my wife and i have decided to paint our exposed wood ceiling that was previously hidden by a dropped ceiling. i don't have much experience in painting materials other than drywall, how should we go about it? it looks like the wood was previously stained but i'm not sure. the only decent photo i have right now is below, which i took near the beginning of some renovations.

right now, i'm thinking about using a liquid sander, then primer, then paint. is there anything i should be aware of?

the motif we're going with is a very light gray or off-white for the tongue and groove, and a dark brown for the rafters.

I have nothing of value to add to your questions....but have you thought about wrapping the rafters with cedar or something similar and staining them? Might look a little better then just brown paint.

don't paint it.... stain it maybe.

Yea why paint that?

Yup, no way I'd paint that.

interesting, i'd love to hear why you would go that route. is it because it is "real" wood rather than the wood composite materials these days?

as far as staining goes, would it look decent to go a lighter stain on the tongue/groove and darker on the rafters? or all the same shade? the engineered wood floors we will install are a shade or two darker than the ceiling, thus the initial idea to paint the tongue/groove a light color.

how about the effort required? would i use a chemical stripper to remove the current treatment down to "bare" wood and then stain it? if i go the staining route, for some reason i picture myself spending long hours trying to strip the ceiling...

for me, it's just about keeping the natural look of the wood as much as possible. once you paint over it, you can't ever go back. you lose that original feel.

Honestly it might clean up just fine with some Murphy Oil Soap. Far easier than painting or staining.

Bone I'm sure there is going to be other molding in the room so have you considered switching up your approach to what gets painted and what gets stained. Stain the ceiling and paint the rafters to match the rest of the trim.

I wouldn't stain it dark. I also wouldn't paint it. That's some nice tongue and groove ceiling. If you're worried about the rafters they can be capped with matching wood and stained or capped with another material and painted.