Little-Known Facts About HGTV's David Bromstad

Designer David Bromstad began his rise to TV fame when he won the first season of HGTV's "Design Star" and, since then, he has become a very recognizable face on the network. Some of the other HGTV shows that Bromstad has been involved with include home design series "Color Splash" and "Beach Flip," and the real estate search show "My Lottery Dream Home." Although Bromstad wasn't thrilled about hosting "My Lottery Dream Home" at first due to it not being a design opportunity, he grew to really love and appreciate it.

One of Bromstad's best qualities is that he is something of an open book, and he does not shy away from being his authentic self. He's had quite the transformation by embracing colorful, unique fashions and getting a collection of tattoos all over his body. (We even edited a photo just to see what Bromstad would look like without tattoos, and the end result was interesting for sure.)

Despite Bromstad being open about his life and his interests, there are definitely some unique facts about him that casual fans or HGTV viewers might not know. Let's dive in.

Overcoming a fear is never easy, but David Bromstad had the courage to do so on a trip to Norway. In August 2023, the designer shared snapshots and videos on Instagram at the top of the Reinebringen steps, a popular (yet difficult) hiking destination in Reine, Norway. The top of the steps is 1,677 feet, and in the caption of Bromstad's post, he explained how it was no easy feat.

"2000 steps of pure terrifying exhilaration," Bromstad wrote. "This wasn't just a climb for me, this was something so much more." Bromstad spoke briefly about how meaningful it was to complete the hike due to some things he's worked to overcome in his personal life. Bromstad also described feeling less afraid as the hike went on, and how he even got emotional.

"Conquering one of my greatest fears, heights, was not on my bucket list tbh but when I started the stairway of Reinenbringen [sic] I knew I was going to reach the top," he wrote. "It wasn't about the speed and I wasn't competing with anyone else but myself."

David Bromstad's initial career was not interior design. He graduated from art school — Sarasota, Florida's Ringling College of Art and Design. He worked as a designer at a store at Walt Disney World, but explained to Ryan G. Van Cleave in an interview for Sarasota Scene, "It wasn't that creative of work." Bromstad switched gears and did sculpting work for the theme park as a contractor. He later contracted with Disney and the Universal theme parks in Orlando to continue creating art for them. "And there wasn't a store that I didn't have some of my own art or sculpture in," Bromstad said.

Once he lost his contracting gig post-9/11, Bromstad was struggling financially. A gym buddy of Bromstad's who worked as an interior designer initially asked him to design hotel art, but Bromstad's Disney portfolio led the designer to ask Bromstad to create children's bedroom designs in model homes. "The big lesson from designing so many kids' rooms? The wow factor," Bromstad told Van Cleave. "A kid wants to run into their bedroom and yell 'This is the coolest bed I've ever seen!'"

Designing children's bedrooms (and nudging from a friend) led Bromstad to enter "Design Star." He told the Hart and Huntington Tattoo Co., "I didn't know interior design, I knew art, but I absorbed so much with the interior design firm I'd worked with that I applied that knowledge and ended up winning the thing!"

Most of David Bromstad's tattoos seem to have a significant meaning. One tattoo that holds deeper meaning than it might seem is the popcorn on his abdomen. The cartoon popped popcorn kernel is adorned with a smiley face and inside a yellow circle with the caption, "Poppin' Good." In June 2020, Bromstad shared a post on Instagram to share the new tattoos he'd gotten and explained the reason for that one, which is based on a sticker.

"The 'poppin good' scratch and sniff sticker brings me back to my childhood and my families [sic] love for popcorn," Bromstad said, before thanking his tattoo artist from Hart & Huntington Tattoo Co.

The scratch and sniff sticker Bromstad's popcorn tattoo was inspired by seems to still be sold by TREND Enterprises, Inc., and it's part of a sticker collection featuring multiple different foods and scents. Bromstad deciding to get the popcorn tattoo based on family memories is extra sweet (or salty and buttery, since it's popcorn).

One of David Bromstad's favorite things to do is travel. In a 2015 interview with Out, he spoke about the places he'd been, such as Mykonos. "I'm not ever going back, only because I've been there four times," he said, laughing. "It's time for a new city." However, he did say he may return to Mykonos one day. Then, Bromstad said on his 40th birthday trip there, he was intoxicated and fell into the water while trying to disembark a boat. Bromstad wasn't too broken up about his phone being a casualty of that fall, saying, "It was awesome. It was worth losing a phone."

Bromstad also listed the international places he'd visited and shared some tropical destinations that remind him of home since he lived at the beach. He mentioned Tahiti and Bora Bora, saying, "I can live there and not move. I want a shack on the water and just be. I want to make enough money to stay there for the rest of my life and never come back."

Bromstad also said he prefers flying over driving when traveling because he used to do 24-hour drives from Sarasota to his hometown in Minnesota when he was in college. "When I started making a little bit of money," Bromstad said, "I said no more, I'm flying if it's over 4 hours."

It's no surprise that a person as creative as David Bromstad would love Halloween and go all-out for the spooky holiday. He has shared photos of his intricate costumes and decor on social media. For 2017's holiday, Bromstad got to spend Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts, which he recounted on Facebook.

In 2019, Bromstad shared photos on Instagram for his inaugural Halloween party. "Happy Halloween my crazy creepy crawlers!" Bromstad wrote. "I throw my very first Halloween party and because I am who I am I took the only route possible. Ridiculous!" He went on to outline the details of the party, including a Christmas tree repurposed into a "Halloween tree," and his satyr costume. Bromstad's spookiest costume was in 2021 when he was covered in fake skulls and bones. "All put together by myself," Bromstad said on Instagram. "Bone collector craziness."

However, it doesn't need to be Halloween season for Bromstad to enjoy something spooky. In June 2022, he visited Stephen King's home in Bangor, Maine, which Bromstad discussed on Instagram as well. "The house is exactly what [you] would imagine," Bromstad said. "Grand and mysterious but very casual." Visiting such a legendary home might be on the bucket list for any interior designer, whether or not they're Halloween fans like Bromstad.