Check out the Home Decorating forum. The same problem was just discussed there.

My thoughts on the order of attack are: 1. Use putty knife to get in behind it to the plaster in a small inconspicuous area just to get a better grip on what I'm working with. 2. Water/Fabric Softener out of a pump sprayer. If it soaks in, let it sit for a while and see if it comes off with a putty knife or scraper. 3. Try this product from Amazon (link at bottom) - EcoSolve Home Strip X-Tex Textured Coatings Remover 4. I'm going to be renting a steamer for all of the wallpaper in the home and will maybe give that a go as well. 5. If none of the above works, I will try to sand. If this works, I will likely rent a power sander/vacuum combo. 6. If all else fails, I will skim coat with joint compound. Does this sound reasonable? Here is a link that might be useful: EcoSolve Home Strip X-Tex Textured Coatings Remover

We just had a whole house done in what is (probably locally) called "imperfect smooth". It is in between a really smooth (which will show up every imperfection) and really textured (which we find a little much), a low, soft texture mixed in with smooth spaces. We had a lot of problems deciding, so we had several closets done in different textures. We came back to the "IS" and now that the house is done, we like it a lot.

I had plaster walls and ceilings years ago, in a 50's house, with a texture very much like what you have. My walls didnt show the texture as much as the ceiling either, because, the walls had been painted more. We changed the walls on the upper level, which were wood, to sheetrock, and I used the texture type paint. It worked ok, and looked decent, but, I was never 100 percent happy with it. However, in hindsight, I think if I had done 2 coats of the texture paint, it might have been much better. Texture paint, does not go as far, as regular gallon paint either, so buy more than you think you need.