You asked about this specific ceiling. Combined with all that's going on in that room, that ceiling goes too far for me and that's saying a lot. I do love the look of a decorated ceiling and this one could have been spectacular without all of the action going on under it.

For a "couple of days a year" get a pedestal fan straight on everyone and leave the features in the ceiling. Seriously...I have 12 ceiling fans in my house and two wall mounted fans...the wall mounted fans are so much more effective then ceiling (and I don't know where you live, but did you know fans have a "summer" and "winter" setting??). Most people don't. Tip: turn the fan off before changing the setting.

Yes definitely would!! It brings its own personality to the room, allowing you to become extra creative. I love the idea of having a roof window, bringing natural light which opens up a room for sure.

The lounge in our 1956 house in South Africa had a stained wooden ceiling. The house didn't have any insulation so the lounge would become really hot in Summer. We opted to have the original ceiling removed and dropped 150mm so we could install insulation. We needed to paint the original panels but left the varnished beams. Every wall in the house was painted white, which I found too stark. I decided to paint the lounge using a light blue and a peach colour. People thought this was a bit bold, but I was happy with my choice. The before photos were scans from the 1980s, as I couldn't find the original EA photos when we bought the house.