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Abbotsford couple featured on home renovation pilot show for HGTV

Program, called Forever Home, airs for first time on Saturday, March 5
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Rob and Lisa Brandsma

An Abbotsford husband and wife renovation team have filmed a pilot episode for a possible new series on HGTV (Home and Garden Television).

The episode featuring Rob and Lisa Brandsma airs Saturday, March 5 at 8 p.m. and will be repeated on March 8, 11 and 12.

The show, called Forever Home, was filmed last July in Abbotsford and involves the Brandsmas showing three potential homes to clients and having them pick one for the couple to renovate and make their “forever home.”

If the pilot episode receives a good response, HGTV will give the green light to start filming a series.

The venture began in January 2015, when Rob and Lisa were contacted by a production company from Toronto that was looking for a husband and wife renovation/design team for a show idea they wanted to pitch to HGTV (and other networks).

The couple, who have three children, run Brandsma Renos and Design, and the production company found them through an online search.

After the Brandsmas sent some video of themselves and some interviews were conducted, the company compiled a short video clip – called a “sizzle reel” – which was pitched to HGTV Canada.

HGTV liked it enough to fund the pilot episode.

Rob and Lisa have been operating their renovation business since January 2010.

They first met 16 years ago when they were both working at an Abbotsford restaurant. They bought their first house – a rancher – two weeks after getting engaged, and gutted it to make it more livable after they got married.

They started flipping houses a few years later.

“We would buy a house, live in it a few years, renovate and update it, and sell it and move into our next house,” Rob said.

Rob’s background is in drafting and design, while Lisa has a passion for design, decor and painting.

“Lisa was 12 when she selected the paint colour and painted her bedroom on her own,” Rob said.

Lisa also runs a side business, TigerLily Furniture, and likes to hunt for vintage and antique items to restore, refurbish and resell at local markets.

The couple said they are “thrilled and excited” to have filmed the pilot episode and the potential for it to become a series.

For more information, visit the Forever Home Facebook page.

 

 

 



Vikki Hopes

About the Author: Vikki Hopes

I have been a journalist for almost 40 years, and have been at the Abbotsford News since 1991.
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