by HJ HOLTZ | Nov 17, 2025 | INTERIOR PAINTING
Mark Twain is credited with saying “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” While Twain likely wasn’t thinking about home improvement projects, his advice holds. The beginning point of any change to your home is to have a conversation about what you want and need, because no work can happen until there’s a plan.
At H.J. Holtz & Son, we’d like to encourage you to consider the interior painting or interior carpentry projects that could be accomplished this winter. Here are our top 5 reasons why you should call us now:
- The sooner you contact us, the sooner you lock in dates. We want to accommodate your work window. Maybe you want to have a fresh space for your Super Bowl party – or maybe you don’t want to start until after that big game. Maybe you want a transformation to happen over spring break, when you’re out of town. Once your contract is signed, you’re on our schedule.
- Book now, and lock in 2025 labor rates. One of the things we pride ourselves on at H.J. Holtz & Son is our ability to train and retain quality craftspeople. That requires regular pay increases. We don’t know yet how our pricing will change in 2026, but like any other business facing increased costs in supplies, gas, and utilities, we doubt our prices will drop.
- If you have a signed contract with us and we can’t do the work this winter, you’ll be first in line for spring. Even with a plan in place, schedules can shift. Maybe something changes in your life, or maybe an unknown repair issue surfaces that needs to be addressed. Once we’re working with you on a project, we’re going to see it through, no matter how long that takes.
- Think about upcoming occasions. Look at your calendar for 2026. Are you planning to host any special events in your home – a graduation, bridal or baby shower, retirement party, anniversary celebration? Even if there’s nothing planned, it’s good to be ready for the unexpected, like a visit from future in-laws or a cookout to welcome a new neighbor. You want your home to look its best every day, and we do, too.
- We have craftspeople ready to work. Unlike many other home services companies, we keep our employees year-round; we don’t have seasonal layoffs. In winter months, our exterior team members are more available for interior work, which means we can handle more jobs simultaneously. When our calendar is full, that’s when we’re our most efficient.
Channel your inner Mark Twain today, and give H.J. Holtz & Son a call to start your project – 804-358-4109.
by HJ HOLTZ | Nov 3, 2025 | INTERIOR PAINTING
Not every change to a home has to shout. Sometimes, a whisper can be just as effective.
When a house gets a fresh coat of paint on its exterior or on multiple interior room walls, the outcome is dramatic and obvious. But it’s also possible to brighten a home with smaller improvements, such as painting trim, windows, railings, and fireplace surrounds.
Interior trim takes a lot of abuse. Think about your house’s entrances and all the traffic. Dings come from items being carried both inside and out, such as sports equipment, backpacks and tote bags, mail-order boxes, even strollers or mobility aids like canes and rolling walkers. Most of the time, we don’t even realize the damage we’ve caused just by putting our hands on a door frame, but dirt and oils from our skin are easily transferred to the surface, which will dull or discolor paint. Windowsills are prime locations for finger- and handprints; as flat, horizontal surfaces, they’re also magnets for dust and dirt.
If your house has more than one floor, then you have a staircase somewhere. Every staircase has a newel post, railing, and balusters, and they get banged, too. A fresh coat of paint on that essential structure will add sparkle to a space that is often overlooked. And if you want to go the extra step, consider painting the stairs themselves. Contrasting risers and treads bring visual interest without a large amount of paint.
Another relatively small interior project is to paint a fireplace surround. By its very nature, a fireplace dominates a room, whether there are flames crackling inside or not. You can easily make a statement with an eye-catching color or a crisp neutral that anchors the room.
As with any painting project, preparation is key to success. H.J. Holtz & Son painters assess every surface at the start of a job. Necessary repairs – usually handled in-house, thanks to our skilled carpenters – occur before painting begins to ensure a smooth, even finish. No matter the size of the job, H.J. Holtz & Son guarantees customer satisfaction.
by HJ HOLTZ | Oct 6, 2025 | INTERIOR PAINTING
For Cathy, having H.J. Holtz & Son paint kitchen cabinets and nearby walls was the crowning touch to a home renovation that began years ago.
