The Pour

Grass or Matcha??

We had done all this work on the inside, but every time I pulled up, I felt overwhelmed by the exterior of the property.

Because the inside was slowly becoming The Pour House…

and the outside was still giving poor house abandoned daycare.

And I knew we had a LONG way to go, but one thing I’ve learned through this whole process is—you can’t wait until you have the money to make everything perfect.

Sometimes you just have to make it better.

So I gave myself a budget, looked at the outside, and figured out what would make the biggest difference right now.

First up: that raggedy red fence.
Baby… busted and disgusted. Dry-rotted, beat up, bright red for absolutely no reason. It had to go.

Next was the front landscaping. Everything had already been cut back, and since we were heading into fall and winter, I wasn’t about to spend money planting a bunch of flowers just for them to die.

So instead, I decided to ball on a budget.

I created my own raised flower beds using cinder blocks. I wanted them high, wide, painted black and a little sexy—because apparently cinder blocks can be sexy when you’re delusional enough and even though it isn’t finished- I feel like that girl about this one.

Then there was the porch.

Unfinished wood. Uneven stairs. Half-done banisters. It basically looked like somebody started the job, went to lunch…and never came back.

So the plan was to finish the banisters and paint everything to tie in with the black fence and flower beds. The sneak peak is even sexy.

And then came the things that would actually make this place feel like The Pour House—the sign and the lighting.

Because listen… this house sits on a BUSY street, and if that light is green, you have about three business seconds to realize you’re here before you’ve driven right past us.

And eventually, I want Friday nights at The Pour House to feel like a little café lounge—good drinks, good music, late-night vibes.

So when you come down St. Barnabas Road at night, I want you to SEE us.

We’re nowhere near finished yet.

But I’m learning that sometimes the goal isn’t to make it perfect.

First, you have to make it exist.