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Small Family Business Ventures on Display in UPtv’s DESIGN TWINS

UPtv

Small Family Business Ventures on Display in UPtv’s DESIGN TWINS

By Movieguide® Contributor

Making a go of a small-business is an adventurous, all-in, life decision. Establishing a partnership to accomplish business success adds a layer of relationship challenges. A business partnership with family members brings a set of histories to the game. Make that family member your twin sister who is moving her family of six all of 1,500 miles into your house to live with your family of five while starting the business, and you have the ingredients for DESIGN TWINS: SEASON 1 streaming on UP Faith & Family.

For 10 episodes of 22 minutes each, DESIGN TWINS: SEASON 1 provides the intimate window of reality TV watching twins Heather Fujikawa and Heidi Andrews working from home with their seven children, all 6 years old and under, with a mission to designing rooms that are both beautiful and functional for other families’ homes.

Heather and Heidi’s mother was an interior designer by profession, and they worked with her in their formative years. More recently, they collaborated on a jewelry line sold at major clothing retail stores.

Sister Heather actually starts in on room designing in Episode 1 with her own home. She and her husband Tyson design and remake the rooms Heidi, her husband Paul, and their children will use.

This is a reality show after all, and the reality of these two working mothers experiencing growing success and workloads requires adjustments in marriage and family life. Communication and decision-making are critical for planning schedules, for instance, as both dads have full-time “day” jobs, yet are expected to help Heather and Heidi with everything: from assembly of furniture; installation of window treatments; delivery of makeover components; to childcare for all seven children at one time.

All through DESIGN TWINS: SEASON 1, we find that the sisters themselves communicate well with each other, and collaborate easily and often on the plans they forge.

What works well for them, though, doesn’t translate to their husbands. Paul and Tyson are often out of the loop, which makes all Heather and Heidi’s declarations a surprise, providing some classic moments of facial expressions for reality television cameras.

As the season progresses, it is hard but rewarding work for all the adults, and the directing and editing does not shy away from displaying the late nights and other down sides for these four parents, all working demanding careers while raising seven young and very active tykes.

Despite allowing for awkward relationship interaction, DESIGN TWINS: SEASON 1 is clean fun, including: no profanity; no immorality; no sexual content or nudity; no smoking, alcohol or drug use; and no violence. The lively storyline for each episode thus reinforces the moral, biblical values expressed whenever Heather and Heidi expound on their design philosophy. High production value, particularly with lighting and camera angles, reinforces the beauty of the work that Heather and Heidi produce.

As enjoyable a series as it is, about halfway through the season, cracks in the career veneer start to show. In Episode 4, Heidi admits to the camera that “the transition from San Diego to Texas has been difficult.”

In Episode 6, Tyson confides in Heather, “I just miss the way things were before they came.”

By Episode 8, when the twins escape out the door to finish prep for a job’s conclusion and leave a houseful of crying toddlers, Tyson commiserates with the wailing children and says, “Yep, seriously, I want to cry, too.”

Truth be told, even though Episode 9 highlights an official launch party for the design business, Heather’s online resumé places the end of the twins’ “Joyful Living LLC” partnership 6 months before the series premiered on UPtv.

Heidi would give birth to her fifth child in that time frame, well after the filming of Episode 10’s gender reveal party. Paul, Heidi, and the girls would eventually head back to San Diego. Tyson and Heather persevered as a couple in the Dallas area design business under a different company name to continued success.

Through it all, DESIGN TWINS: SEASON 1 lifts up a moral, biblical worldview of family values, hard work, and business integrity.

Though we catch a momentary glimpse of a large, full-body painting of Jesus in the entryway to the new corporate office (Episode 3), and a party for all seven children revolves around the risen life theme of caterpillars and butterflies (Episode 5), the show explicitly proclaims no specific faith, and does not reveal their church membership.

Notable is the care the twins take in interviewing their customers and incorporating elements of the answers into the design decisions of the final product, creating a personal focus they hope helps build an atmosphere that continues to bring joy to the client families in their living spaces. DESIGN TWINS: SEASON 1 succeeds, too, in building that joyful atmosphere for the viewers, human shortcomings and all.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.