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His touch adds 'decorative layer'

By ELIZABETH BETTENDORF
Published July 21, 2006

For well over a decade, Jeff Henry navigated his way up the ladder for a large Tampa Bay area lighting company. He learned all about light fixtures, sconces and ceiling fans, but he also learned a lot about what homeowners really craved:

That "final decorative layer," he said.

Think fondant roses on a birthday cake.

In many houses, he noticed, mirrors and artwork waited to be hung, and chandeliers languished on the floor.

That finishing touch was often the one thing that stood between the homeowner and a truly polished home interior.

So, three years ago, Henry, 39, strapped on his tool belt and started his own company: "Jeff's Interior Changes."

The Tampa native, who had just fixed up an 897-square-foot 1950s ranch house in Seminole Heights (not far from the house he grew up in) knew he was taking a big chance.

"Giving up the steady paycheck was hard," he said.

"When you work for someone else, you might work really hard one week and maybe not so hard the next, but you always get paid."

But Henry soon realized he was on to something.

It turned out that lots of homes needed that final touch. His clientele soon burgeoned to include Ronde Barber, Oxy Clean entrepreneur Billie Mays and newly married couples who needed help hanging artwork and photos.

Rich and poor alike wanted his services.

Half of his business is generated by word of mouth, he said. The other half arrives via designers, lighting stores, builders and art galleries.

The demand for his "final layer" takes him from Riverview to Tampa Palms to South Tampa to Pasco and Hernando counties.

He's an all-around handy guy, not an interior designer. But he's got such a good eye, he's considering going back to school to study the trade.

"I was really looking for an avenue to get on with my life, and I saw this niche," said Henry, who is also known around the Tampa Bay area as a serious musician and drummer.

His funk/hard rock/blues band, 3 Green Windows, is a regular at local venues such as Skipper's Smokehouse. The band just released its first CD. "Besides my work, my music is really the other major aspect of my life," he said.

His other passion is his own house, a small fixer-upper he bought for less than $100,000 in December 2001.

He decided to buy in Seminole Heights because he likes the neighborhood, and his parents still live there.

His dad, now 80, was a career Air Force sergeant who later became a chief clerk in the federal court system.

Henry, who was born at the hospital at MacDill Air Force Base, graduated from Hillsborough High School.

He looked around Tampa for a house, particularly in South Tampa, but prices had already climbed out of his reach.

"Seminole Heights reminded me of Hyde Park, but the prices were lower," he said.

His two-bedroom, one-bath house, a cross between Old World and Mediterranean decor, is decked out in a dark-Sahara-tan and red-clay color scheme.

It may be only 897 square feet, but he managed to fit in big overstuffed chairs, wrought-iron light fixtures and some good looking mirrors that lend the illusion of more space.

Does it have that final decorative layer he's so famous for?

Definitely, he said.

"It's very warm and cozy."

[Last modified July 20, 2006, 13:32:00]