HU-348388819 is yours unfinished chipboard as appears to be in the original poster's pics, or is it something else? There were some interesting materials used in ceilings of that era which could be worth preserving. I've seen them mentioned in sales listings as valuable original features, though the names of the exact materials escape me at the moment. On the other hand, with any unfamiliar materials of that era you need to check if it contains asbestos. Another thing to consider is your climate, as the insulation is likely to be inadequate in a ceiling with exposed beams.

Okay, I eat popcorn maybe once or twice a year so when I do, I go all to H--- in a hand basket. Large Dutch oven, olive oil, fresh popping kernels, medium heat, constant shaking. When popped, humongous stainless mixing bowl, half lb. unsalted butter and salt to taste. Yummmmm. Oh, forgot to say, this ritual usually follows a dinner of sliced tomato and cucumbers. One does need one's veggies! :D

we do as much of the demolition as possible including collecting all the rubbish and doing the tip runs so that workers arrive to a nice clean worksite, we usually sell or give away surplus goods on Gumtree (anyone want some old Velux roof windows?) and we found that careful salvage of old wiring and other scrap metal helps offset dumping costs BUT all this work takes time away from earning a living and looking after home and family so you have to weigh up the cost in time and money against the builders' demolition charges but i have to say some of our intentions have been disappointing as after carefully salvaging six 8mx 200mm x 50mm beams from our last reno our builder told us that they couldn't be reused in the new work without being chemically treated but, despite all the hard work we think demolition is fun and ripping out old plasterboard and tiles and concrete etc (after the asbestos removal has been done by professionals) is really great fun and dismantling buildings is a great way to help understand how they fit together

I'd make sure I had probably 3 'zones' or options . It is just crying out for a big industrial style centrepiece on 3 or 4 heavy chains , maybe even with 15 or 20 candles . Just as I'm writing this , I'm even wondering how difficult it would be to get 15 shorter stubbier candles and drill out the middles , and thread a cheap 12 volt LED through each one ? The local electrical supplier charges something like $12 for 10 -- you'd have to wire them , but its low voltage so a soldering iron and heatshrink tubing would do wonders . look way more authentic than those cheesy ones with flickering 240 volt bulbs and fake melted wax on shiny plastic bases ! Anyway , that would be my centrepiece , even if you had to use a transformer etc -- drop it to the ceiling line height . Then I'd do a seperate zone -- probably single LED spotlights ( prob in black ) . at least one each beam , some pointing up , some across to the other 'slope' , but also some pointing downwards , because you'll need to look for dropped coins or handkerchiefs or phone chargers every now and then haha . And the 3rd zone would be wall uplights and downlights , because I can almost guarantee there will be times you want light , but you don't want or need to emphasis the height . If its not too late , I'd have them maybe 1.5mtrs from the floor , and the covers in an aged copper or similar panels , and that would match the style of the centrepiece light too . I'd have the spotlights a completely seperate style though -- more modern and plainer , but not ultra-modern , if that makes sense .