December 10, 2023 marked the launch of Brenton Productions’ brand-new home improvement Christmas special entitled Homefront for the Holidays on streamer Fox Nation. The holiday-themed military home makeover program also saw a linear premiere December 23 on Fox News Channel, along with additional linear airings December 25 and 26 on Fox Business.

Building on 30 years of experience in automotive TV, Brenton Productions is now expanding into other unscripted genres – including home improvement, food and garden, travel, and more. Homefront for the Holidays marks the first step of this expansion.

Telling Meaningful Stories with Expert Voices

The holiday special follows interior designer and military spouse Jewel Marlowe as she joins forces with veteran-founded organization Homefront Room Revival to bring holiday home makeovers to two military families – an Air Force couple eager to create new holiday traditions in their first home, and a Navy spouse hoping her husband will be home in time for Christmas.

As an Air Force spouse with personal experience moving her family over a dozen times in the past 20 years, Jewel understands the importance of making a dwelling feel like home. While she and her expert design squad create personalized room transformations in each home, the stories of these resilient military families are shared and celebrated.

Along with the show’s uplifting message, Jewel’s expertise and relatability as a designer, military spouse, and social media influencer attracted participation from several home design brands that wanted to be part of each family’s holiday home makeover. Additionally, the North Carolina-based Homefront Room Revival team rallied support from their network of local businesses and volunteers to deliver a hand-crafted Christmas overlay for each home. 

A Deeper Dive into a Navy Family’s Living Room Makeover

“Our Navy couple are newlyweds, and they had just moved into their first home together,” says Lisa Prieto, who developed and co-executive produced the show for Brenton Productions. “But with Navy diver Tristan deployed most of the year and his wife, Hannah, busy with work and school, they hadn’t had much time to make their house feel more like a home.”

Jewel and the design team installed built-in storage space and brought in new furniture and an Annie Selke rug to create a cozier setup in the Donaldson living room. They added youthful color with Benjamin Moore paint, wallpaper from Hygge & West, and SCUBA-themed artwork by Peter Hammer to play into Tristan’s love of art and downtown Norfolk’s local art scene. Handmade nautical-themed Christmas ornaments from Homefront Room Revival helped Hannah and Tristan dive into the holiday spirit.

A Dining Room Makeover Honors an Air Force Family’s Story

“Our Air Force couple had been celebrating a year of firsts as new parents spending their first Christmas together in their North Carolina home, which they bought sight-unseen when they were recently relocated to Seymour Johnson AFB,” says Prieto. “While Alex is an active-duty US Air Force engineer, Bethany has transitioned from active duty to Air Force Reservist. In addition to being a new mom to daughter Alaina, Bethany is also going to school. We thought she deserved to be surprised with a new dining space where she could celebrate Christmas with her family.”

Since Alex and Bethany met while they were both stationed on active duty in Japan, Jewel chose a Japanese-inspired Harlequin wallpaper mural for the dining room, brightened with a chandelier from Hudson Valley Lighting Group. Jewel and the design team wanted to give the Bonds room for a big family dinner, so they brought in a dining table and chairs that Alex helped upcycle with a new coat of paint and DIY cushions. Finally, the table was festooned with live local greenery from Sanderson Wreaths & Garlands and accessories from Park Designs to create a personalized holiday table scape.

“Over the decades we’ve built collaborative partnerships with brands by weaving their products into the storylines of our automotive shows in an informative, engaging way for automotive DIYers and enthusiasts – and we’ve expanded that to include not only our linear and streaming TV programming, but social media and digital content as well,” says Chuck McGonagle, President of Brenton Productions, Inc. “We believe we can create similar opportunities for home and garden brands, with authentic, compelling entertainment that viewers can enjoy while gaining meaningful takeaways, tips, and information for their next home DIY project.”

You can learn more about Homefront for the Holidays here!