Popcorn ceiling

is a term for a spray-on or paint-on ceiling treatment often used in the 1960s and 1970s in American residential construction. Its bright white “cottage cheese” texture, often with small bits of gold-colored glitter

attached, was good at covering poor workmanship in the attachment and taping of the drywall. It was also cheaper than painting as it could be quickly and easily applied in new construction. It was often the standard for bedroom and residential hallways ceilings, while kitchen and living rooms ceilings would normally be textured in smoother skip-trowel or orange peel texture.

Some popcorn ceiling textures were created using a paper based product to create the texture, rather than asbestos. Nevertheless, when asbestos was banned in the late 1970s, popcorn ceilings fell out of favor, as they usually contained asbestos and people realized that they had none of the acoustic qualities that contracting companies claimed. Fashions changed to more natural and hand made finishes. Popcorn ceiling became unattractive when it got dirty, and was hard to paint or patch.