Adding electric to the piano kitchen island: drilling through the leg! *video*
Our kitchen island is an antique square grand piano.
It has been gutted.
Then customized with drawers.
It will be topped with marble slabs we rescued— formerly shower walls in an antique bath.
Now we need electric– we are drilling THROUGH the piano legs to add wiring.
What you are looking at above, is Paul’s setup to drill.
He used a laser to figure out dead center— the legs have a swoop to them, so if you don’t hit DEAD center, whoops no do-overs.
Then he built a brace/thing/jig that to keep the drill bit straight.
Obviously, this was not going to work… but I did not say that out loud… because I am the one who insisted this could be done.
I imagined the bit going in smoothly, straightly, merrily, along the jig… and then veering off and shooting right through the front fancy, splintering the finish and making an unfixable mess.
Instead, it went fine.
It took two seconds.
Self smugged.
Behold.
The electric is not just for outlets- we are also going to put an induction cooktop in the island.
If you missed: here is our kitchen layout/plan.
Being introduced to induction cooking is one of the things that drastically changed our design— skipping a stove-looking-stove, allowed us to skip an entire wall.
Also, we will NOT have a range hood because I loathe them.
Now that we are doing an induction cooktop, we will be doing a built-in oven… which are mostly super-modern-looking… so I have been looking at euro versions— visually, I FAR prefer them!!! Hertz is maybe an issue, if we do a matching microwave… I have spent too much of my life thinking about this and cannot summon will to type it all out.
There is ONE vintage-looking built-in oven that is incredibly cheap and actually I LOVE the design… BUT it only comes in black and we are now considering the effort to put the oven next to the refrigerator… which would eliminate black as a good option.
Of course.
October 16, 2018 @ 4:54 pm
Ok. I want to be adopted. I mean, you are a creative genius. Paul is an engineering genius. You both dance (hence have rhythm and grace). AND you foster cats. What else could I possibly want?
You DO love chocolate, right?
October 16, 2018 @ 5:18 pm
Why not get a black fringe? I love black counterdepth Frigidaire.
October 16, 2018 @ 5:19 pm
Kittens!!! Loved that video!
October 16, 2018 @ 9:09 pm
You two are brave souls, drilling into that leg! Thank goodness it worked, as I’d hate for you to have to hunt down and retrofit another piano! Smoochies to the kitties!
October 17, 2018 @ 12:32 am
As a person who lives in Europe and has had to contend with the tiny “easy bake “size ovens here. I will add this to the oven discussion. It isn’t just about baking a turkey. Your US cookie sheets will not fit. A larger casserole pan for lasagna will not fit. And heaven forbid you try and do that and a pie at the same time…impossible. I recommend you look at all your baking accoutrements before purchasing with a tape measure. We just replace the old oven with a larger one and got rid of the microwave in favor of a steamer which is a healthier option both for cooking and reheating….
October 18, 2018 @ 9:45 am
Can not wait to see all these pieces put together and the kitchen complete. I remember my kitchen reno – refrig in the garage, microwave in the guest bedroom and dishes in the bathroom sink! If I ever do that again, i’m moving out for the duration! Your decisions aren’t the one’s I would make but this will be a beautiful space….and more importantly you are going to love it because you didn’t make compromises to other points of view. Stick to your guns!
October 23, 2018 @ 4:31 am
Dude’s got Nerves. Of. Steel.
November 1, 2018 @ 4:21 pm
Your blog and another that I am look for regularly, have possibly crossed into a similar problem/solution. In Kristi’s pantry, she is painting her freezer to match her cabinets and changing the ugly plastic handle to a brass door handle that also matches her cabinet hardware. Could be the thing that will make a difference in making everything look custom without the price-tag.
https://www.addicted2decorating.com/one-room-challenge-week-five-the-reality-of-the-situation-all-i-need-is-a-miracle.html
Hate to link another blog in my comments, but it may save you much time, so please forgive me.
October 6, 2019 @ 12:59 pm
It’s old but I just found you again. The range hood debate/civil war goes for so many things from child rearing to what crap the younger generation is to Trump. How do these people have time to argue all day and post comments to every story in the newspaper? (I skipped church is how I have time to write this.) Love your posts.