Debbie Travis (born June 27, 1960 in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

, self-taught

interior decorator Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordin ...

, and former

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

. She is best known as the host of ''

Debbie Travis' Facelift ''Debbie Travis' Facelift'' was a home improvement reality television show that ran from January 28, 2003 to December 30, 2005. It was produced in Canada for Home & Garden Television (HGTV) and also aired in the United States on the American version ...

'' and ''Debbie Travis' Painted House''. The shows were based out of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and Facelift was produced for Home & Garden Television Canada.

Early career

Travis grew up in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

. 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 Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

. 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 Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

, 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 (later

W Network W Network (often shortened to W) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts general entertainment programming oriented towards a female audience. W Network was established in ...

). Travis was awarded two Gemini Awards for the series. In 2006, Travis hosted '' From The Ground Up with Debbie Travis'' on

Global TV The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after CT ...

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 ''Income Property'' is a Canadian home-improvement program hosted by Scott McGillivray. The series premiered on HGTV Canada on September 29, 2008, and on January 1, 2009, on HGTV in the U.S. The program was a half-hour long for the first six sea ...

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.

Bibliography

* ''Debbie Travis' Painted House: Quick and Easy Painted Finishes for Walls, Floors, and Furniture Using Water-Based Paints'' (1997); * ''Debbie Travis' Decorating Solutions: More Than 65 Paint and Plaster Finishes for Every Room in Your Home'' (1999); * ''Debbie Travis' Weekend Projects: More Than 55 One-of-a-Kind Designs You Can Make in Under Two Days'' (2000); * ''Debbie Travis' Painted House Living and Dining Rooms: 60 Stylish Projects to Transform Your Home'' (2001); * ''Debbie Travis' Painted House: More than 35 Quick and Easy Finishes for Walls, Floors, and Furniture'' (2002); * ''Debbie Travis' Painted House Kids' Rooms: More than 80 Innovative Projects from Cradle to College'' (2002); * ''Debbie Travis' Painted House Bedrooms: More Than 40 Inspiring Projects for Your Personal Sanctuary'' (2002); * ''Debbie Travis' Painted House Kitchens and Baths: More than 50 Innovative Projects for an Exciting New Look at Any Budget'' (2003); * ''Debbie Travis' Facelift: Solutions to Revitalize Your Home'' (2005); * ''Not Guilty: My Guide to Working Hard, Raising Kids and Laughing through the Chaos'' (2009);

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Travis, Debbie Female models from Quebec Canadian interior designers English female models English emigrants to Canada English interior designers Participants in Canadian reality television series People from Blackburn Models from Montreal People from Rochdale 1960 births Living people