Our whole house came with heavily textured ceilings when we bought it. The previous homeowners had paid to have texture added to every ceiling in the house when they added the master bedroom. Removing it meant getting in the experts...asbestos...and lots and lots of $$$. The first couple rooms we painted, we used the large nap rollers. Go in one direction first, let it dry, then paint in the other direction. With shadows on the texture it's hard to tell where you've 'missed a spot' but painting from north to south and when dry, west to east, really made sure we got all those spots. A few years later we rented a sprayer when we were doing another couple of rooms. WOW...what a difference. We were done with the ceiling in an hour! Again, first one way, let it set, then the other way. Push all the furniture into the middle of the room. Tape what you can. We were lazy and I just went around with a large piece of cardboard/shield and held it up where Mr. Amity sprayed..worked perfectly! We painted with water-base paint so any little bit of overspray came off with a damp kitchen sponge...the gentle kind used for Teflon pans. About 7 years ago when we decided to tackle the last couple rooms in the house, Mr. Amity went out and bought a sprayer. Let me tell ya....that spray has paid for itself 10 times over! Not only used for the ceiling but for walls, brick wall, front to back wood fence, chain link dog run, sealer on concrete.....you name it, we spray it on now and save so much time and energy.

Asbestos was used in various ceiling textures, adn even some drywall compound. The only way to be sure is to have it tested. If it comes back positive for asbestos the leading remedy would be to seal it in place. By painting it.

Here's a link of some ceiling textures. Click on the acoustic texture sample and it will show a close up of what an acoustic,(popcorn) texture typically looks like. If your ceiling is consistent with the walls, it sounds like you have an orange peel. Skim coating over the texture is one way to get it back to where you can either re-texture with another pattern, or totally smooth. In either case you should get estimates from reputable drywall finishers unless you have confidence and experience,especially concerning a smooth finish. If you do have acoustic on your ceiling, you can get it tested at hazardous material abatement centers in your area for free or a minimal charge. They typically need a sample about the size of a quarter, but ask what they require at your center. The orange peel wont have asbestos, the acoustic could. Asbestos in acoustic was banned in the seventies, but warehouses had piles of it that suppliers still sold to the public into the eighties as I understand it, so it's always a safe bet to get it tested. If infected, you can go to the expense of having a hazmat crew clean it up, or educate yourself on safe clean up with proper safety equipment and disposal. Slightly dampening the acoustic and letting it loosen, it scrapes off pretty easily. Here is a link that might be useful: texture samples

I prefer no texture on the ceiling. We're mid-reno right now. Tore out the plaster ceiling because we were running so much lighting that it made sense. Our plaster has a very random figure-8-ish texture. Very random. I know because I spent a ton of time when we first moved in patching small areas that needed attention. But, I digress. We have 8 foot ceilings and we are keeping the ceiling untextured. The rest of the walls (now a mixture of original plaster walls and some drywall) are going to have texture. We are having discussions with our guy right now trying to get him to get the texture right...did I mention that we have a random figure-8? Anyway, do you have texture on the rest of the walls? If you do and you're trying to match it, it might be difficult to do so. You don't want to go with a high-gloss paint for the ceiling - you'll see every variation of the ceiling. We opted for a satin finish for the ceiling...it's still got a bit of sheen, but not really glossy...I've found satin easy to clean (unlike a flat or even in some cases, an eggshell) if I wind up with a tomato sauce pop up on the ceiling. We're doing cabinets to the ceiling and we're hoping that gives a illusion of higher ceilings. We're thinking of doing a glass tile that has long thin strips, and if we run it vertical instead of horizontal, it will also help with the illusion of higher ceilings. Another thing that I think helps, is keeping simpler lines. I think that the more ornate things are (fancy countertop edges, complex cabinet door styles, etc) from the floor to eye level, the more your eye gets drawn to them and gets stuck from traveling upward.