Painting - ceilings are junky

we painted them (old house circa 1950's) but ALL the flaws shine through. Is textured paint the ONLY way to go? are there other options? and is textured paint the Major problem i've heard it is?
thanks

You can add silica (sand) to your paint, to give it a texture if you like. (My father says they uses to use corn meal)

You can use the texture paint, and dilute it and swirl it on with a wide brush, and then paint.

You can spray the accoustical (cottage cheese), you can usually rent the machines.

Or you can patch and sand and re-paint.

If your ceilings are in not so good shape, there is another option. Wallpaper. Either a textured wallpaper, bridging material, or embossed wallcovering.

Bridging material will hide all imperfections in your ceiling and make it totally flat. Then you can paint it or apply more wallpaper. Manufacturer links (http://www.wallpaperinstaller.com/bridging_material.html)

Textured wallpaper will provide you with many unusual textured options. Manufacturer links (http://www.wallpaperinstaller.com/textured_wallpaper.html)

Embossed wallpaper will give your ceiling the look of an old world tin ceiling. Then you paint/faux to match your color scheme. The "primo" manufacturer of this is Anaglypta (http://www.anaglypta.co.uk/home.htm).

What do you think??
http://morrisstuff.com/images/RD151big.jpg