It's attached to a sink in the kitchen above & is located in the middle of the room below. Thanks for pointing out my neglect in stating type of pipe.

your idea sounds pretty neat... photos would help us with more suggestions. could the closet be placed there?

no, it's in the middle of the room

thanks - I'm glad to get some positive reaction so that when I tell the carpenter, we can get past his eye rolling

We will consider all possibilities. We certainly are concerned about noise & will do everything to eliminate or at least dampen (not a pun) it as much as possible. Since this will be a "dummy" light fixture, I don't think electricity will be a problem. My family's home burnt down when I was a child, so believe me safety is a big issue for me. I live 50 miles away from my friend's home & won't be down again until next weekend when I'll be able to get a better look at the offending pipe & what's above it. That part of the plumbing was done two years ago so I expect it wouldn't drop that low if it didn't have to. Thanks again for your comments. I'll post a picture when the project is finished. Jeri