We've sadly had to rip out the original wood cladding on our sloping ceiling (roof leaking, inadequate insulation, etc) and our builders have told us we are going to have insulation issues if we put it back as it was, with the strips of wood running top to bottom, i.e. from the highest point to the lowest point. They've said a potential workaround is to run the strips of wood from side to side, so a 90 degree rotation to what they were originally. I can't quite get my head around this as I'm so use to seeing it how it was originally. Aside from that, they recommend ditching it for a regular plastered ceiling.

From memory, if the lines are running side to side it should make the space feel wider, is that correct? If so that could be a good thing, as the 'width' of the sloping ceiling is smaller than the length of the sloping ceiling in the lounge area (but not in the dining room / kitchen area, which has been knocked through into one)

What do you think - would it work to run side to side?

And is the wood clad ceiling worth fighting for?

We'd love to keep the mid century vibe, but aren't being slaves to it

Here is was before it was pulled out:

And here are the floorplans for this area - the yellow areas are under the sloping ceiling, the pink is a flat roof:

So it would be like this:

Thanks so much for any advice