After purchasing the home in 2017, Cathy wanted to make it her own. “I went through the house, working room by room,” she says. “The kitchen was redone by the previous owner 15 years ago, so I only really needed to paint. I took my time and thought about what I wanted to do with my cabinets.”
The kitchen isn’t the first project H.J. Holtz & Son completed for the homeowner. Over the years, Cathy has called on the company to hang wallpaper and paint many areas of the house, interior and exterior, including the front door and shutters. Cathy credits her interior designer for pointing her in Holtz’s direction. “I always use [H.J. Holtz & Son],” Cathy says. “They go above and beyond.”
The kitchen cabinets were originally an off-white. Now, they pop with Farrow & Ball Pigeon, a blue-gray. Nearby trim, ceiling and walls are done in Benjamin Moore Dove Wing in different finishes – flat on the ceiling, matte on the walls, and satin on the trim. Additional family room cabinets are Dove Wing in satin.
Cathy says the final look was supported by ideas proposed by the Holtz team. “They offered lots of suggestions that I hadn’t thought of, like which color we should use for the trim to complement the wall color,” she says. “They’re very willing to work with my designer, too.”
Cathy says the team also noticed cracking around a skylight and drywall damage elsewhere, all of which they repaired before painting. The team removed the cabinet fronts and took them to the shop for prepping and finishing in the spray room. The boxes were prepped and painted in place. The team also replaced all the cabinet hardware, to further update the look.
“The team is so professional,” Cathy says. “The focus isn’t on ‘Let’s get this job done quickly,’ but the time involved was reasonable. The painters are very polite and nice to have around.”
The finished project is just what Cathy hoped for. “It looks amazing,” she says. “Everything they said they were going to do, they did, and more. I turn to them when I want something spectacular, special. You’re not going to get that from anyone else.”
by HJ HOLTZ | Sep 17, 2024 | INTERIOR PAINTING
Some home projects have to occur piecemeal, whether for logistical or financial reasons. But others – like painting a room – are best done in one fell swoop. H.J. Holtz & Son estimators know part of what they do is to educate homeowners about how to best approach interior painting projects.
“I see this all the time: People think they can just change the wall color and not paint the ceiling and the trim,” says project estimator Travis Gibson. “But if you’re going to change the walls, it’s really a no-brainer to do the rest. You’re not going to be happy with the final appearance if all you’ve done is paint the walls.”
The primary reason to do everything at once, Gibson says, is aesthetics. “Fresh walls make the trim and ceiling look dingy,” he notes. “When we paint the walls, we make sure there are clean, crisp lines. When you see the new paint against existing trim, you really notice the difference.”
Another good reason to do both at once is to save money. In situations where customers decide to paint only the walls, Gibson says customers often return to him later, asking for the ceiling and trim to be painted. That becomes a complete second job.
“Our costs to send a crew out and prepare a space really don’t change much,” Gibson says. “When you have us come twice to paint the same room, you end up paying double for those set-up costs. It’s more efficient for the team to do everything at once, and the homeowner is going to save money in the long run.”
Additionally, the new job has to be worked into the schedule, which means waiting for the room to be completely finished. That delay can lead to additional dislocation or mean the room isn’t picture-perfect for a special event or for guests’ arrival.
“Yes, painting the walls, trim and ceiling costs more than just painting the walls,” Gibson says, “but so often customers realize while we’re working that they should have done everything at once.”
by HJ HOLTZ | Jul 8, 2024 | INTERIOR PAINTING
Historic Blanton House, located on the edge of William Byrd Park, is a Colonial Revival structure that is experiencing yet another revival. And H.J. Holtz & Son is partnering in the process.
Built in 1920 by commercial florist Herbert Brown, Blanton House has provided administrative office space for the city’s Office of Parks, Recreation, and Community Facilities for more than 30 years. But the house is now also home to Richmond’s Cancer Retreat Center, the brainchild of Kristin Harris, former director of the Susan G. Komen Foundation-Central and Eastern Virginia.
