FEATURED Cover Story // Tamara Day’s Family Matters
I like to save them, because of the historic charm
and because I’m not filling up a landfill any
further than I have to.
There are weights to my decisions in those
regards. Preserving the integrity of the space
and making sure that you’re being energy
efficient is important to me. But if it means that
you’re going to have to rip down all the walls to
put insulation in the middle and set up new
walls, that’s not very efficient either. You’ve
gotta find that soft balance.
There are obviously lots of fantastic composite
materials that you can use. There are
opportunities with bamboo. There’s quartz and
all kinds of sustainable products, and we try to
52 Residential Tech Today | July/August 2019
Earlier this year, Tamara Day made headlines for holding an open house on a 5-bedroom 4 1/2 bath Leawood
ranch-style home, selling the home’s accessories and furnishings that made an appearance on Bargain Mansions.
use them when we can, but I also try to think
about the other effect. Is that filling up a
landfill?
RT Today: What are you looking forward to
for the future of Bargain Mansions?
TD: I hope that we are able to continue
inspiring people. I think that the show is such a
wonderful platform in so many ways. We get to
showcase the designs. We get to save these
historic homes.
A side effect that I didn’t expect of the show is
how many young girls come up to me and say, “I
want to be just like you when I grow up,” and, “I
want to do what you do.” I sign their little
backpacks and Trapper Keepers and all that
good stuff. They take their picture with me. I
didn’t anticipate how many young girls would
watch this type of show, and how inspired they
are, and how eye opening it is that a woman can
be in this industry. And it’s not relegated to
strictly the design side of this industry. You can
be part of the design, you can be part of the
construction, you can be part of anything you
want to be a part of. Breaking through that glass
ceiling and showing young girls anything is
possible has really been a blessing in my life.
The other thing that has been interesting is
Dad and I’s relationship. I have probably taken
for granted that he’s always there and always
awesome. I think a lot of the messages we
receive are, “I watch your show. It reminds me of
my dad. What I wouldn’t give to have another
day working with my dad.” They reminisce on
Photos: Nate Sheets Photography LLC
their experiences with their father. Men and
women. But then it’s also, “I wish my dad had
been around. This is so wonderful to see a
father-daughter relationship like this, because I
didn’t have that.” They aspire to have that with
their children. “I hope that my daughter will
work with me when she’s grown up.” It just
brings up a lot of emotions in people, I think.
I had one woman recently message us and
say, “I was watching your show. My dad passed
away two years ago and watching your show
just reminded me of him so much. I cried
through the entire episode. Thank you for the
memories. It was wonderful to feel that again.”
It was just such a sweet heartfelt message, and I
never would have expected something like that
from this.”
So my hope is that we can continue to inspire
people both in design, in relationships, and in
doing whatever you want to do.
RT Today: Is there any advice you give the
people you’ve inspired?
TD: I always say, “Find what piece of this
you’re passionate about.” There are so many
parts to what I’m doing. Because I have a great
team around me, I’m able to do all the things I
love, but I think that I am the exception to that
rule. It’s certainly not where you start. Finding
the piece that is your favorite and starting from
there, it can grow from there instead of just
jumping into the whole package thinking it’s all
going to be hunky dory. Find your lane and then
go there. x