked for spray paint in the color I needed to match. There were 3 options at the store I felt were close and I decided finally on Rust-Oleum in Metallic Antique Brass.

ceilume ceiling tile paint comparison — The 3 options

To paint the ceiling grids, I wiped everything down to get all the dust off of them. I eventually taped off around the walls, so I didn’t get overspray on my wallpaper. Make sure you wear a ventilator mask because you don’t want to inhale spray paint in small spaces.

Install Ceilume Ceiling Tiles

This was so easy to do! I left my ugly tiles above these in some spots to help with insulation. These ceiling tiles are the Fleur-de-lis Ceiling Tiles in Bronze. The hardest part of this install was going around the vents and lights in the space. The tiles themselves are easy to cut, it just took us a bit to get everything situated. We had to cut around one light, one A/C heat vent, and a ceiling fan vent.

Cut Edge Ceiling Tiles to Fit into Space

These tiles can be cut down to fit your space, even along your borders. Most drop-down ceilings don’t have all full tiles (if you do, I’m jealous!). So you will need to cut them. Measure how much you need to cut off, mark it, and then use metal cutting shears to trim your tiles.