Baer grew up on the grounds of San Quentin State Prison, where her father was the associate warden. When she was 13, her father became the Director of Corrections for the state of Iowa, and moved the family to Des Moines to oversee Iowa’s prison system.
She attended a one room school house on the prison reservation through the 8th grade.
On June 1, 2013 HGTV premiered a television show about Baer and her company titled Staged To Perfection. The New York Times once called her "The Story Seller"
After high school in Des Moines, she went to University of Colorado in Boulder where she received a Bachelor of Science in Journalism. Right before graduation, Baer was approached on the University of Colorado by producer Jerry Bruckheimer to be in a Pepsi commercial, which lead to a career doing more than 100 television commercials, as well as being a model for Winston, a Kent girl and a Benson & Hedges girl.
At the same time she worked for such magazines as Penthouse, Viva and New York, writing articles as “The Passionate Shopper”.
In 1975 she moved to Los Angeles, where she continued acting in films and television In 1981 she sold her first screenplay, Prisoners, for $250,000.
A fictional love story about a teenage girl growing up in prison in the 1950s, it starred Tatum O’Neal. Produced by 20th Century-Fox, the film was ultimately shelved.
Baer’s follow-up script, Unbecoming Age, was adapted into a film in 1992 by directors Alfredo and Deborah Ringel.
Also known as The Magic Bubbles, the film was a comedy about a middle-aged woman wishing herself to become a teenager again. lieutenant starred Diane Salinger, Colleen Camp, Wallace Shawn, and featured an early appearance by young George Clooney. Meridith launched her business in 1998 and today has over 100 employees, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Connecticut and South Florida.
Being the world"s number one stager served over 300 celebrities and billionaires including Brad Pitt, Sharon Stone, Bob Dylan and Harrison Ford.
Projects have ranged from $700,000 bungalows to $125 million estates. After an appearance on the HGTV series "Selling Los Angeles," Baer was approached by a number of networks about doing a staging series.
In spring 2013 she launched her own television show on HGTV titled “Staged To Perfection”. Together with her team of 18 designers she stages luxury properties that have stalled on the market in less than 30 days there.
