HGTV's Tamara Day’s Earliest Childhood Memory Was Fixing the Staircase Railing While in Time-Out
HGTV's Tamara Day is a wiz at breathing new life into old homes. On Bargain Mansions, which is currently in its third season, the Kansas City native buys large, neglected homes for next-to-nothing prices with her father, Ward Schraeder. In each episode, the pair flips a home with their team, making sure to preserve the property's historical significance and charm, as well as adding in some modern day amenities.
But when she's not flipping homes, Day is a mom-of-four, a wife, an artist, and more. Here are 9 things you might not know about Bargain Mansions host Tamara Day.
She's a fan of Kelly Wearstler
It's no surprise that Tamara would look to one of the greats for inspiration. In 2016, Day shared a photo on her Instagram spotlighting the books she was reading at the time—one of which included Wearstler's Hue. Not to mention, she also fangirled over getting to meet Wearstler IRL, as one should.
Bill pronounced Tamara's name wrong the first time they met
Classic! Tamara confirmed in a blog post that she met Bill Day in 1998 during New Years Eve week at Bartle Hall in Kansas City. "I was selling credit cards and t-shirts, he was a financial planner, and our booths were next to each other," she wrote. She even noted that he pronounced her name wrong at the time, calling her "Tomorrow." However, six months after crossing paths, they went on their first date. Since then, they've been "inseparable."
She's been married for 20 years
Tamara got married to Bill Day in November of 2000. They celebrate 20 years of marriage this month. They currently have four kids together—Henry, Bobby, Thomas, and Nora.
One of her earliest memories is tackling a repair project while in a time-out
Tamara's father, Ward Schraeder, shared on his blog that one of Tamara's earliest memories that she can recall from childhood was during a time-out. Instead of sulking about her time confined to the stairs, she took it upon herself to be productive... and started to fill in the holes of the staircase railing with wood putty!
It's no secret that Schraeder heavily influenced her lifestyle. He also writes that he raised his four kids to never rely on a handyman—and taught them everything from using tools to installing sheetrock.
She also starred on Ultimate Retreat
In a blog post, Tamara detailed her experience working on the DIY Network orginal show, Ultimate Retreat. The pro mansion flipper spent two years on the show—half of which was alongside Jason Cameron, and the other half with Matt Blashaw and Mark Bowe. "This experience was nothing but a riot, although it was terribly cold; which we all know I’m not a big fan of," she recalled. But, above all "these two guys taught me a ton and they were so much fun to work with! I think this house turned out pretty awesome too."
Bargain Mansions was originally called Little Money Mansions
This is not the first time a show got a title change after the pilot episode aired. Dave and Jenny Marrs' Fixer to Fabulous was originally supposed to be called Almost Home.
Her first flip was her own house
In 2008, Tamara and Bill bought their first house together—a 5,000+ square foot home that was foreclosed on in the '80s. Much like the properties she works on during Bargain Mansions, the house had potential, but needed some serious TLC.
While the couple planned to hire out for most of the repairs, the economy's downfall had lead Tamara to take on the bulk of the renovation process. "I spent months working 12 hour days, sanding floors and tearing down wallpaper with one baby strapped to my back and the others crawling in the playpen," she wrote. Once the home was completed, her stunning transfromation and her unique "laid back luxe" style got the attention of local media outlets. Eventually, the DIY Network laid eyes on her.
Her first flip also inspired her shop, Growing Days
Tamara recalled that while flipping her home in the late 2000s, she carved out part of her week to scour estate sales in search of pieces she could fix up for the space. In fact, she would buy the pieces for cheap and then camp out in her driveway with paint cans and whatnot to bring these pieces back to life. Ever after her home renovation was complete, her passion for rehabilitating old furniture was unwavering.
She began selling pieces she fixed up at a local market until her inventory outgrew the space—and lead her to make bigger moves. "I started having open houses in my home where over 1,000 people would come through in a single weekend and could buy anything they saw on the first floor," she recalled. Thus, it was time for her own storefront. Growing Days' brick-and-mortar location is currently located in Prairie Village, Kansas. However, fans can also shop the stores expansive selection of home decor items, art, apparel online.
She offers virtual design consultations to all fans
What started as Tamara's refurbished furniture business also grew into an e-design platform, too. In 2019, Growing Days started offering fans across the country the opportunity to have a virtual design consultation with Tamara.
"We can do as much or as little online as someone wants, so from literally picking paint colors for one room to any full-scale design," she told us in August of that year. Fans and clients can choose from four different packages—named after her children—with add-on services, like a 40-minute video consultation with the HGTV star or paint and wallpaper consultation.
"It actually has all the benefits of being in-person without all the other complications," she noted. "It’s significantly easier for me to get it done faster online versus in-person. We have 3-D images, so you can really see and feel what the space is going to look like when we’re finished," she said.
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