"You could use old-style lime mortar as well (horsehair plaster) but this is heavier and has a very long cure time. " Lime-plaster cures reasonably quickly. Lime plaster takes months to cure. higher lime-plaster was normally restricted to the finish coat (the longer setting time allowed plenty of working time (troweling)for a smooth hard finish) with the base coats having other 'stretchers' (sand) or strength (fiber) additions along with retarder to slow setting. Lime putty makes a decent retarder if other types are not available though. This post was edited by brickeyee on Sun, Dec 30, 12 at 11:28

No wax makes things a lot easier, however, there may be a glazing compound in the top coat that will be difficult to adhere to. Cover the wall with a good Stain Blocking Paint (I am a fan of KilzMax by MasterChem ... I've seen CoverStain 1,2,3 recommended on here too though I've never used it personally). A good Stain Blocker should deaden whatever is on your wall. I wouldn't tackle re-plastering yourself if you haven't done it before or practiced. If you like the "pattern" that is there now -- leave it alone. Your challenge will be how to create a new look with that professionally done under surface. I would recommend a light tone on the whole wall covered fully. Then a deeper color (mixed with a glaze) that is ragged, sponged, or even large brush strokes randomly. This will dry slow due to the glazing compound but you can play with it for 30 minutes or so to get the look you want -- only do a 5x5' area at a time then repeat the process blending at you last patch. For a really interesting look, do a light tone fully on the wall. Then a deeper tone randomly ragged or sponged. Then the final coat with a third color with the glazing compound. You lay down a smaller roller strip randomly (every foot or so) and then lightly brush that strip with criss-cross strokes or just rub it into the wall in circular motions. Those are my ideas -- hope others chime in too,

Maybe I'm missing something, but to me, the area in your photos looks more like an attic than a dining room. Whatever. One cheap way of patching damaged old-house plaster ceilings is to cover them with drywall. Old house lovers cringe when they see that done, with good reason. Usually the house deserves better. (I say "usually" because in houses old often means well built, but not always. I've run across a few old houses that were thoroughly undistinguished -- just old.) Before you tear down that drywall, you may want to contact a professional plasterer (if you can find one locally) and pay him or her look at the situation, to get an idea of what you might be in for. As for knob and tube wiring, don't automatically be afraid of it if you find it in a ceiling. If it's been properly maintained (no oversize light bulbs, not buried in insulation), it's often still reasonably safe for lighting circuits. Still it's best to replace it when you can, certainly if you have the ceiling open for other reasons. That's in part because age and air pollution have not been kind to the rubber that insulates it.

That's the type of "texture" that is in my parents home. Not totally smooth but not like a knock down either. I tried to recreate it in a small bathroom that had popcorn that I scraped off. I had to do a patch and didn't want to redo popcorn. I ended up doing a knock down. But, I think it's done with a very thick nape roller loaded with thick paint that leaves that type of texture. But I searched YouTube and couldn't find any reference to how to achieve until after I was done.