That is a lot of pine and painting will hide the knots where staining won’t so I think you need to decide the look you want.I am not a big pine lover so I would probably paint the walls take the ceiling back to natural colorand hopefully the ceilings and the floor would be the same as the ceiling to keep finishes to a min.Stay away from any yellow hued lighting , so no Edison buls anywhere. Use LEDs in 3500-5000K range to keep the light as close to natural sunlight as possible , most of my clients like 4000K range for lighting. I think a lot of the feel will come from your furnishings , art and rugs.

In looking at your ideabooks, the gray blues in beatle kill with no beams would provide plenty of interest. Then keep wood flooring quiet. Maybe a walnut. Go light walls and black or bronze iron chandeliers and sconces for contrast. Love to see your floor plan.

No I really don't want to texture the ceiling, but it is my understanding that getting that nice smooth finish on a ceiling adds a lot to the cost if you just remove the popcorn and have to deal with a not so great surface that is left after popcorn removal. So, you are suggesting that we instead just install a new 1/4" layer of sheetrock on top of what is already there. Correct? Do you know approximately what the price differential is to take the cover up approach vs the just start all over with a new topcoat of something?

Unfortunately the dirt is not coming off. We tried deck cleaner with a drill power brush and then power wash without any luck. As a last resort I tried dawn dish soap which somewhat helped but not enough. At this point, I’m thinking sanding it down is the only option left unless any of you smarter folks have other ideas as I’m out of them