'Bargain Mansions': How host Tamara Day managed heavy-duty work on flipping houses while raising her kids
Host Tamara Day’s HGTV show ‘Bargain Mansions’ is watched by millions. She runs a design company, operates a retail and online home goods business, is planning the launch of her branded product line this fall and is writing a design book expected to publish next year. “A lot of people talk about balance,” said Day to Kansas City Business Journal. “I don’t think that’s possible. You have to choose on a daily basis what your priority is. I worked until midnight one night this week, but I’m stepping out at noon on Friday and taking the kids to the pool to hang out and just be mom.”
Tamara Day is the founder and CEO of her company ‘Growing Days’. “My passion for all things design came at an early age while assisting my dad, Ward (you’ve met him on the show) on all of his home renovation projects,” she wrote in her blog. “You would think the years of hanging sheetrock as punishment for missing curfew would have turned me away from the industry, but no, I guess you could say it did just the opposite!”
Tamara married Bill Day in 2000 and coincidentally, he had a background in flipping houses too! Together the couple has four children Henry (14), Nora (6), Bobby (12), Thomas (10). In 2008, the couple bought a 5,000-square-foot house and did a demo work on it. They were about to hire people to do most of the renovation work; however, the economy sank and that's when Tamara decided to do most of the work herself. “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 writes on her blog. “Ha! It was all starting to come together, but we weren’t anywhere near finished. It was going to take a lot of money, effort, and shopping (my favorite) to furnish this home.”
The process developed and honed her design style and skillset and that's when she decided to also get into the construction side of things. They then decorated it with furniture she bought at estate sales and refurbished. Soon she was selling pieces to friends, and that business evolved into twice-a-year sale extravaganzas at her home that included food trucks, live music and roughly 1,000 visitors in a single weekend. “Through that, people saw my home and the work I had done. They wanted to hire me. I took my baby with me on odd jobs,” said Day.
A native of Missouri, this mother of four specializes in flipping large, neglected houses that would intimidate most. In the series, Tamara showcases a passion for creative restoration, vibrant design and functional beauty as she brings old mansions in Kansas City back to life for families to enjoy for years to come.
'Bargain Mansions' Season 4 will premiere on November 9. A new episode of the show will air every Monday at 9 pm ET only on HGTV.