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.”

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.

Located on 470 Maynard St., Halifax.