Debbie Travis' Facelift - Tales From The Set

Letter From Debbie

Hi Everyone,

Giving someone's home a Facelift is the easy part of my job. The scary, nail-biting element is the secretive detective work involved in both finding out about their design style and getting them away for enough time to enable us to do the work.

When I first met Robert Paris I immediately knew that we were safe with him keeping the secret from Shelley. His sole ambition was to 'put one over his wife'. The gleam in his eye was all the security I needed.

Robert came up with the idea of involving his sister who lived 500 miles away. She would fake painful gum surgery and ask her beloved sister-in-law, Shelley to stay for three days while she recovered. Well she managed to fool her with a mouth full of cotton balls to simulate swelling and begging for soup and ice cream every few hours.

Cruel you may say but it got Shelley out of the house while we gutted and then redesigned her bedroom. All the moldings and trim were first removed and then the wood veneered paneling was stained to look like expensive teak and then glued to both the walls and all the many bedroom doors.

We also modernized her dressing room and updated the bathroom. Robert and his daughter Cayla were a joy to work with and apart from a few nightmare dilemmas with the wood paneling the days were a riot of fun.

To say that Shelley was shocked is an understatement. If you read her letter you will get the picture!

Be careful what you wish for!

Debbie

Letter From Shelley

Dear Debbie,

When I came home from my sister-in-laws, from what I was fooled into believing was a 'mission of mercy', my mind was set on walking in the house, picking up my daughter, Cayla, and immediately taking off for the mall to get her last minute shopping done for our trip to Mexico.

But then, I walked in the house, and smelled the varnish. My heart sunk. And Cayla was running down the stairs urging me to come up to see something, fast! All I could think of was, "What has she done. Two days before going on holiday - and how will I find the energy to clean it up?!".

So I get upstairs, still focussed on getting to the mall and there was my husband, in what should have been our bedroom, standing by a lit fireplace, holding out a glass of wine to me, with strangers around him, beckoning me to go to him. It made no sense I was stunned. Then I noticed TV cameras. I couldn't figure it out! Why was there a TV camera in my bedroom - and incidentally, what happened to my bedroom, and ... wait... there is another TV camera.. and another TV camera, and strangers.. lots of them... I didn't know what was happening. I kept wondering "Where am I?" I even wondered if something had happened on the way home from the airport and I was in this beautiful bedroom ante room to heaven!

When everything was explained, I was still so dazed that I just remember hugging everyone and telling the entire crew that I loved them. I heard nothing of what Debbie was saying to me. I thought I had entered the Twilight Zone. The turmoil in my mind was a rapid review of the steps I took to get home. Yes, it was my house. Yes, it was my daughter running down the stairs. Yes, the hallway looked the same. But then, what happened to my room? How did this dream-like room get into my house? Then Debbie told me that my sister-in-law never really had gum surgery, and that I was set up. "No- it couldn't be- her mouth was swollen!!" I was stunned. When Debbie introduced me to the people involved in the making of the new room, nothing registered. I tried to be polite, but I still was pondering whether I was home or in that ante room in heaven!

Now, not only do I know where I am, but I LOVE my bedroom. I can't believe that a Facelift like this can make such a change to my life. I LOVE MY BEDROOM! I love the tranquility that it brings to the house. I LOVE the look of elegance that calls for total relaxation and unwinding. I love the look on people's faces when I tell them that my room is by Debbie Travis and her art director Anne CotÈ and the Facelift people! My heartfelt thanks to all of you for such a magnificent idea for a program and for selecting my room as one of your projects!

Shelley Paris

P.S From Robert...

Thank you for creating this dream for us. Our bedroom is nothing short of a masterpiece. You guys do more than simply produce a television show - you bring genuine happiness to people. Once again, many thanks for all that you have done for us.

Sincerely, Robert Paris