So what do you do when THIS is in your way?!

That’s what Jefe and I have been asking ourselves since we started the reno at his parents’s place.  Ignore it?  Try to integrate it?  “Accidentally” drop it so it smashes in to 100 pieces?

The answer is not nearly as easy as you think.  The above structure is actually a lamp.  It’s a lamp that Jefe’s dad Harry has had since he was a bachelor in the swinging 60’s.  And he is not willing to part with it.  As you may remember, it used to hang in the office pre-renovation:

When we started to reassemble the office the other weekend once all the furniture was bought and put together, Gloria, Jefe’s mom, insisted that the lamp go.  It did not fit with the old-school study feel that we were aiming for.  Here’s some in progress photos:

Gloria just wanted it GONE.  But Harry was adament about keeping the one remnant of his bachelorhood.  So stay it must.  But where on earth should we put it?!

Needless to say the question was answered for us when we arrived to assemble the remaining furniture and found it hanging in the guest bedroom.

So I did my best to minimize the eyesore by tying up the extra cord and hiding it inside (since they will never actually plug it in).  And lucky for us, it’s in the far corner which you don’t immediately see when you walk in the room.    It still smacks you in the face when you actually round the corner of the doorway, but sometimes you just have to cater to the client’s wants…..  So you’ve got to roll with the punches, and as my favorite Tim Gunn says “Make it work!”

So Jefe and I let it stay (secretly in hopes that it may magically disappear one day).  Now for the rest of the room, I think it’s looking a MILLION times better than when we started.  Honestly, Jefe and I were discussing that it really looks like a completely different room just with some paint on the walls and two new pieces of furniture.  Here’s a little in-progress photo of the guest room in it’s current state:

I can’t WAIT to get this room finished.  It’s going to look awesome (here’s a little reminder in case you need a refresher.)  And Gloria can’t wait to have guests over to show it off, which I guess is a sign of a job well done and a satisfied home owner 😀