Debbie Travis


Debbie Travis is a British-Canadian television personality, self-taught interior decorator, and former fashion model. She is best known as the host of Debbie Travis' Facelift and Debbie Travis' Painted House. The shows were based out of Montreal, Quebec and Facelift was produced for Home & Garden Television Canada.

Early career

Travis grew up in Rochdale, Lancashire/Greater Manchester. After a 6-year adult-modelling career, she worked in television as a freelance editor and producer. Travis met her future husband Hans Rosenstein, a television distributor, in 1985 during a visit to a television buyers' market in Cannes. They married soon after and moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
After redecorating her old Victorian house using paint effects, Travis formed a small decorating business which quickly grew to include commissions from large department stores, auditoriums, theatres, and grand reception halls. Her work attracted media attention, and Travis opened a small studio and hired a partner to teach workshops to both professional decorators and homeowners. She later produced an instructional video entitled Decorative Paint Finishes Made Easy, and later produced three additional, more advanced instructional videos, available in both French and English.

Television

Hosting

Travis hosted Debbie Travis' Painted House from 1995 to 2002, airing on the Women's Television Network. Travis was awarded two Gemini Awards for the series.
In 2006, Travis hosted From The Ground Up with Debbie Travis on Global TV for two seasons. In 2010, Travis hosted the series All for One on CBC Television.
In December 2010, Travis hosted the CBC show Corrie Crazy: Canada Loves Coronation Street, exploring Canadians' love of the British TV series Coronation Street.

Production

Travis and Hans Rosenstein are partners in the production company Whalley-Abbey Media, which has produced all the Debbie Travis-branded television shows. She is also a partner and executive producer along with Kit Redmond and Hans Rosenstein for RTR Media in Toronto. She has served as an executive producer for all Whalley-Abbey and RTR Media productions, including Buy Me, Property Shop, Income Property and Maxed Out.

Print media

Travis is also known for her weekly syndicated column which appears in many newspapers and is titled Debbie Travis House to Home, to which readers often write in to have their decorating questions answered.
Travis has authored 9 books on decorating and painting techniques, as well as an autobiographical book on parenting.

Products

In 2005, Travis launched her own paint and home products line available from Canadian Tire and continues as president of the branding company, Debbie Travis Branding, Inc., located in Toronto. A fine wine collection bearing her name was released in 2016.