Old is Better than New

May 24, 2014

Old is Better than New

Nothing quite beats the excitement of finally seeing the cement trucks on your property. A poured foundation means that this project is really happening. Or, as my architect said, "You really know that you have finally begun when the bill for the foundation arrives!"

So, here we go! While I was at the Witte Museum with sixty 6th graders and Boerne was wondering if the rain clouds would really mean rain...

They poured.

And poured.

Praying that the sky wouldn't pour. Not just yet.

Hooray! A firm foundation. Here Tucker is standing in the kitchen with a covered porch, courtyard, his room and the master suite behind him.

Here's a view without cute Tucker to distract you. You can get the concept of a U-shape here. The long gallery hall is to the right. Covered porch off of the kitchen and living area will be here.

Ok, try to look past the cute model. He is standing in his room and our suite is behind him along with the laundry room.

And now it is time to frame! So, with framing comes some more decisions. Most of our exterior doors and windows have been selected except a couple including one accent window that needs to go in the kitchen.

So, before they got too far along on the framing, Scott and I headed into San Antonio. I had already looked for a window at Architectural Antiques and Salvage but didn't have any luck. It is a great place for doors, finials, old tubs and claw feet. Not so great for stained glass windows. After one of my posts, a friend suggested I try, Old is Better than New. Thank you Hayley!

First of all, I love the name. It is truly my motto! It was love at first sight.

I won't leave you in suspense. Here's the window we picked! But then, our ADD stepped in. Ooh! Look at this! We could use this for this and that for that and do you think Chris will kill us if we try to incorporate this other thing????

So this came home with us for our screened porch off of the master suite. I liked the wrought iron detail because it is a nod to the wrought iron we have across the front porch.

There's a pair of these leaded glass doors and I want them. They didn't come home with us. Yet.

Here's the window about to be loaded. The people at Old is Better than New are very helpful.

Here goes the screened door and it is about to be loaded on top of another 6 paneled door that will be a door to our 1/2 bath. Sorry, forgot to snap a picture of it. It is very similar to another we are saving from the original kitchen pantry. We liked the continuity. And wow. Solid wood. It was HEAVY for such a little door.

Ok, speaking of Old being better than new, sometimes those old things just need a little TLC. Remember everyone's favorite Kickapoo bathroom? It was painted white. So was the wall in the hallway and the wall in the 1/2 bath and the wall outside the original kitchen. Well, it was rock painted white. Why? Why? So we asked Antonio our wonderful mason if he could bring back the rock. The boys and I ran into him at Mague's Cafe this week. He was so excited to see me! His face was still splattered with white powdery droplets. The question was, did I want him to keep going with the power washing on into the rock wall that was the laundry room and will now be in the kitchen as a backdrop to our stove and the wall in the 1/2 bath? So the boys and I finished our nachos and ran up to the house to see how Antonio was progressing.

This was the Kickapoo Bathroom! Hang on.. it gets better!

Here Antonio is standing in front of the doorway of the old kitchen/what will become the mudroom and butler's pantry.

The white paint is almost gone.

Osso, his constant companion. He is so sweet. Antonio and Osso are the one's who helped me with part of the front porch facelift.

So, after looking at the rock, I said, "Yes! Keep going Antonio!!" and then we left.

We have been super busy with end of school activities, swimming parties, finals, assemblies, sick children, and Scott out of town. All that means that I had not been back to the house for a few days.

Make new friends but keep the old. I'm not saying that Old friends are better than New but Old Friends are special for sure! Luke and Braden have been in school together since Kindergarten and now I have a 7th grader!

After the final assembly at Luke's school, we met some of my family for brunch. Everyone is coming in town for my cousin's graduation from Medical School! Yea Dr. Stephanie!!!

After brunch, we all made a trip over to the house to check out how the project was coming along.

Framing is underway. It is so exciting. I can see the rooms shaping up. I love my house.

They were also working on the slab for the porte-cochere. Which of course means that there is rain in the forecast. Seriously! So glad the Hardin Family could help with the Hill Country drought. Just wait until it is time to put on our new roof!

On the far edge of the slab will be storage.

Here's where there will be a doorway from the porte-cochere into the mudroom.

Look at the rock!!! I am so excited with how this all turned out. The rock is gorgeous and the grout work is perfection. Can you believe someone had covered some of this rock with white paint?

Here are some of my Bousquet cousins, including Dr. Stephanie Bousquet on the far right. We love you too Godmother EE and Becca! Speaking of love, did I mention that I love what Antonio did. Look at that rock! Again, someone painted that white!?! So now we will have gorgeous rock and the exposed log cabin all along the gallery wall. It makes me not want any built-in wet bars or book cases or nooks here at all. What am I going to do?

So we are always multi-tasking and it does take a village to raise my children and build my house. While Scott and I were with Chris finalizing our plumbing fixtures, the cement was ready for handprints. I could not be in two places at once. I had a definite idea of how the prints should look.

Mimi to the rescue! She brought the boys back over and did an amazing job as project manager.