Mary Lauer

 In 1994, interior and clothing design maven, Mary Lauer, opened her first retail store at the Mall of America, featuring handcrafted furniture and intricately hand-painted children’s clothing. As she’s never been one to shy from a challenge, the tiny shop rapidly and successfully evolved into both oh baby! (a magical children’s clothing and furniture store at the Galleria Edina), and a sister store, que sera’ (an interior design and boutique furnishings happy place in Excelsior, Minnesota).

Ever since she was a little girl, Mary has always had a paintbrush, a sewing needle, a wooden spoon, a gardening trowel, or magic wand in her hand-- for her, life is a beautiful blank canvas to be imagined, painted, planted, decorated and sprinkled with sparkling fairy dust. After the birth of her darling twin boys in 1990, Mary was inspired to funnel her creativity into creating hand-painted children’s furniture and cute, comfortable children’s clothing that wouldn’t irritate their sensitive skin.

As the demand for her creations grew, so did her businesses-- today, Mary and her husband, Tom, are the owners of the aforementioned two extraordinary retail locations in the Twin Cities, as well as parents to three busy boys and one tiny well-groomed yorkie named Annie. Mary also is the designer of her in-house line of children’s clothing, bed linens, and artwork, all of which is handcrafted in Minnesota and has been featured in national and local print publications as well as television. Mary's reputation for providing modern interior design inspiration in Minnesota has established her as one of the most respected and knowledgeable interior designers in Minneapolis.

In her free time, Mary loves waterskiing on Lake Minnetonka, spending time with her family and girlfriends, gardening on a sunshine-filled day, and eating freshly grilled fish tacos prepared by her son, Tyler.