Rotem Golan Lamsee, a 46-year-old interior designer, declares, "We are in sync with everything, love the same things, and complement each other in work and life," referring to her life and professional partner, Troy Lamsee.
About two years ago, while renovating a kitchen for a client in Canada, where they reside, the client urged them to register with the casting director of a show on the American HGTV channel. "She told me we would be perfect for the show," Golan recalls. "Since it wasn’t the first time someone suggested we appear on a show, I decided to take it seriously and register," she adds.
After filling out the forms, they received the exciting news that they had been accepted to the show, and filming began in the summer of 2022. "We filmed for seven exhausting weeks but enjoyed every moment," she says. The cherry on top: the two won first place and the grand prize of $100,000. "The show aired in Canada in March 2023, in the United States and Australia in July 2023, and was accompanied by a lot of publicity and media attention," Golan Lamsee recalls.
"Although we were on cloud nine, our feelings quickly changed following the events of October 7, 2023." The show, titled Design Games, aired in Israel in May 2024, and today, the episodes can be watched in reruns on Yes. It’s certainly heartwarming to see an Israeli angle on the international stage. Incidentally, you can vacation in the winning cabin, located in Campbellford, Ontario, which is proudly named Mediterranean Escape. The production decided to leave it as it was designed and rent it out to travelers and tourists.
Golan Lamsee, a mother of two daughters, was born and raised in Herzliya, surrounded by a large and warm family. However, when she was 12, her father received a job offer in Canada, and they moved there. "Until then, my paternal grandparents raised me while my parents worked long hours—my father in a factory and my mother in the military," she recalls. "My father was still considering the offer, but when the Gulf War began, we decided to leave."
A short clip by Rotem Golan and Troy Lamsee
(Video: Rotem Golan Lamsee)
According to her, the move was not easy. "I was raised on values of faith, Zionism, and love for the homeland, and I was very close to no fewer than 16 cousins, whom I made sure to see every day. We grew up like siblings, and it was very hard for me to disconnect from all of that," she explains. The harsh winters in Toronto didn’t help either. "Until then, I had never even seen snow up close," she says. "But the hardest part was leaving behind a familiar life and family."
She says the Canadians were welcoming, but the language and cultural barriers were challenging. "Luckily, my sister and I used to fly every summer for two months to spend time with the family, which gave me a kind of warm anchor," she says. Her connection to Israel was also evident when she decided to participate in the Jewish community’s beauty pageant, despite her shyness. "The moment I found out the first prize was a plane ticket to Israel, I didn’t think twice," she says. The competition, in which she won first place, was launched in Toronto for the first time and, according to her, was very exciting. "I said I wanted to serve in the army when I grew up, and I also sang Kan as a tribute to my cousin, Orna Datz," she says.
Both of Golan Lamsee’s parents influenced her love for the world of aesthetics. As a teenager, she occasionally accompanied her father, a contractor and owner of a construction company, and absorbed a love for materials, practical thinking, and the ability to see potential in every wall. "My father is very technical and skilled, and I loved watching what he did and how he found solutions to every challenge," she says. "My mother, among her many occupations, designed shop windows, and I probably inherited my creativity from her."
After finishing high school, she decided to take a break and volunteer in Israel for two years. She tried to settle in the country, but in the end, her longing for her family prevailed, and she returned to Canada. Shortly after her return, she enrolled in graphic design studies and began working in a small studio. "During semester breaks, I accompanied my father to oversee construction projects and gained a lot of professional knowledge," she says.
Not long after, she met the man who would become her partner and the father of her daughters. "I became friends with one of the clients, and one day I met his best friend, Troy, who owned a tourist bus company in Toronto," she recounts. "He suggested I work for him as an art director, designing their logo and buses. One thing led to another, and we fell in love."
How did you transition from tourism to renovations?
"Troy is entrepreneurial by nature and loves challenges and solving problems. Even in the bus business, he had the appearance of a businessman, with a suit and tie, but he loved getting his hands dirty when there were engine problems. When we decided to get married and bought our first house, my father suggested we renovate it together, and Troy immediately brought a tool belt and joined the effort. That was the beginning of our shared journey in the world of renovations."
Usually, renovations lead to arguments. How does it work when renovating together?
"We bought an old house that we had no doubt needed renovation. My father offered his help and was available for anything we needed. Luckily, we are both in sync and love the same things. The dynamic between us, even to this day, is that I see the vision, and Troy lets me lead. I also trusted my father a lot when it came to execution. As for the design, I still had room to grow, but as a first home, it was a dream come true."
