"Our home is over 130 years old. The previous ceiling was an acoustic tile, stapled to some 1x2 wood runners. We removed the tile and mounted 3/16" sheets of plywood for a smooth surface to glue the foam tiles. Starting at the chandeliers, we centered the tile on the mounting of chandelier, while squaring it with the walls as best as possible. We then worked outward from that tile and it all went up really easy. Cutting a tile was a breeze with a utility knife and straight edge. We also utilized the DIY crown molding #CC 355. We followed the instructions on the website and it also went up very quickly. I love how lightweight they are. Painting was simple, as was cutting them. The fact that a basic miter saw can cut this crown without the mental gymnastics of complex angles was worth every penny. It was incredibly easy to install. The hardest part was installing the wood for our application. The second most difficult part was centering the starting tile and squaring it against walls that aren't square. Once those steps are done, installation is a breeze. These aren't the cheapest options, but realizing how easy it was to install and the overall visual impact it has on the room (coupled with the extreme variety of options for styles, colors, and sizes) we'd definitely recommend this option to friends. Our experience was great. No issues. I wish it was easier to get samples of the variety and colors you actually want rather than the samples available, but I understand the logistics might prove that economically non-feasible. "
Tips : I recommend you paint your ceiling with a similar color as your tiles. We did not do this. Our tiles are a dark gray and the plywood we mounted was a reddish brown. There are places where the tiles don't exactly meet up and you can see the wood through it if you're looking straight on. This doesn't bother us too much because you need to be looking for it, and the casual observer wouldn't notice. Just a super quick paint job would be sufficient. To cut a tile, we used a crafting cutting mat and a straight edge with a new utility knife. It was incredibly easy to cut whatever shape your room needed.
- Rodney Keim