Design Houston

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Tomball home store likes eclectic look


All photos by Gary Fountain for the Chronicle

When you walk through the door of Laurie’s Home Furnishings in Tomball, you’ll likely hear the unrestrained laughter of its owner, the spiky-haired Laurie Bauermeister.

Her sprawling, 23,000-square-foot showroom features traditional and contemporary furnishings and accessories, as well as European and industrial flea-market styles. A staffer says it’s a typical day as a parade of lamps, pillows and paintings fly out of the bustling store.
Bauermeister took a few, often interrupted, moments to talk about her background, the store and where she gets her goods.
Q: What brought you to Texas?
A: I moved here straight out of college, in 1982. I graduated from college and wanted to come see the Houston livestock show. I grew up on a ranch and actually have a B.S. in animal science. I met a cowboy and came here for something to do.
Q: What did you do before getting into the furniture business?

Laurie's offers contemporary, industrial flea and traditional home furnishings.

A: For the first seven years I was here, I worked in public accounting. We were a watchdog organization. The first year, I was OK. The second year, I started making these little duck things cut out of wood, glued together and decorated. I was selling them at Henny Penny’s in Old Town Spring. Then I leased a space and was selling a lot of country décor. I went to Interstate 45 and 1960 and had a small shop, Gosling Lane. It was 800 square feet. Then I moved to a 1,500-square-foot space. I decided one year for my New Year’s resolution that I wanted to start doing antiques out of Europe, but really I just wanted to go to Europe all the time.
Q: How would you describe the store to someone who has never visited it?
A: Many styles from many periods and copious and abundantly stocked. This is not a box-store environment. Mostly we have traditional, casual, beach, rich ranch, contemporary — the back section is very Restoration Hardware-like.

Bauermeister shops major markets in the U.S., Europe, China, India and Indonesia for her wares.

Q: Where do you find your wares?

A: I go to every major domestic market in the U.S. — Atlanta, Dallas, Las Vegas, New York. I source furniture in Europe, China, India and Indonesia. Every year is different, but I’m in China probably twice a year, the others three or four times per year. It’s the best part of the job.
Q: How would you describe your personal decorating style?
A: Comfortable, traditional and a lot of European influences. Anything really neat and really cheap (I’ve discovered), I kept for myself. I collect 1800s Victorian biscuit barrels, hairbrushes and mirrors given from the servants to the mistress of the house. They had to be monogrammed. They are very limited.
Q: What are your favorite places to shop?
A: I like Kay O’Toole (1921 Westheimer, 713-523-1921,; Kuhl-Linscomb (2424 W. Alabama, 713-526-6000,; Area (5600 Kirby, 713-668-1668). I hate to say it, but I like Pottery Barn. Also, antiques stores in the Heights. In Tomball, Arbor Gate (15635 FM 2920, 281-351-8851,; Leftovers, outside Brenham (3900 U.S. 290 W., 979-830-8496, and Martha’s Bloomers in Navasota, on the way to College Station (8101 Texas 6, 936-825-7400,
Melanie Warner