What did the renovation include?
"The house had many walls, and we wanted to open it up as much as possible. We opened and connected the dining room and kitchen, replaced the flooring, built a new kitchen, and renovated the bathrooms. It wasn’t a massive renovation, but it gave us an appetite for more."
How do you even manage to part with a house after such an investment?
"In hindsight, I can say we were lucky because when we bought the house, it was just before the 2008 financial crisis. We bought the house for a relatively low price, $320,000, spent $50,000 on renovations, and eventually sold it for $680,000—about double what we paid. In real estate terms, this is called 'flipping'—buying a property with the intention of selling it relatively quickly. Although we lived in it for about two years, the moment we sold it, we knew we were going to do it again.
"The universe seemed to align with us because, at that time, there was intense competition in the tourism market, and Troy received an offer to sell his business. It worked out great for us because he had already fallen in love with the home renovation business and realized he needed to focus entirely on it. After the first house, we bought another one and sold it at a profit a year later. During renovations, friends started asking if we could renovate their homes, and that’s how it all began."
The couple invested in education: Rotem Lamsee enrolled in interior design studies, and Troy studied to obtain a real estate license. In 2015, they registered their first business, Ace of Space, with a portfolio that included the purchase and sale of four designed homes. "The name of the business comes from the nature of the houses in our area," explains Rotem. "The houses in downtown are very small, and our advantage is maximizing every inch. Our strength lies in reorganizing the layout to make room for everything needed," she adds.
So, do you both renovate for clients and flip houses?
"We do everything. It could be a house a client bought, and we renovate it entirely, tearing down walls to the skeleton and creating a completely new design, or we might 'just' build a new kitchen. At the same time, we look for properties, renovate, and design them down to the last detail with the goal of selling them at a profit."
What was the most challenging project you’ve done?
"We came across a house that hadn’t been entered in five years and was up for sale. The city had sealed it from the inside, and there was a huge hole in the attic room. We made a lot of Instagram videos about the renovation of this house, and producers reached out to us, wanting to offer Troy and me our own TV show. It’s still in negotiations."
And in the meantime, you found yourselves in a competition?
"Yes, it was during a period of many projects, but we thought it could be a good idea to boost ourselves. We were selected along with three other couples, whom we didn’t meet until the day of filming. Besides us, there was another married couple with 300,000 Instagram followers, a carpenter and designer duo, and a tiler and designer couple. Each couple’s task was to design a cabin in the style of a vacation home. We received the details before filming so we could work on plans and ideas, and on the first day of filming, we were given the first task: to design the bedroom and bathroom area at the front of the house within a week."
How does it work? Do you peek at what the others are doing?
"Not at all. Each week, there was an episode about a different part of the house, and at the end of the week, we would film around a campfire, where they announced who won that week. In the first and second weeks, we came in second place. In the third week, we didn’t win at all, and in the fourth week, which was my specialty—the kitchen—we won first place. The competition was pretty close, and we didn’t know who would win until the end. Only on the last day of filming were we allowed to see the other couples’ houses, fully completed as they should be."
And what did you think?
"The moment Troy saw the other houses, he told me we were definitely going to win. I wasn’t so sure, and I was really surprised and emotional when we won. It was crazy."
You mentioned you had room to grow since the first house you designed. How do you see the journey you’ve been on?
"At first, I designed mainly based on trends and what people liked—designs straight out of a magazine. But over the years, I realized that a home is a private space and should include things you love. In my opinion, when you love something, it never goes out of style. Gradually, I started developing my own style, which is more eclectic, with elements that are important and meaningful to the household members, like collections and items with character passed down through generations or found in flea markets.
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"Beyond that, I love natural elements—incorporating shades of green and lots of wood into the home. They provide a sense of calm, unlike the cold modern style. The idea is to feel comfortable, to feel the ground, the earth, where we come from. I also love the Mediterranean style, which has ornamentation but also a lot of depth. For me, depth brings character—and that’s the real thing."
You seem to have a lot of love for nostalgia. Do you think it’s connected to your longing for Israel?
"Wow. That’s an interesting insight. There might be something to that! In any case, my work is based on technical precision and creative design, a combination that was instilled in me back in Israel. I think my longing for the country influenced the way I appreciate nostalgia, and over the years, my style has developed into a kind of 'modern heart with an ancient soul,' just like our people."