Spray painting a high ceiling without a ladder can be a bit tricky, but not impossible. If you don't have a ladder and you are determined to paint your high ceiling, here’s a technique that can help: Tie a rope to the bottom of a ladder. Then attach the other end of the rope to your ceiling. You can hang anything that weighs over 150 pounds on that rope. Every time you need to reach up, climb up on the ladder and pull the rope to move the ladder up.