98 DIGS.NET
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12.16.2016
M E R I D I T H B A E R H O M E 310.204.5353 | MeridithBaer.com
Likewise, when it comes to her furniture line, Baer—who admits to a love
for constantly shifting her own home scenery ("I can move my furniture
around every week," she says with a laugh)—can use her pieces to more
precisely orchestrate the look of her staging projects. "The collection is
always changing," says Baer, who employs a team of 30 designers on the
furniture side of her business. "We've become almost a collective in giving
each other feedback."
For someone who never set out to achieve such levels of design
success, but has done an exceptional job of embracing and growing
it with non-stop momentum, Baer has some tips that have kept her
keel even through the years. Among them: Keep fear away by not over-
leveraging oneself. "One of the ways that I was able to do it and be able
to sleep at night is that I didn't go to the bank and borrow a lot of money.
Every time I made money, I put it back in the business. So at each point
I felt comfortable with where I was—and still do."
After talking business, the conversation turns to creativity and inspiration.
"I would have loved to have lived in the 1920s," says Baer, when asked where
she might like to visit if offered a spin in a time machine. "The music, the
pace, the fun, the dresses. It was such an exciting time."
A R C H I T E C T | D E S I G N | B U I L D
"I look around and say to myself, 'Holy Moly, how did
this happen?'"
At the root of Baer's success is organization, a strong
business mind and public need. No doubt about it, the
timing for a nascent home staging business was keen
in the early 2000s, as realtors increasingly saw the
tangible impact of a home dressed up in a welcoming
cloak where potential buyers could aspire to live.
Staging is now a mainstay of high-end homes (and
becoming more of a factor in other levels of the market,
too), but Baer remembers it being a tug of war in the
late-1990s, with her having to sell clients on the idea.
"I had to get a big glass of water afterwards I talked so
much," she says.
Baer still has her knack for identifying emerging
design, real estate and home trends, and being
picture-perfect ready to execute them. Take her
InstaHome, a new offering that gets homes furnished
in a matter of weeks, which is premised on Baer's
understanding of the do-it-yesterday mindset. "They
want it furnished in a few days," she says of clients
requesting the service. "They don't want to wait, and
they don't feel they have to wait."
But there's also Baer's supreme style sensibility
and an ever-evolving creativity that keeps her well-
heeled clientele coming back. The Meridith Baer
look is one that can be shape-shifted to meet a
kaleidoscope of tastes, but can always be keyworded
as smart, elegant and efficient. "The underlying
formula is a neutral background palette that allows
for change," says Baer. This approach allows for Baer
and her designers to continually put new trends and
modes into play (like the current taste for bold color
and earthy, textured objects).
(clockwise
from
top
left)
Calvin
Harris's
LA
Home,
photo
by
Marc
Angeles
www.unlimitedstyle.com.
Malibu
residence
at
Broad
Beach,
photo
by
Je•
Elson,
courtesy
of
SFJ
Group
www.sallyforsterjones.com.
Meridith
Baer
and
Meridith
Baer
Home
LA
Headquarters,
photos
by
Ethan
Pines.