Harris has a lifelong connection to cancer. Her mother was diagnosed when Harris was 4. At 24, Harris cared for her mother at the end of her life with a cancer recurrence. Then, at 32, Harris herself was diagnosed with cancer. Years later, she experienced a recurrence and is now living with metastatic breast cancer. With that background, Harris set out to create an organization – and a place – where people can find the support they need.
“There’s life before cancer and life after cancer,” Harris says. “We want to provide a space intentionally curated for the patient perspective and to destigmatize it. We hope to be a soft space where people can land.”
Currently, the center offers programming inside Blanton House in the living room and dining room, with plans to expand further in the future. To make the space as welcoming as possible, Harris enlisted the help of numerous professionals. H.J. Holtz & Son, Clay Bowden of Claiborne Design, Lizzie Cox of Lizzie Cox Interiors, Palette Paint, Benjamin Moore, and Green Front Furniture all donated services, materials, and furnishings to the effort.
The Holtz team removed a divider wall between the living and dining rooms, creating a large, light-filled area that allows greater flexibility in programming. Carpentry craftspeople patched and repaired the opening, matching original millwork. Holtz painters then stripped old paint and repainted with Benjamin Moore Simply White on the walls and ceiling and Cromarty by Farrow & Ball on the trim.
In the front hallway, Holtz painters recovered walls and the staircase using Simply White and Benjamin Moore Sea Pearl. The oversized front door is now Benjamin Moore Hale Navy.
The shades of blue and green were selected intentionally, Harris notes. “These are life-giving colors,” she says. “We really wanted to bring out the details in the rooms, highlighting the original tile surrounds of the fireplaces.”
The Holtz team also freshened one of the fireplaces. A broken tile was replaced with a new, plain tile, that was then painted by a Holtz decorative artist. “The match is wonderful,” Harris says.
Cancer Retreat Centers – written in the plural, because Harris plans for there to be more – will offer integrated care through individual and group support, preventative wellness programs, recreation, and education. “Our key constituent base is for cancer patients and survivors, ‘previvors,’ family members, caregivers, and oncology health providers,” she says. “And everything we do here is offered at no cost. We’re addressing the needs that truly exist.”
H.J. Holtz & Son is happy to help.
For more information about Cancer Retreat Centers, visit CancerRetreatCenters.org or call 804-803-1203.
by HJ HOLTZ | May 6, 2024 | INTERIOR PAINTING
Sometimes, you know exactly what you want, but are wary of taking the plunge.
That was the case recently when H.J. Holtz & Son partnered with Richmond-based KDW Home to refresh a kitchen that the homeowner had grown tired of. “There were two inspiration photos – one with a high gloss turquoise room, the other with a muted, all-gray look,” says Peyton Edwards, a principal of KDW Home and lead designer. “The homeowner knew she wanted to do the turquoise but needed the push.”
The kitchen refresh represents a departure from other areas in the home, which feature white walls as backdrop to an eclectic art collection. “There are bold splashes of color throughout the house,” Edwards notes. “But this is the only room that has high-gloss paint.”
The project began with custom cabinets in Sherwin-Williams’ Nifty Turquoise sourced through KDW Home. Then the Holtz team used Fine Paints of Europe Hollandlac to paint the remainder of the kitchen in the same hue.
“Our cabinet maker provides a special finish that really stands up to heavy use, which is what you need for cabinets,” Edwards says. “We knew we could trust Holtz to match the color, which they did.”
To break up the color, Edwards and the homeowner selected stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops with a matte finish, and kept the stone wraparound for the island. The room is further anchored by the original concrete floor so the bold color doesn’t overwhelm.
Edwards says the project went well because of the strong working relationship between KDW Home and H.J. Holtz & Son. “Everybody had to do their part, but we have good communication and we know Holtz team members are going to show up when they say they will.”
Holtz can also be relied upon to do the job right the first time, Edwards adds.
“The Holtz team has years of learning and trial-and-error behind them,” she says. “No one else in the state of Virginia could execute this successfully. Certainly, it’s not going to appeal to everyone, but the client knows Rick Holtz really well. They have worked together for a long time.”
