You should have your popcorn ceiling tested for asbestos. Ours had it and it is from the late 70s. They were using this into the 1980s; see link. Our state requires full decontamination (a shower station was put up in our backyard) for all workers and multiple safety regs for it. If your ceiling doesn't have asbestos, it's no big deal. Do it yourself or hire it. It is far easier to remove if someone has not come along and painted over it. If it does contain asbestos, you really need to think twice about doing it yourself. A papermask is not going to cut it! We had contractors offer to remove it for us "under the table" but we didn't want any floating around to breathe later. We also wanted paperwork showing we'd removed it properly if we ever sell the home. One thing we did that we regretted was have the same company do the retexturing and painting as did the decontam. Their painting subs were nothing amazing and I think charged a lot more because they were with the removal people. They have to put two layers of plastic up and they take the first one down after the asbestos is out. Have them leave the 2nd layer up for your own contractors and you'd be happier. Here is a link that might be useful: asbestos Q&A

This really depends on how much staining is on the ceiling anyway. I don't think it's realistic to say that just because a person smoked in the home, that you need to do a full blown TSP cleaning before you can paint. Look at the ceiling. Is it visibly stained? Also, try washing some of the walls with a white rag and see how dirty the rag gets. If it stays white, then you really may not have to wash anything, or a quick wash with Dirtex may be enough. Don't forget that TSP needs to be rinsed very well. Don't use that unless it's absolutely required. As for the popcorn texture, if it was applied and then never painted, you may be surprised how easily that stuff will come off. You may be able to spray it with water using a garden sprayer and then scrape it off....messy yes, but really not that hard of a job. If it was painted at some point, then it will be much more difficult to remove.

I have, but probably not in the way you are thinking. This was in a house new enough for asbestos to not be an issue. I held the hose right below the scraper, and that way most of the stuff I scraped off got sucked in instead of letting it fall to clean up after. I've never tried spraying one down first, but always scrap, then just wash off the residue, comes off real easy at that point with a big sponge and warm water - I use the same type I use when putting up wallpaper. Don't be surprised if you find who ever did the taping of the ceiling did a horrible job because they expected the popcorn to hide it. I have one I need to take down soon, it was put up about 5 years ago and now we are considering a mini-split system and need to do some changes to the ceiling. DH does not want to attempt to patch in the popcorn so it is all coming down.

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.