Decorating & Design

June 13, 2017

Shops We Love: Workshop & Co.

After years of collecting antiques while travelling, Halifax designers Colin Blanchard and Kenneth McRobbie decided it was time to move their one-of-a-kind finds out of storage and into a proper home — albeit an unconventional one. “This place was built in 2001 as a body shop, but we wanted it to feel like a 1920s garage that had been converted,” says Colin of their new 2,000-square-foot boutique, Workshop & Co. “We left the concrete floors, then used paint and repurposed materials to give it a feeling of history.”

workshop & co

It’s an aesthetic that suits the rustic wares on offer. While the duo’s first retail space, 31 Westgate, specializes in classic designer furnishings, Workshop is all about pieces with a story. “We tend to look for things that feel like they’ve been forgotten about, but once had a real beauty to them,” Kenneth explains. Decades-old motorcycle racing posters, vintage Moroccan blankets and a ’20s-era dining table, repurposed into a console, nestle up to new pieces like a Cisco Brothers armchair and sculptural metal pendants. Smaller items round out the shop, including hand-blocked tea towels from India, waxed-canvas bags made with vintage rifle straps and fragrances from Brooklyn’s D.S. & Durga.

workshop & co

Located on 470 Maynard St., Halifax.

Author: Samantha Edwards
Photographer:

Janet Kimber

Source:

House & Home March 2017