I have purchased a new home in which most rooms are textured half way down from the ceiling. The previous owner painted the upper portions to match the bottom. My husband wants to chair rail all. I do not. Do we need a professional or can we smooth out the top areas to match the bottom?

You can remove the texture material but it will not always come down without nicks and dents that need touch up. A large 4" wall.floor scraper should do the trick. Wetting the textured material with a spray of soapy water will help.

We had a similar chore when we moved in. Ballenger is right.

Also, we found a power sander (KMart - $25) and used a sheetrock sanding screen (just cut it to fit the sander)... worked well, if quite dusty.

You could just add another layer of wall plaster and finish it smoothly with a steel trowel