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Suburban designer, real estate agent on HGTV's 'House Hunters Renovation'

Downers Grove designer Chad Esslinger and Naperville real estate agent David Shallow will be featured on an episode of HGTV's “House Hunters Renovation” this weekend.

The episode will air at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 9, and at 1 a.m. Sunday, July 10.

On the show, Shallow, who works for Re/Max Professionals Select in Naperville, takes his clients to three different homes in the western suburbs and discusses with them the pros and cons of each one. Then they move on to the design process with Esslinger.

Esslinger connected with the show through a friend of a friend, who heard HGTV was looking for an interior designer in the western suburbs. The network asked Esslinger to send in an audition tape, but gave him only two hours to create it.

“I'd been out working in the yard all morning ... and I kinda panicked,” he said, laughing. “I put my preschooler in front of the TV and gave him an iPhone, and fixed my hair and changed my shirt and filmed it myself.”

The next day, he was offered the job.

Esslinger didn't want to reveal the location of the home he decorated (the show features a competition between three homes), but said it was really fun and a positive experience.

Esslinger, a married father of three, is the founder and lead designer at Chad Esslinger Design in Downers Grove.

“I'm from a small town and I'm so honored to do these kinds of things,” said Esslinger, a native of Jacksonville, Illinois. “(During the filming), I was texting pictures and sending them to my wife and mom. My mom watches HGTV all the time and thinks it's so cool.”

He's anxious to see how he and his designs will look on TV.

“I'm trying to stay calm about it,” he said. “I'm not actively anticipating more TV work will happen, but I like the medium. I like being able to share ideas with a larger audience.”

He also hopes it'll boost his residential interior design business.

“I'm hoping to grow my business slowly but smartly,” he said. “We have young kids so I need a work-life balance.”

Naperville real estate agent David Shallow will be featured on an episode of HGTV's "House Hunters Renovation" this weekend. Photo courtesy of Re/MAX PROFESSIONALS SELECT
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